Ottawa – On Saturday September 29 at 11a.m., mothers and babies will gather at sites across Ottawa and around the world for a friendly competition to see who can set the record for the most babies’ breastfeeding at one time. Mothers are asked to register their event and be counted!

The Quintessence Breastfeeding Challenge, which began in 2001 as part of World Breastfeeding Week, an international celebration of breastfeeding. The event promotes the importance of breastfeeding and of supporting breastfeeding mothers and their families.

Breastfeeding has many well-documented health benefits for both mothers and babies. Ottawa Public Health (OPH), the World Health Organization, Health Canada, and the Canadian Paediatric Society all recommend exclusive breastfeeding from birth to six months of age, with continued breastfeeding to two years and beyond.

As Ottawa strives to be a city where mothers can feel comfortable and free of judgement to breastfeed when and where they choose, OPH encourages families to join in this celebration of breastfeeding.

Here’s how you can participate and be counted in the challenge:

• Attend one of the registered sites
• Host your own event

Information on the Breastfeeding Challenge site locations and how to register your own site can be found at ottawa.ca/health.

OPH also invites mothers to use Facebook or Twitter to share that they breastfed on September 29, by tweeting @ottawahealth with the hashtag #ibreastfeed, or by posting on OPH’s Breastfeeding Challenge event wall at facebook.com/ottawahealth. Watch the OPH blog the week of September 24 for inspiring stories from local moms.