National Breast Feeding at Work Week sponsorship connects world’s premier women’s think tank with the leaders in women and children’s fashion, education and healthcare arenas.
WorldWIT™ (www.worldwit.org), the world’s largest community for professional women, announced today its partnership with three industry leaders in women’s and babies healthcare products, education and fashion in honor of National Breast Feeding at Work Week, September 4-8, 2006. The annual week-long holiday was introduced by WorldWIT in 2005. The relationships will unite Medela (www.medela.com), the most trusted breast pump manufacturer in the world, Zutano (www.zutano.com), a leader in children’s innovative fashion and Mother of 7 (www.motherof7.com), one of the foremost breastfeeding advocates in the U.S. with WorldWIT, an award-winning opinion leader for women in business, and will offer exclusive access to first rate content, teleseminars, a complete guide for companies who seek resources and ideas on how to support nursing moms, a pledge for those who seek continued support and the Rumina Award for the top companies who support nursing moms.
As a longtime champion of breastfeeding, Medela works with the world’s leading lactation researchers to develop the most advanced and effective products to support nursing mothers and breastfeeding babies. Most recently, Medela introduced 2-Phase Expression®, the only research-based breastpump technology that mimics a baby’s nursing rhythm, resulting in faster let-down and milk flow. The company’s Corporate Lactation Program was the first workplace program to meet the needs of working mothers who breastfeed their babies.
"Medela’s breastfeeding group exists to enhance mother & baby health through the life-giving benefits of breast milk, which is why we are pleased to be a sponsor of this year’s event, says Susan S. Sperling, Director Marketing Communication & Services for Medela. Our broad range of programs for nursing mothers closely parallel the objectives of WorldWIT’s National Breast Feeding at Work Week , which is why this program is a natural fit for our company.
Zutano’s mission is to celebrate and cultivate child individuality in all aspects of their business practices and development. They are committed to support, nurture and cultivate programs that give back; including educational enrichment programs for children, reproductive rights to women, end childhood hunger, regional scholarship fund, clothing drives and breast feeding educational programs such as WorldWIT’s National Breast Feeding at Work Week.
"Our Zutano ‘bring your baby to work’ program has been so successful I would like to see other companies who can support their employees to breastfeed or pump in the workplace create effective systems," remarks Michael Belenky, President of Zutano children’s clothing. He continues, "We have found at Zutano when the health and well being of our children and parents are taken care of everyone wins."
Mother of 7, Inc. equips expectant and new mothers, educators, advocates, individuals, organizations, businesses, employers and employees with the most comprehensive, up-to-date highest quality breastfeeding video series on the market, designed with various choices for time and budget.
"As a fulltime working mother of seven breastfed children, including twins and a child with special needs, I want to share my wealth of professional and personal knowledge about the innumerable benefits of exclusive, long term breastfeeding for the baby, mother, family and society," says Stephanie Scholz Neurohr, founder and CEO of Mother of 7, Inc. "World authorities and experienced mothers, fathers, and families from around the globe add further insight, bringing cutting-edge breastfeeding education and instruction to not only the WorldWIT members but to their families and friends, all at the click of a button," she continued.
WorldWIT intends National Breast Feeding at Work Week to become an event widely recognized by businesswomen, as well as companies small and large around the nation. The objectives of National Breast Feeding at Work Week are:
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To promote full participation and equality for nursing women in the workplace;
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To educate women who are deciding whether to breastfeed or pump milk upon returning to work after giving birth;
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To describe the major factors involved in making the choice to breastfeed upon heading back to work;
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To publicize the achievements of businesses that have made breast feeding accommodations and offer their nursing mom employees a private space, reasonable breaks, access to a lactation consultant, etc. To learn more about our Rumina award, visit our site: http://www.worldwit.org/RuminaNominations.aspx. The winning companies will be announced the week of August 14, 2006.
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To offer businesses the opportunity to become a Milk Works Employer that pledges to do more in the support of nursing-mom employees (http://www.worldwit.org/BreastfeedingPledge.aspx).
WorldWIT founder, former Fortune 500 VP of Human Resources, mother of five and award-winning entrepreneur, Liz Ryan openly discusses tips for working moms and employers on her Business Mom blog - http://www.worldwit.org/Blogs.aspx:
For more information on National Breast Feeding at Work Week visit www.worldwit.org or contact Kristi Hughes at 215-816-2954.
About WorldWIT
Founded in Chicago in 1999, WorldWIT (www.worldwit.org) is the world’s largest online networking organization for professional women in business, formed for women to share advice and ideas with other women eager to "connect." It reaches over 40,000 women globally via moderated, local email discussion groups like ChicWIT (Chicago), HoustonWIT and BritWIT (Great Britain), and through local events and activities in 80 cities around the world. WorldWIT is also the proud winner of the 2004 Stevie™ Award for Best Woman’s Business Association.
The membership is free and is comprised of women who range from corporate CEOs to home-based consultants and entrepreneurs. Its founder, Liz Ryan, was the first female vice president at U.S. Robotics, and is a popular columnist, speaker and "at work issues" expert. She has been featured by such media as TIME, Fortune, The New York Times, CNN, CNBC and CN8. Liz is also a regular contributor to Business Week Online and the on-air workplace expert for Denver’s NBC affiliate, 9 News. WorldWIT is headquartered in Boulder, CO.
