A Call to Action.

What moves you to action?

We're constantly inundated with opportunities to support one cause or another in a variety of ways - through awareness raising or fundraising or letter-writing or phone calling.  We can't possibly respond to everything. 

So which things catch your attention?  Often an experience of our own compels us to act for a particular cause.  Perhaps you lost your mother to breast cancer so breast cancer awareness is where you put your time.  Or maybe your husband has diabetes and you always support fundraising for diabetes prevention.  Maybe you lost a baby cousin to SIDS, & you share every "back to sleep" article or graphic you see on social media. 

Actually, those are all close to home for me.  But my passion is breastfeeding advocacy.  Maybe in part that's because breastfeeding reduces risks for breast cancer, diabetes, and SIDS, as well as a myriad of other life threatening illnesses.  

Breastfeeding has long been treated as a lifestyle choice, but after ages and ages of recommendations by all of the major physician organizations, it is now beginning to be treated as a public health issue.  As such, our society is faced with trying to adjust to the notion that if we want moms to work and we want moms to breastfeed, we must support their efforts to express milk at work.  And to the notion that if we want moms to support the economy and we want moms to breastfeed, we must accept and support that we're going to see them nurse their babies in grocery stores and restaurants.  

Currently there is legislation that would support mothers' efforts to breastfeed at work and in public, but the bills may never see a vote if they're not set for a date on the House floor by the end of the day Monday, May 6th.  

And here's where you will hopefully be moved to action: YOU can help.  In just a few minutes, you can contact legislators and ask them to put HB 741 and HB 1706 on the calendar ASAP.  Whether your cause is postpartum depression support, obesity prevention, child and maternal health, standing up to discrimination, women's rights - the list goes on - advocating for breastfeeding mothers and babies is a cause we can all get behind. 

Please go to TXBFLeg.com and see how you can support nursing moms and babies today in a way that will impact them for so many tomorrows.