Get Involved!

Get Involved

There are so many ways to get involved and support the breastfeeding community!

Get started with the Great Nurse-In Action Day! 

We are excited to announce the Great Nurse-In Action Day, scheduled for Friday, August 3.  Great Nurse-In attendees will have the opportunity to visit their members of Congress to educate them about the importance of breastfeeding and solicit their support for a federal breastfeeding law, including an enforcement provision.  Breastfeeding has been shown to have significant physical and emotional health benefits for both mother and child.  Now is the time to increase public acceptance and openness, and to enact the laws needed to aid in this change.

While there are laws allowing public breastfeeding in 48 of the 50 states, many are out-of-date and restrictive, putting the burden of enforcement on the nursing mother rather than those who violate them.  And while there is a law allowing breastfeeding on federal property, we’d like to go one step further and call for the creation of an overarching federal law protecting public breastfeeding equally and completely in all states.  Additionally, we’d like to discuss other laws and policies that impact breastfeeding rates in the United States, including protections for working mothers and funding for breastfeeding education such as the WIC breastfeeding peer counselors.

The Action Day will have both in-person and virtual components.  Those able to travel to Washington, D.C., will visit their Congressional delegates’ offices on Capitol Hill to discuss the importance of better public breastfeeding protections on a federal level. Those unable to make it this year, can contact their representatives through  a  letter campaign, with letters signed  both online and on paper to be delivered on Action Day.  In addition to pursuing changes in federal law,  by conducting this Action Day, we will raise awareness of the state laws that are already in place, which may aid in fewer incidents of harassment of nursing mothers.  

Securing the needed changes to both state and federal law is a lengthy process and a serious undertaking, and it will take time to see results.  But, by standing together and letting our Senators and Representatives know this is an important issue, we can help to make great strides for today’s society and future generations towards normalizing breastfeeding.    

If you’d like to participate in the in-person visits, please email us at greatnursein@gmail.com.

Attend the Great Nurse-In on August 4th!

Have you RSVP’d yet? Do so now, on Facebook.


Participate from Near and Far

We of course hope you can come out to this can’t-miss event on August 4th!  Of course, that’s not always possible, but know that every little bit you do helps support the breastfeeding community. Here are some ideas if you can’t join us in DC.

  • Support with a donation: https://www.wepay.com/donations/greatnursein2012.
  • Tell your friends:
    • Share the Great Nurse-In page and event link on your Facebook page (www.facebook.com/greatnursein.)
    • Follow us on Twitter (www.twitter.com/greatnursein), tweet about us (#GreatNurseIn2012), and retweet like crazy.
    • Write about us on your blog. (If you do, tell us so we can link back!)
    • Talk about us at parties, the park, your child’s school … you get the idea.
  • Contribute to our YouTube project – www.youtube.com/TheGreatNurseIn. Upload your stories about nursing in public and offer encouragement for others. Be sure to use the tagline “Nurse on, Mama” and tag the videos “nurseonmama.”
  • Take part in our Action Day preparations! We’ll be crafting letters to members of Congress to solicit their support of improved breastfeeding laws, including an enforcement contingency. You’ll be able to sign these letters online and we’ll pass them along to your delegates.
  • Sign up to host or attend a Big Latch On event in your area – http://www.biglatchon.org/. The Big Latch On will take a count on nursing pairs at registered events at 10:30 AM local time to set a world record for simultaneous breastfeeding. It will be one of our activities in DC, too!
  • Get out and nurse wherever you are on August 4, and tell us about it on Facebook and Twitter (again, #GreatNurseIn2012.) Post stories and pictures!
  • KEEP DOING WHAT YOU’RE DOING! One of the most important ways we’re going to enact real change and make public breastfeeding a social norm is by nursing proudly supporting other nursing moms, and by setting an example for our children in our own communities.

Leave a Reply