Breastfeeding and Feminism Symposium: A national effort to reposition breastfeeding as a women's reproductive health and rights and justice issue

Many women face the dilemma of how to be employed and allocate sufficient time and resources to ensure the wellbeing of family members. Breastfeeding is a maternal health practice that cannot be effectively delegated to others; however breastfeeding decisions and practices occur in the context of many continued inequities in gender norms and power: little public or private-sector support for breastfeeding and mothering; sexualization of the breast; lack of adequate health coverage; and lack of support by family and communities for breastfeeding. The Breastfeeding and Feminism Symposium is a national effort to reposition breastfeeding as a fundamental part of women's reproductive health and rights. The 2007 symposium, led by the Center for Women's Health and Wellness at UNC Greensboro and the Center for Infant and Young Child Feeding and Care at the University of UNC Chapel Hill, had the goals of enhancing coalitions and collaborative actions between breastfeeding advocates, professionals, and researchers and those concerned with contraception and abortion, worker and maternity rights, adequate health insurance, women's economic and professional advancement, public health, and health systems and services. This paper will describe the background and philosophy of the symposium, the agenda for collaboration action, and future directions.