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| To: Breastfeeding Advocates and Healthcare Professionals Subject: BREASTFEEDING AWARENESS MONTH This document contains a copy of the proclamation by Governor Gray Davis designating August 1999 as Breastfeeding Awareness Month in California. You are invited to attend an upcoming Public Health Grand Rounds presentation on breastfeeding, entitled "New Frontiers in Infant Feeding." In conjunction with World Breastfeeding Week, the purpose of Breastfeeding Awareness Month is to actively promote breastfeeding as the optimum and preferred method of infant feeding for the first year of line. Please display a copy of this Proclamation in your local agency clinics and/or place of business. You are welcome, and encouraged, to make additional copies to distribute in your community. The Department of Health Services (DHS) will host a Public Health Grand Rounds presentation on breastfeeding, entitled "New Frontiers in Infant Feeding." This is a timely addition to Department sponsored activities in support of Breastfeeding Awareness Month which highlight this year's theme, "Breastfeeding: Education for Life." DHS will transmit this program on August 26, 1999, from 9:00 to 10:00 am to 93 sites throughout California. The presentation will include information on the public health implications of breastfeeding rates and trends in California counties; the DHS Strategic Plan for Breastfeeding Promotion; and activities that county health departments and other programs may undertake to promote breastfeeding. Dr. Lawrence Gartner, nationally renowned breastfeeding expert, will review the new American Academy of Pediatrics Guidelines for Breastfeeding Promotion. At the local level, Dr. Bruce Smith, MD, MPH, Maternal, Adolescent and Child Health Care Officer from San Bernadino County and member of the California Breastfeeding Promotion Committee, will present innovative activities and creative partnerships that promote breastfeeding in San Bernadino County. Please publicize this event throughout your community so that interested parties can plan to attend this informative presentation. Today's investment in efforts to support and promote breastfeeding will deliver a brighter future for us all. To register for this presentation, please fax your name, address, telephone number, fax number, e-mail address, and the site where you will attend to Dianna Mack at (916) 324-7763. Breastfeeding is a vital part of preventive health promotion and contributes to the well-being of California women and children. Join us to work will all sectors of the public to mobilize awareness of and support for breastfeeding as part of a healthy community. If you have any questions, please call Phyllis Bramson at (916) 928-8806 or Carol Chase at (916) 928-8888. California Public Health Grand Rounds: Authorized Sites and Coordinators in San Diego: Jody Thomas Liza Ramirez
STATE OF CALIFORNIA PROCLAMATION WHEREAS, breastfeeding is an important part of preventive health care, providing mothers with short and long-term benefits, including decreased risk of breast and ovarian cancer, and WHEREAS, compelling scientific evidence indicates that mother's milk provides infants with nutrients necessary for optimum growth and development, protects them against specific infections and allergies, and has positive long-term effects on their health and well-being; and WHEREAS, it has recently been established that breastfeeding provides children with one of the best foundations for learning readiness; and WHEREAS, despite its numerous benefits, only a small fraction of the State's infants are breastfed throughout their first year of life; and WHEREAS, public health organizations throughout the Golden State are working to educate communities about the advantages of breastfeeding and to encourage more mothers to breastfeed; NOW, THEREFORE, I, GRAY DAVIS, Governor of the State of California, do hereby proclaim August 1999 as "Breastfeeding Awareness Month." IN WITNESS WHEREOF I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Great Seal of the State of California to be affixed this 8th day of July 1999 Gray Davis ATTEST: Bill Jones
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