
National Breastfeeding Month
August is National Breastfeeding Month — a month dedicated to advancing advocacy, protection, and promotion of breastfeeding to ensure that all families have the opportunity to breastfeed.
Equity gaps in access to resources and support create troubling disparities for breastfeeding mothers and birthing people. NICHQ works to close the gaps and achieve equity in all forms, including race, nationality, gender identity, sexual orientation, and ability.
Hispanic mothers are most likely to supplement breastmilk with formula within the first two days of life. Learn how one hospital is using a variety of interventions aimed at closing the breastfeeding disparity gap.
Chestfeeding is the process of feeding a child human milk from a person's chest. The term can be used by anyone, but often is used by transgender and nonbinary people when the words breastfeeding or nursing are not an ideal fit. Read more about NICHQ's language evolution in this article by COO Heidi Brooks.
Support Breastfeeding Mothers and Birthing People
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends that infants be exclusively breastfed or chestfed for about the first 6 months with continued feeding while introducing appropriate complementary foods for one year or longer. Yet, many mothers and birthing people struggle to reach their breastfeeding goals, and sixty percent do not breastfeed as long as they intended to.
Rates of breastfeeding in the United States vary widely because of the multiple and complex barriers mothers face when starting and continuing to breastfeed.
Factors that influence how long a baby is breastfed, including issues with lactation and latching, concerns about infant nutrition and weight, concerns about taking medications while breastfeeding, and implicit bias experienced through unsupportive hospital practices and policies.
This August, we join the U.S. Breastfeeding Committee in recognizing National Breastfeeding Month. At NICHQ, we are committed to making breastfeeding and infant safe sleep the national norm. Help us spread the word about the benefits of breastfeeding and learn how you can support mothers and birthing people to ensure every child can achieve their optimal health!

Breastfeeding Safety & Safe Infant Sleep
Breastfeeding or chestedding brings a variety of health benefits for babies. But, tired mothers and birthing people need support to continue breastfeeding while ensuring infants sleep safely.
Below are resources to promote and encourage healthy sleep habits for both moms and babies.
- Dispell common myths and facts about safe infant sleep and breastfeeding.
- Educate childcare providers and caregivers with resources about safe sleep practices.
- How sleep savvy are you? Take our safe sleep quiz to find out.
- Implement these tactics and examples to support safe sleep conversations.

Celebrate Black Breastfeeding Week
NICHQ recognizes Black Breastfeeding Week, held annually August 25 – 31, during the last week of Breastfeeding Awareness Month. Black Breastfeeding Week was created by Kimberly Seals Allers, Kiddada Green, and Anayah Sangidele-Ayoka to highlight the unique challenges and triumphs of Black breastfeeding mothers and birthing people.
Systemic barriers to breastfeeding prevent many Black women and birthing people from reaching their breastfeeding goals, leading African Americans to have the lowest breastfeeding initiation and duration rates in comparison to other ethnic groups.

NICHQ’s Breastfeeding and Safe Sleep Work
- We partner with more than 70 cross-sector, national-level organizations that are invested in improving and reducing disparities in infant safe sleep and breastfeeding to provide training and resources to systems and community groups to engage families and help identify and overcome barriers in integrating safe sleep and breastfeeding. Learn more.
- NICHQ is providing a comprehensive capacity-building assistance training program for all Healthy Start programs. The training program includes technical assistance on high-priority topics, such as safe sleep, fatherhood and breastfeeding, and training for program staff on core competencies, including leadership, quality improvement, and data and measurement. Learn more.
Remember, it's also National Immunization Awareness Month!
Health professionals have the power to protect patients against vaccine-preventable diseases. Recommendation from service providers is the number one reason parents choose to vaccinate their children on time. Talk to the families you serve about missed vaccines and routinely assess vaccination status.