The Big Latch On 2024
The Big Latch On was held from Friday 12th to Sunday 14th April 2024. This was our second year back after a haitus due to COVID-19 and it was really great to feel the excitement and desire to come together and celebrate breastfeeding across the motu.
It was important to us to make the event as inclusive as possible, so the focus was on community and including all parents, pēpi, whānau and kaimahi attending, rather than the official ‘latch on’ which we have done away with this year. We also welcomed parents on all feeding journeys.
We recorded a total of 1,519 participants at 40 events around the motu! There was a wide diversity of celebrations, ranging from large scale events with hundreds of participants, to many smaller intimate community and private events. We also had 219 Brelfies (breastfeeding selfies) shared to our Facebook page. We asked hosts to describe the Big Latch On using three words and the top words used were – Celebration, community and connection! Thank you to everyone who took part in the post-event evaluation, watch this space as we look to make the Big Latch On even bigger and better next year.
We are really proud of this year’s Big Latch On poster – scroll down to find out more about the meaning behind it:
We whole-heartedly acknowledge that breastfeeding takes a village, and this year’s Big Latch On poster celebrates all people that make up villages. In Te Ao Māori, harakeke (flax) can symbolise whānau (family). Our pēpi is the centre of the harakeke, where the shoot (te rito) is the child and their parents (awhi rito) are the next layer of protection for pēpi, with the next layers being their extended whānau and community.
The harakeke weaves together the layers of the Big Latch On and the ways in which the event supports parents in their feeding journey. The korari blades reach out to connect the many people that support the feeding journey – mums, dads, grandparents, extended whānau, friends, midwives, breastfeeding advocates, lactation consultants, community groups and more. As well as representing the many ways of feeding pēpi which include but are not limited to; breastfeeding, chestfeeding, pumping milk, supplemental nursing systems (SNS), bottle feeding, tandem feeding and more.
It is important that all parents feel welcome to celebrate their feeding journey and the village that supports them, whatever this looks like, as each whānau and pēpi are unique. We hope that you will come together to join us in celebrating the Big Latch On 2024.
“Ko te mana o te whāngai ū, ko tā te whānau whānui – Supporting breastfeeding helps whānau and communities to flourish.”
Infographics
We prepared the following infographics to demonstrate the success and positive impact this community-driven event has on women and people who breastfeed, and their communities.
Please feel free to download and share these infographics with anyone who you think might be interested in hosting a future event and wants to know more!
Full Evaluation Report (click to download full report or open the images below)
Resources from Big Latch On 2024
Take a look back at the 2024 event, host resources and our amazing supporters that brought this event to life!