Latch On, Lubbock

WHAT:  The big pink “Milk for Thought” bus will stop in Lubbock on its 45-day tour through 30 American cities. The “Milk for Thought” team, made up of nurses and other breastfeeding supporters, aims to change breastfeeding attitudes by connecting moms to local experts and counselors, baby-friendly hospitals and birthing centers, support groups and other mothers.

WHEN: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturday (Aug. 20)

WHERE: South Plains Mall, 6002 Slide Road, JCPenney main corridor

EVENT: The national “Milk for Thought” campaign has selected the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center’s (TTUHSC) Larry Combest Community Health and Wellness Center as a featured community-based program with rural outreach for empowering women to breastfeed. This opportunity is result of the TTUHSC School of Nursing’s lactation consultant presenting the Nurse-Family Partnership Program at the International Lactation Consultant Association Annual Conference in San Diego.

Nurse-Family Partnership is an innovative program that helps first-time mothers develop the skills they need to raise happy, healthy children. In 2008, the Texas Health and Human Services Commission awarded the school $854,835 to establish the program at the Combest Center. Since then, eight full-time nurse home visitors have helped nearly 300 families, including those in Lubbock and surrounding areas get off to a healthier start.

For more information about “Milk for Thought,” visit http://www.milkforthought.com/tour. For more information about the Nurse-Family Partnership, contact Program Supervisor Lisa Dillard, R.N., BSN, at 743-3390 ext. 222 or email lisa.dillard@ttuhsc.edu.

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