Announcing Asian Pacific Islander Breastfeeding Week

Los Angeles County Designates the Third Week of August the Asian Pacific Islander Breastfeeding Week

Aug 14, 2020 | For immediate release

For the first time in history, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted to designate the third week of August, which is Aug 16-22 this year, the Asian Pacific Islander Breastfeeding week. 

Los Angeles—Just in time for National Breastfeeding Month, Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors have voted to approve the designation of the third week of August as Asian Pacific Islander(API) Breastfeeding Week.

“Even and especially in times of crisis, encouraging and informing mothers about the benefits of breastfeeding is so important. This National Breastfeeding Month and every month we should be focused on empowering mothers by getting them the information they need to keep themselves and their babies healthy,” said Janice Hahn, a supervisor of LA County, in a statement. 

While the second week has long been the Native Breastfeeding Week and the fourth week the Black Breastfeeding Week, the API community is often seen as invisible. BreastfeedLA and API Breastfeeding Task Force of Great Los Angeles, the two organizations behind the lobby of the designation, believe that it is time to have a specific week to engage API breastfeeding families, advocates and health workers.    

“This is an opportunity to shed light on the unique experiences API communities have when it comes to breastfeeding,” said Arissa Palmer, the executive director of BreastfeedLA. “We believe the efforts will support community advocates, policy makers, hospital and health care workers and government officials to better understand and address barriers and other social determinants of health facing the API community in LA County.”

BreastfeedLA data shows that while 11% of LA County residents speak an API language at home, only 4.5% of lactation support providers in the county speak one of these languages. API families in LA County face languages barriers on a daily basis which hinder their chance to access fundamental necessities such as lactation support.       

To address these challenges, BreastfeedLA provided an API scholarship for a comprehensive lactation consultant education program. Two of the scholarship awardees echoed Palmer.

Alisha Sim, a Cambodian American currently residing in Long Beach, said that Asian language health resources in her city are scarce, while Teine Samoa Ruta Lauleva Aiono praised her people’s rich culture of birth and breastfeeding. “We need API childbirth educators, midwives, doctors, lactation consultants and doulas to support our collective remembering,” said Aiono.

BreastfeedLA and API Breastfeeding Task Force hope to push the API Breastfeeding Week to a statewide designation.   

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About BreastfeedLA:

Formerly known as Breastfeeding Task Force of Greater Los Angeles, BreastfeedLA is dedicated to improving the health and well being of infants and families through education, outreach, and advocacy to promote and support breastfeeding. 

About API Breastfeeding Task Force:

Founded in 2017, API Breastfeeding Task Force recognizes the unique cultural and education needs of Asian, Pacific Islander and API-American parents. The Task Force seeks to decrease inequities and normalize breastfeeding in Los Angeles County’s API communities by improving breastfeeding education, support practices, and by removing systemic barriers that prevent breastfeeding from flourishing.  

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洛杉磯縣宣布八月的第三週為亞太裔哺乳週

Aug 14, 2020 | 請即發布

史上第一次，洛杉磯縣政委員會（Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors）投票決定，將指定八月的第三週、今年是八月16至22日，為亞太裔哺乳週。 

洛杉磯訊—適逢國家哺乳月，洛杉磯縣政委員們決定指定八月的第三週為亞太裔哺乳週（Asian Pacific Islander Breastfeeding Week）。

洛縣縣政委員韓珍妮（Janice Hahn）說：「即使是、應該說特別是在危機中，鼓勵並給予母親們關於母乳益處的相關知識，更顯重要。這個國家哺乳月，以及未來每一個國家哺乳月，我們應該聚焦傳遞母親們正確的訊息，給母親們力量哺乳，維護她們自己和寶寶們的健康。」

八月的第二週是美國原住民哺乳週、第四週是美國黑人哺乳週，但在母乳議題上，亞太裔卻似乎是隱形的一群。亞太裔哺乳週的兩大幕後推手、洛杉磯母乳協會（BreastfeedLA ）及洛杉磯亞太裔母乳推動小組（API Breastfeeding Task Force of Great Los Angeles），相信指定特別的一週在亞太裔社區裡推動餵母乳，有助亞太裔母乳家庭及醫療工作者感覺被重視。

「這是聚光亞太裔家庭獨特哺乳經驗的機會，」洛杉磯母乳協會執行主任艾里薩·帕爾默（Arissa Palmer）說：「我們相信這個舉措可以支持社區運動家、政策制定者、醫療人員和政府官員更加了解、並著手解決洛縣亞太裔社區在母乳餵養上面臨的獨特困境。」

洛杉磯母乳協會統計指出，百分之11的洛縣居民以亞太裔語言為母語，但在洛縣只有不到百分之4.5的授乳諮商師或相關醫療人員會說任何一種亞太裔語言。洛縣的亞太裔家庭每天都面臨言語不通的困擾，阻撓了亞太裔母親的母乳之路。      

為克服此一挑戰，洛杉磯母乳協會提供能說亞太裔語言的醫療工作者獎學金，幫助他們接受完整的授乳諮商師訓練，以幫助亞太裔家庭。今年的兩位獎學金受獎人呼應帕爾默，來自長堤市（Long Beach）的柬埔寨移民愛理沙·辛（Alisha Sim）指出，該市的亞太裔語言醫療資源很缺乏。

薩摩亞裔的露絲·勞萊瓦·愛園（Ruth Lauleva Aiono）則盛讚亞太裔原本就有有充滿喜悅、豐富多采的生產及哺乳文化：「我們需要更多亞太裔的健康教育家、助產士、醫生、授汝諮商師……喚起我們的共同記憶，哺乳是一件美麗的事。」

洛杉磯母乳協會與洛杉磯亞太裔母乳推動小組，希望能將亞太裔母乳週活動推動到全加州。  

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關於洛杉磯母乳協會：

正式名稱為Breastfeeding Task Force of Greater Los Angeles，洛杉磯母乳協會致力於通過教育、外展、宣導來推動並保護母乳餵養，以促進嬰兒及其家庭的健康與福利。 

關於洛杉磯亞太裔母乳推動小組：

成立於2017年，亞太裔母乳推動小組重視亞裔及太平洋島國裔家庭的獨特需求，希望推動合乎其文化的母乳餵養教育，移除語言及文化上的系統性障礙，以支持亞太裔母親哺餵母乳。  

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