Using Art to Raise Awareness of Breastfeeding for Children with Medical Complexities

Breastfeeding is the best gift a mother can give to its infant. The milk is often referred to as liquid gold because of its amazing nutritional value, probiotic and other supplements no formula milk or animal milk can substitute.

According to WHO, every mother should exclusively nurse their child for the first 6 month and then for at least 2 years on the whole. But unfortunately this is not what transpires according to the data collected. In fact, over 70-80% of mothers starting with breastfeeding at the time of birth end up to be merely 25-30% till the 6 month mark and further down till the 2 year mark. This can be various reasons like not enough milk supply which can be boosted with best lactation cookies.

This case is for the normal child but what if the child is born with some medical complexity? Well, then things get even more disappointing which is alarming to say the least. There isn’t enough research or data but the number is quite low for sure. We all need to collectively work our way to ensure that every child gets the proper nutrition from their mothers and if the mother is not fully aware or knowledgeable about it then its time we take steps to do that.

Art is a great medium to achieve that, it has been successfully broaching many taboo topics and the message sent across is quite powerful when done through various forms of art like painting, portraits, sculptures and drawings.

In this article I will be telling you how art can be a great way to raise awareness of breastfeeding for children with medical complexities.

1. Art is Powerful

There is no doubt about the fact that art and artworks have a profound impact on one’s thinking process. Artwork not only engages the sight sense but it also tantalizes the brain in pounding over what it's seeing. We often remember what we see rather than what we hear or read.

That's because our mind remembers the vivid images, bold strokes and the powerful story depicted by the art work. If we want more and more people to understand the importance of breastfeeding for children and especially for the ones with medical complexities, then art work is what we need to include in our research and studies so that it reaches more and more people.

2. Art is Omnipresent

Art has no language, race, ethnicity or geographical barriers, it’s omnipresent which makes its reach so much more wide. You can see a painting, get influenced by it not because it’s made by a fellow countryman, you get influenced and impressed by it because it is beautiful, impactful, courageous and understandable. The message it sends across is clear, crisp and clean.

No need for any translation to understand what exactly the painting is trying to say. For raising awareness, art is a great medium as it has a much wider reach without any barriers which is really important if we want to bring change on a larger scale and deal with questions like how to increase milk supply?

3. Art is Comforting

Now artwork is not just powerful, impactful and ubiquitous it is also very comforting, reassuring and uplifting. For mothers who are apprehensive and doubtful about breastfeeding their child with special medical needs may have many thoughts regarding the impact of this decision on their child’s health or how it may result but seeing an artwork that beautifully depicts this can suddenly be very reassuring and comforting for the parents.

Depending on the artwork, they can get an idea of how it can be done, how easy it looks and how happy and calm the baby is.  All this can never be done with a piece of article or a doctor uttering those repeated lines like a script.

4. Art is Not-In-your-Face

If you want to send a powerful message across, make sure it’s subtle and easy to digest. If it’s too in-your-face, bold and loud people most probably shy away from it. If you want to convince parents of the importance of nursing a child especially with medical complexities than art work is the best way possible.

It can be hung in the clinic, sent in pamphlets and brochures or can even be gifted as a token of appreciation by the hospital. There are just so many ways to do it which will be subtle yet powerful enough to make an impact.

A Word from Milky Mama

Milky Mama is a company that deals with all-natural supplements that answer the one important question, how to increase milk supply.

We truly understand the importance of breastfeeding and want to make this journey super easy for all the parents out there. So next you need help in boosting milk supply. Try our best lactation cookies for the win!