Photo exhibit at Adventist Family Birth Center in Hanford on February 2

The photo project was a year and a half in the making, and was a gift to the new Birth Center from the Kings County Breastfeeding Coalition (KCBC).

“We wanted to celebrate the Birth Center while communicating to mothers that breastfeeding is normal and accepted in the community,” says Gloria Pierson, 2015 chair of the KCBC.

Pierson and Ann Margaret Lloyd, the Birth Center’s lactation specialist and member of the KCBC, commissioned local photographer Savanna Morgret, of Savanna Morgret Birth Services & Photography, to take the photos. Being a doula and a breastfeeding mother herself, Morgret accepted, and even donated her time.

“In these images, you’ll see mothers in front of iconic landmarks throughout Hanford and Lemoore such as Superior Dairy, the Fox Theatre and Naval Air Station Lemoore,” says Lloyd. “When moms walk into our Birth Center, the photos will let them know we are a hospital and community that promotes healthy babies.”

The mothers in the photos are from Kings County; one is a nurse at the Family Birth Center. They donated their time to be a part of the project, and once word spread about the message being conveyed, local hair salons, makeup artists and others also offered their services.

“This has been an amazing journey of how the community has embraced and partnered with us to make this happen,” says Pierson.

The project is also an important step in the Birth Center’s efforts to become Baby-Friendly. The center hopes to reach that designation before the end of the year. Through the work of the KCBC and hospital, the percentage of Kings County mothers who breastfeed exclusively rose from 37.0 percent in 2011 to 56.9 percent in 2015, according to the California WIC Association. The percentage of Kings County mothers who breastfeed but not exclusively also rose, from 78.1 percent in 2011 to 87.3 percent in 2015.

The breastfeeding photos will be on display at the birth center, before the end of the month.

To see video of Thursday’s unveiling event, please visit: https://youtu.be/CpSjEZbfhKc   

To learn more about the Family Birth Center in Hanford, visit: http://bit.ly/2hKd5zi