Feel Free To Feed Campaign : Behind The Scenes

   Back in July, Jencel, a fellow SPiN mom, got in touch with me about the possibility of the group working on a breastfeeding campaign. As soon as she mentioned it, I got really excited. First, because SPiN was initially formed as a breastfeeding support group so this cause was near and dear to me. And second, the SPiN admins were actually trying to figure out what we could do to celebrate Breastfeeding Awareness Month in August. And this was a perfect activity to pursue. 

   A few days after Jencel and I talked, I met with Tim Jimenez, the Creative Director of the project, together with Jencel and Mitz, the Marketing Head of SPiN. Tim mentioned that this campaign would focus on reminding breastfeeding moms that they are not alone and that feeding their baby is a beautiful, natural thing that should not be subject to any shame or social pressure. I told him that I had some apprehensions about tying-up initially because in the breastfeeding community we do not want moms to think that they need malunggay supplements or other galactagogues to have a successful breastfeeding relationship and journey. To increase their supply all they need to do is allow their babies to latch as often as possible. Basic law of supply and demand --- the more baby nurses directly, the more your body will produce milk. We want breastfeeding moms to take supplements to help make them healthy, not for them to make milk. He assured me that although this breastfeeding awareness campaign is spearheaded by a malunggay supplement, it would not be a hard sell. He shared that he really pushed for this campaign because he believed in and supported breastfeeding because he saw how it benefited his child whom his wife breastfed for a year. He also said that the project director and photographer, Anna Varona, also breastfed all her 6 children for a minimum of one year! Tim then presented an initial working logo, a video peg for the project as well as other possible mechanics for the campaign. We gave our input and we agreed on tasks and timelines. The more we discussed, the more excited we got because it was was becoming more real. 

   As soon as Tim left, Mitz and I started brainstorming on which SPiN mommies to tap. We agreed that we needed some diversity. We wanted as many breastfeeding moms to be represented --- moms with newborns, some with babies who were starting solids, moms with toddlers, working moms and stay-at-home moms. After coming up with a shortlist we started contacting them. And that is where the real work began! Getting schedules aligned was the most difficult part really. After a week or so, we were able to get the assignments finalized and confirmed with the moms. But of course as with most activities, we ran into some unforseen issues during the actual shoot days  --- a baby got sick so they had to back out, a mom had to work real late the night before so was aaking for a reschedule, rain staryed falling during a scheduled outdoor shoot, etc. The shoot happened over 5 days and despite all the obstacles we were able to successfully shoot 12 mom & baby breastfeeding dyads (pairs) --- Kring, Anna, Tin, Liza, Lei, Shine, Jencel, Lulai, Jah, Kat, Mel and myself. Anna said that she had fun working with all the moms. She also related how until now breastfeeding in public seems to still be taboo as she witnessed and captured on camera various negative reactions to the SPiN moms who were nursing. But overall, all the shoots were a success. The raw material was finally submitted on the 30th of July. And then the wait began. It felt like forever. I was dying to see the finished material.

  Three weeks later, I received an email from Tim. It contained the posters as well as the video. As I opened and browsed my heart was pounding. My smile got bigger and bigger as I browsed through the photos which were wonderfully shot by Anna (www.annavarona.com). You could feel the joy, love and connection that the moms had with their nurslings. The video on the other hand was catchy and feel good. They were all beautiful. It made me so proud to be part of such a campaign and proud to be part of South PiNanays. 

   Finally, on August 30 during the Breastfeeding Awareness Celebration at Asian Hospital where I was a speaker, South PiNanays together with representatives from Natalac, unveiled the Feel Free to Feed Campaign Posters and Video. The mommies, daddies, doctors ans nurses in attendance loved it. And so did we. 

   This campaign is a labor of love. One that is at testament to SPiNs committment and dedication to promoting & normalizing breastfeeding and to supporting moms and moms-to-be in their breastfeeding journey. Because truly, Breastfeeding IS Best Feeding. 

