How are you promoting National Breastfeeding Month?

August is National Breastfeeding Month!

August is National Breastfeeding Month (NBM) and the Office on Women’s Health (OWH) will be sharing breastfeeding tools and resources across digital channels all month long. In 2018, OWH is focusing its efforts on empowering women to initiate and continue breastfeeding by promoting three central messages: Breastfeeding has many benefits for babies and for moms. Breastfeeding is natural, but it’s not always easy, and that’s OK. There are tools and resources to help pregnant women and new moms prepare for and overcome common challenges. Building a support system before birth can help set pregnant women and moms of newborns up for breastfeeding success.

How can you spread the word about National Breastfeeding Month? Here are some ideas:

• Engage with OWH on social media. Follow the OWH handles and share, retweat, and like NBM-themed social media messages. Tag OWH in your posts about NBM on Facebook and Twitter (English and Spanish).
• Promote #BreasfeedingTips4Mom on your social media channels. Encourage pregnant women and moms of newborns by highlighting breastfeeding benefits and tips for building a support system and overcoming common challenges. Share the prewritten social media messages below or create your own using #BreastfeedingTips4Mom.
• Share OWH breastfeeding resources with others. Do you have a newsletter or blog? Use the pre-written content below and in the NBM Toolkit (scroll down to see how you can receive the toolkit!) or develop original content directing your audience to helpful resources from womenshealth.gov.   
• Feature OWH resources on your website during NBM. Consider linking to OWH breastfeeding resource directly from your organization's website and/or highlighting the National Women's Health and Breastfeeding Helpline (1-800-994-9662).

---

The following are OWH resources you could promote during NBM: - Your Guide to Breastfeeding, a free, easy-to-read guide available as a PDF or ePub. - A printable fact sheet about breastfeeding with practical tips on how to make breastfeeding work for mom. - It's Only Natural, which offers breastfeeding information for African-American women and their families. - The OWH website, Supporting Nursing Moms at Work: Employer Solutions, offers cost-effective tips and time and space solutions listed by industry.

---

Use these sample social media posts to promote NBM!

Be sure to tag OWH in your NBM social media posts and join the conversation using these handles and hashtags:

• Facebook: @HHSOWH
• Twitter (English): @womenshealth
• Twitter (Spanish): @SaludDLaMujer
• #BreastfeedingTips4Mom
• #NBM18

Sample social media messages:

• It’s National Breastfeeding Month (#NBM18)! Follow the @HHSOWH and the hashtag #BreastfeedingTips4Mom for helpful tips and resources all month long. https://www.womenshealth.gov/Breastfeeding (Facebook)
• It’s National Breastfeeding Month! Follow the HHS Office on Women’s Health using @womenshealth and #BreastfeedingTips4Mom for helpful tips and resources all month long. https://go.usa.gov/xUGtv #NBM18 (Twitter)
• Are you pregnant or a mom of a newborn? This National Breastfeeding Month follow #BreastfeedingTips4Mom and check out the @HHSOWH’s page to learn about the benefits of breastfeeding, how to overcome common breastfeeding challenges, and more! #NBM18. https://www.womenshealth.gov/Breastfeeding (Facebook)
• Are you pregnant or a mom of a newborn? This National Breastfeeding Month follow @womenshealth for quick #BreastfeedingTips4Mom and links to helpful resources to learn about #breastfeeding benefits, how to overcome common challenges, and more! https://go.usa.gov/xUPkw #NBM18 (Twitter)
• What can breastfeeding moms do about engorgement, low milk supply, and other common challenges? The @HHSOWH has answers. #BreastfeedingTips4Mom #NBM18 https://www.womenshealth.gov/breastfeeding/breastfeeding-challenges/common-breastfeeding-challenges (Facebook)
• What can #breastfeeding moms do about engorgement, low milk supply, and other common challenges? Get answers from @womenshealth: https://go.usa.gov/xUG8t. #BreastfeedingTips4Mom #NBM18 (Twitter)

Are you interested in seeing more sample social media messages? Would you like a sample text to use or adapt for e-blasts, newsletters, blogs, and other formats? Please contact Sarah Shrimplin Yacoub (sarah.shrimplin@hhs.gov) for a copy of the official OWH 2018 National Breastfeeding Month Toolkit.

---

Region 3 Women's Health CoordinatorSarah Shrimplin-Yacoub, M.P.H.sarah.shrimplin@hhs.gov The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services’ (HHS) Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health (OASH) in Region 3 consisting of states DE, MD, PA, VA, WV, and Washington, DC.