Awareness Month

Breastfeeding Awareness Month

August 1 – 31, 2026 Recurs yearly

Mothers, infants, and healthcare workers represented during breastfeeding awareness and maternal-child health education activities.

2026 Theme

RISE: Resilience, Interdependence, Self-Determination, Empowerment

Campaign Representation

Officially represented by the Gold Ribbon.

Campaign Description

Promotes the nutritional, immunological, and emotional benefits of breastfeeding while working to remove barriers and create supportive environments for all mothers, particularly working mothers and those in vulnerable situations.


Key Priorities

  • Establishing clean lactation rooms in workplaces and public spaces.
  • Training peer counselors and healthcare workers on proper breastfeeding techniques.
  • Protecting breastfeeding rights through policy.
  • Supporting human milk banks.


Key Concepts

  • Exclusive breastfeeding for six months.
  • Complementary feeding.
  • Lactation physiology.
  • Breast milk banking.

Theme Focus

The 2026 theme emphasizes the strength of the breastfeeding-support community and the need for policy, systems and environmental changes that make breastfeeding and human-milk feeding more achievable for families.

Key Priorities

  • Support for breastfeeding mothers and families
  • Maternal autonomy and informed decision-making
  • Community and peer support
  • Resilience and empowerment
  • Accessible, evidence-based breastfeeding information
  • Skilled lactation and infant-feeding support
  • Supportive healthcare systems
  • Breastfeeding-friendly workplaces
  • Paid maternity leave and maternity protection
  • Policies that remove structural barriers
  • Reducing disparities in breastfeeding support and outcomes
  • Respectful, nonjudgmental infant-feeding support
  • Stronger community networks
  • Protection and promotion of human milk feeding
  • Meaningful participation of families in shaping breastfeeding-support systems

Key Concepts

  • Breastfeeding
  • Human milk feeding
  • Lactation
  • Infant feeding
  • Maternal autonomy
  • Breastfeeding support
  • Lactation support
  • Maternal health
  • Infant health
  • Infant nutrition
  • Exclusive breastfeeding
  • Complementary feeding
  • Paid maternity leave
  • Breastfeeding-friendly workplace
  • Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative
  • International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes

Campaign Resources & Support

View Awareness Calendar