   What do you think of the campaign posters and video? 
        

The Birth of South PiNanays

Sometime in mid-2011, I was heavily pregnant with my second child. After attending a birthing class where the coach talked about breastfeeding, my husband and I decided that we would breastfeed our child exclusively. I researched for as much information on the internet as I could to help me succeed long-term this time around as my eldest child was only breastfed for 3 months. When I gave birth in July, I breastfed as often as needed. I was quite happy that everything was going well despite initial latching issues but a few days after arriving home I started experiencing engorged breasts and sore nipples. Again, I turned to the internet for help. I found and relied on Kellymom for breastfeeding information. I tried to search for local breastfeeding support but found none. The only local source of breastfeeding information I found was from the Chronicles of a Nursing Mom and I went over the many posts. I never gave up searching for answers and by God’s will and my husband’s unwavering support, I was able to overcome the problems and was able to continue breastfeeding our little girl exclusively.

When I returned to work, I expressed my milk religiously to provide breastmilk while I was away and to ensure that I kept my supply up. By chance, I met a LATCH Counselor at one of the business seminars I attended. We chatted a bit and I mentioned that I had been searching desperately for support and if she knew of any counselors living around the Alabang area but she knew of none --- the exact same response I got from the different breastfeeding groups I reached out to as well. Despite the many obstacles and lack of support, I successfully breastfeed until our daughter’s 1^st birthday.

In 2013, our youngest child was born. That day, I started my tandem breastfeeding journey. Aside from trying to recover from birth and figuring out how to position my two children, we had to help our 20 month old overcome her jealousy.  Since I was breastfeeding for 20 months, I thought this time around engorgement and sore nipples would be a thing of the past but I was wrong! I needed help again but like in the past local resources about breastfeeding was limited. 

When my baby girl was about 2.5 months, I started experiencing excruciating pain on my left breast after feeding at night and so I went online again to search for answers and a remedy. I endured the pain for 5 days after which I decided to see my OB. She tried to help me but to no avail. It was then that I found out that there was such a thing as an IBCLC, a doctor who specialized on breastfeeding concerns. So I went to see the nearest IBCLC and after a couple of weeks of treatment including correcting my latch, she diagnosed me with vasospasm or Reynaud’s disease. I took medications and things improved including my breastfeeding relationship with my youngest. I returned to work in the midst of treatment and after reading about RA 10028, I worked on getting a lactation room set-up in our office. I had a couple of employees who were pregnant at that time and I knew it would also benefit them.

First Meet-Up

It was also around this time that I finally found an online breastfeeding support group in the Philippines --- Breastfeeding Pinays! After a month of actively visiting and participating on BFP, I took a leap of faith and asked if there were members who lived in the same area as I did and wanted to meet-up. Within a day or two, almost 40 moms answered and so I started organizing a meet-up. So on the 5^th of October 2013, over 20 moms and moms-to-be converged in Asian Hospital for a breastfeeding talk. This was the start of South PiNanays (SPiN), a breastfeeding and mommy support group specifically for those living in the South Greater Metro Manila Area (Paranaque, Muntinlupa, Las Pinas, Cavite, Laguna & Batangas) because I knew that mommies living in this area were in dire need of breastfeeding support. With this group, I found like-minded women who could provide support to one another. 

To be able to help more moms and moms-to-be, I decided to get more education and training. I am currently a certified Breastfeeding Peer Counselor with LATCH and BFP and with the knowledge I gained from training combined with experience from breastfeeding continuously for 40 months, I am able to further the advocacy of providing the correct breastfeeding information and most importantly support to women who were going through problems and concerns I had to go through in the past practically alone. 

SPiN now has a couple of trained breastfeeding peer counselors as well as moms who are well-versed in other natural parenting practices such as baby wearing, cloth diapering and baby led weaning so we can now help more nanays in need. As we continue to grow in numbers, experience and knowledge I am giddy and excited to see what the future will bring to the South PiNanays community!