Today begins World Breastfeeding Week in the good ol' USA. WBW celebrates the signing of the Innocenti Declaration on the protection, promotion, and support of breastfeeding. The Innocenti Declaration came out of the World Health Organization and UNICEF meeting on "Breastfeeding in the 1990's: A Global Initiaive". Produced and adopted in 1990, it documents the benefits of breastfeeding and outlines global and governmental goals.

Observed in more than 100 countries around the world (the dates vary depending on where you are), the theme this year is "Code Watch: 25 Years of Protecting Breastfeeding." 2006 is also the 25th anniversary of the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes (aka "The Code"). The Code is an international public health recommendation intended to ensure that women get pure facts about breastfeeding and infant nutrition, without any aggressive marketing from the infant formula companies. It was adopted by the World Health Assembly in 1981 in the hopes that mothers will be able to make fully-informed decisions about feeding their babies.

If you're breastfeeding, go ahead and celebrate! Don't be afraid to whip it out in public; instead see yourself as an inspiration to others.