MIDDLEBURG – Women around the globe will breastfeed their babies at the same time to raise awareness and support around breastfeeding and its benefits.

The Big Latch-On has been happening for nearly two decades around the world, but Ascension St. Vincent’s Clay County has been participating for four years and it’s excited about this year’s event. The hospital opened its maternity ward five years ago and after one year, it became an official participant of the event.

“We do this to raise awareness for breastfeeding in our community,” Ascension’s lactation consultant Ellen Haynes said. “It’s a global event that started in New Zealand back in 2005 and they brought it some years later [to America and elsewhere]. The Big Latch-On is going to be a socially distanced event at the hospital this year, but it will see moms all over join in virtually as well.”

In years past, the event was held in the maternity ward. But due to COVID-19, that’s not possible this year. Instead, Haynes and her team had mothers register for a drive-thru-style event.

The first 50 moms to have registered will go to the hospital on Aug. 7 at 10 a.m. They’ll receive a swag bag of goodies from the hospital and other local organizations and then park their car in a specially designated area. Even if someone isn’t one of the first 50, they can still drive there and participate. When it’s time, the moms will have their children latch on to breastfeed and when they’re done, they’re asked to honk their horns. Someone at the hospital will count all the horns and submit those numbers to the global count.

“It’s about peer support, community support, raising awareness and helping women reach their breastfeeding goals all in one,” Haynes said. “All three campuses of Ascension in Northeast Florida are baby-friendly designated and that’s a global health initiative launched...back in 1991 [by some other organizations such as UNICEF]. “That [designation] recognizes and encourages hospitals and birth centers that offer an optimal level of care for infants that are feeding and mother-baby bonding. It shows they go above and beyond to help moms with feeding plans, bonding and breastfeeding.”

This event lines up with World Breastfeeding Week, which is the first week of August, so it’s a great capstone to a week of people celebrating, educating and raising awareness about something so important.

Haynes said breastfeeding is more than a way to feed a child. She said it can reduce the risk of breast cancer and ovarian cancer in both the mother and their baby girls, and it can reduce the risk of diabetes, obesity, infection, allergies and “a lot more,” according to Haynes.

For anyone looking to register for the event, Haynes can be reached at (904) 602-1004. The latch-on begins at 10:30 a.m., and only the first 50 mothers will receive swag bags, although more are free to join the event in person if they’d like, Haynes said. She also said that those interested in joining virtually can do so by liking the La Leche League of Clay County Facebook page.