Nutrition: Breastfeeding Resources
National Breastfeeding Month
Each year, we celebrate August as National Breastfeeding Month. This is a time to recognize the benefits of breastfeeding and raise awareness about the importance of support for families who provide human milk to their children.
We join local and national organizations to honor, support, and uplift breastfeeding families in all forms. In 2025, related breastfeeding events and celebrations have grown to more than a month, with many beginning in August and some continuing into September.
August is National Breastfeeding Month with the theme of, "Forward Together." This year’s theme centers unity, solidarity, and hope, and celebrates the strength and determination of the organizations and advocates committed to advancing policy, systems, and environmental change to improve access to human milk. Weekly celebrations include:
- World Breastfeeding Week, August 1–7, 2025: Theme: Prioritize Breastfeeding: Create Sustainable Support Systems.
- National WIC Breastfeeding Week, August 1–7: View the proclamation from U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Secretary Brooke L. Rollins, for National WIC Breastfeeding Week.
- Indigenous Milk Medicine Week, August 8–14. Theme: Indigenous Milk: Where Tradition Meets Health. Check out the Native Breastfeeding Coalition of Wisconsin Indigenous Milk Medicine Week toolkit (PDF).
- Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Breastfeeding Week, August 15–21. The theme is, "Diverse Voices, One Vision”.
- Military Lactation Celebration, August 22–24. Theme: Decade of Dedication.
- Black Breastfeeding Week, August 25–31. Theme: Boots on the Ground: Rooted in breastfeeding success, Grounded in community support.
- Workplace Lactation Week, September 1–7. Theme: A World of Support: Creating Breastfeeding-Friendly Workplaces Everywhere.
- Latina Breastfeeding Week, September 3–9. Theme: Territory of the Heart, Breastfeeding without Borders.
- Deaf & Hard of Hearing Breastfeeding Week, September 16–22. Theme: Close the Gap, Bridge the Divide: Establish Breastfeeding Support Access. This celebration is new for 2025. The purpose of this initiative is to provide the nation’s deaf community with accessible breastfeeding education and support, because language and breastfeeding access matters from birth.
We are proud to share our 2025 governor's proclamations:
- National Breastfeeding Month, 2025 Governor's Proclamations (PDF) | National Breastfeeding Month accessible version (PDF)
- Indigenous Milk Medicine Week, 2025 Governor's Proclamation (PDF) | Indigenous Milk Medicine Week accessible version (PDF)
- Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Breastfeeding Week, 2025 Governor's Proclamation (PDF) | Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Breastfeeding Week accessible version (PDF)
- Black Breastfeeding Week, 2025 Governor's Proclamation (PDF) | Black Breastfeeding Week, accessible version (PDF)
- Semana de la Lactancia Latina (Latina Breastfeeding Week), 2025 Governor's Proclamation (PDF) | Semana de la Lactancia, Spanish version (PDF) | Semana de la Lactancia, accessible version (PFF).
Additional resources
The following websites include resources that help support breastfeeding and human milk feeding efforts.
- Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine—Brings medical doctors together to promote, protect, and support breastfeeding around the world.
- American Academy of Pediatrics: Breastfeeding—Provides recommendations, guidelines, and resources to health care professionals working with breastfeeding families.
- CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention): Breastfeeding—Includes data and statistics, guidelines and recommendations, and more.
- The Surgeon General’s Call to Action to Support Breastfeeding—Provides the key findings and action steps from this 2011 report.
- U.S. Breastfeeding Committee—Brings organizations together to promote, protect and support breastfeeding across the country.
- Well Badger Resource Center—Offers a one-stop connection to community, social, health, and government programs.
- Wisconsin Association of Lactation Consultants—Offers support and education to lactation consultants, as well as supporting breastfeeding initiatives.
- Wisconsin Breastfeeding Coalition—Works to promote, protect, and support breastfeeding in Wisconsin.
- Mother’s Milk Bank of the Western Great Lakes—Serves families in Wisconsin and Illinois by collecting, pasteurizing, and dispensing donor human milk to premature babies and pediatric patients.
Breastfeeding programs
The following programs and initiatives support breastfeeding and human milk feeding efforts in Wisconsin.
- Maternal and Child Health Program (Title V): Program that strives to improve the health and well-being of mothers, infants, children, and youth, and their families. This includes children and youth with special health care needs.
- Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity Breastfeeding Initiatives: Program that offers resources to assess and implement breastfeeding supports and practices.
- WIC Breastfeeding and Lactation Support: Program that offers breastfeeding support to participating families.
Note on inclusive language
We recognize that not all people use the term “breastfeeding.” Chestfeeding and bodyfeeding are other ways to describe the feeding of human milk to a child, whether directly from an individual or from those who exclusively pump their milk or use a supplemental nursing system. While our resources may occasionally use the term “breastfeeding” and “mothers,” we intend for this information to be inclusive of all families.