Imagine a world where babies are thriving because their mothers are breastfeeding them—that’s the goal of World Breastfeeding Week during Aug. 1-7.To mark the celebration, the Florida Department of Health in Pinellas County’s (DOH-Pinellas) WIC & Nutrition staff will host a Global Big Latch On event on Friday, July 31.

Moms who breastfeed are invited to take part in the Global Big Latch On with their babies at DOH-Pinellas’ Mid-County conference room, 8751 Ulmerton Rd., Largo. On Friday, July 31, the doors will open at 9:30 AM and the event will begin at 10:30 AM. Moms are asked to arrive at least 30 minutes early to get settled.

Breastfeeding contributes to the normal growth and development of babies and children. Babies who are not breastfed are at increased risk of infant morbidity and mortality, adult obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis and premenopausal breast cancer and ovarian cancer in mothers and their babies. The World Health Organization recommends breastfeeding exclusively for the first six months of a baby's life to optimize these benefits and continuing to breastfeed for two years, or as long as the mother and child prefer.

The first Big Latch On took place in Aotearoa, New Zealand, in 2005. The first event in the United States was in Portland, Oregon, five years later. This year’s goal is to break the current 2013 record of 14,536 children breastfeeding across 845 locations. Records for the number of nations taking part (31) and the numbers of women breastfeeding (14,173) were set in 2014. The Global Big Latch On event’s goal is to hold a celebration within walking distance of every family in the world.

For information about the DOH-Pinellas event on July 31, contact Lindsay Murphy at Lindsay.Murphy@FLHealth.gov. For information about the global event, go to www.biglatchon.org.

For information about DOH-Pinellas, go to www.PinellasHealth.com.