This year’s Hakab Na!, held annually in celebration of National Breastfeeding Awareness Month, saw thousands of nursing mothers simultaneously breastfeeding their babies.
More than showcasing the power and importance of breastfeeding for babies, the event, organized by Breastfeeding Pinays in partnership with SM Cares, Department of Health, UNICEF, and World Vision, promoted the importance of providing proper support to nursing mothers.
“What started out as a group of friends asking each other about breastfeeding has evolved into a national movement whose goal is to promote the values of breastfeeding to Filipino mothers. I am ecstatic to see that we are growing bigger each year,” said Bing Guevara, organizer of Hakab Na! 2019 and co-founder of Breastfeeding Pinays.
Nursing moms and their families, breastfeeding support groups, advocates, government, and nongovernment organizations encourage a dynamic exchange of ideas on providing proper information and support to Filipino mothers and their families to enable them to breastfeed and practice good infant and young child feeding.
Anchored on the theme, “Lakas ng Magulang, Sigla ng Pagpapasuso – Kalusugan, Nutrisyon ng Kabataan para sa Kinabukasan,” it featured stories of breastfeeding moms, counseling, discussions on available tools and support for families, and breastfeeding laws to empower breastfeeding moms by assuring them that the act of breastfeeding is valuable as it gives their children the best start in life.
“We cannot undermine the importance of this simple yet critical act, as we strongly believe that children who are breastfed get a healthy start in life,” said Dr. Wigdan Madani of UNICEF Philippines.
Meanwhile, as its way of providing support to nursing mothers, SM ensures there are breastfeeding stations available across all SM Supermalls nationwide.
“We envision our community of mothers to consider SM as their second home. SM strives to be a mall for all and continues to support the mothers and women in communities where our malls are present,” said Berna Velasco, program director for SM Cares Program on Women and Breastfeeding.
SM Cares is the corporate social responsibility arm of SM Prime Holdings, Inc.