Angela Lewis with baby Julia and Helen Wellington at the Big Latch On in Whangārei on Friday.
More than 100 Northland mums turned out at venues around the region for Big Latch On events to celebrate Global World Breastfeeding week.
The annual event first started in New Zealand in 2005 by Women's Health Action. In 2010 the rest of the world joined in, and it is now
a worldwide peer support and community development event aiming to strengthen national and global support for breastfeeding. Last year almost 40,000 mothers from around the world latched on over two days.
Northland DHB lactation consultant Helen Wellington was thrilled with the turnout for the Whangārei event on Friday which officially saw 80 mums latch on 10.30am at the Clark Road Chapel, Kamo.
Wellington said the tally was good considering the stormy weather and trialling the new location, which she said was the perfect venue for the mums and their babies. She was also pleased to see far more older children breastfeeding, which shows more mums are feeding for longer.
Wellington's daughter Kylee Parker has been organising the event for the past five years with Charlene Morunga. Parker said they were overwhelmed with the support they received from local businesses who came forward to offer products for spot prizes.
