Honouring the first traditional food that nourishes babies, families and communities
Every year from August 8 to 14, FNHA marks Indigenous Milk Medicine Week, a time to make space for and celebrate Indigenous Life-Givers and their unique milk-feeding experiences.
Led by the Indigenous Milk Medicine Collective, the week honours life-giving and recognizes breastfeeding and chestfeeding as powerful expressions of strength, connection and cultural continuity.
This year’s theme is “We keep the fires lit: Rising through milk medicine – Honouring the brilliance, continuity, and cultural strength carried through Indigenous lactation and community care.”
Milk feeding is deeply personal. Breastfeeding and chestfeeding can be complex and aren’t always an option for everyone. Indigenous Milk Medicine Week includes and honours the full diversity of Indigenous milk-feeding experiences, including those who are unable to, or who choose not to, breastfeed or chestfeed.
Milk medicine supports, and is supported by, a person’s whole health — spiritual, emotional, physical and mental. It can be a powerful bond between parent and child, deepen connections within families and communities, and for many, it is an expression of love, dedication and healing.
Milk medicine also provides important nourishment and protection. It contains hormones, proteins, sugars, fats, fatty acids, vitamins and immune factors that help babies grow and develop. Its composition changes over time to meet a baby’s needs.
Milk feeding is also associated with health benefits for both babies and parents, including protection from some illnesses and a lower risk of certain health conditions such as certain ovarian and breast cancers, type 2 diabetes, and high blood pressure. For baby, feeding with breast milk and chest milk is associated with a lower risk of sudden unexpected infant death during sleep.
Breast milk and chest milk are medicine.
This Indigenous Milk Medicine Week, FNHA invites you to celebrate and honour the life-givers, breastfeeders and chestfeeders in your family and community.
Resources for caregivers
