BEBES shows benevolence for babies with diaper drive

On Nov. 14, volunteers will help assemble and distribute diaper bundles to low-income families.

Carolina Breastfeeding Evidence Based Education and Support is holding a diaper drive to provide diapers to low income families. The drive is accepting contributions at a variety of collection boxes around campus.

The boxes are located within UNC’s Gillings School of Global Public Health, School of Social Work, School of Medicine, School of Nursing and the Women’s Health Information Center.

Nicole Carbone, co-president of the breast-feeding group, said volunteers will organize the contributions.

“The diapers go to the National Diaper Bank of North Carolina,” she said. “It’s close to Raleigh. On Nov. 14, we’re going to volunteer there to package the diapers, and they are going to go to low-income families who need them.”

Miriam Labbok, faculty adviser of the breast-feeding group, said the organization was created six years ago by students interested in the Carolina Global Breastfeeding Institute, where Labbok is the director.

“In order to support women with breast-feeding, we have to support pregnancy, reproductive health and all of those things,” Labbok said.

“The people who join this group support the three Bs: birth, breast-feeding and birth spacing, which involves helping birth control.”

Kathy Parry, acting advisor of the breast-feeding group and program director of the breast-feeding institute, said members of the group emphasize evidence and learning.

“We want to provide learning opportunities in the areas of birth and breast-feeding for interested students and to advocate for supportive breast-feeding practices on campus in the community and globally,” Parry said. “We provide evidence-based advocacy, and training and community education opportunities.”

Paige Schildkamp, co-president of the breast-feeding group, said the organization hosts a number of events to provide education.

“We generally hold a yearly sexual health trivia event that is usually in the spring,” Schildkamp said. “We have different educational events, so we do tours of the Birth and Wellness Center in Chapel Hill. We’re going to go to the Milk Bank in Raleigh.”

Schildkamp said the School of Global Public Health is also focusing on breast-feeding because of its long-term benefits for mothers and babies.

Carbone said there is a need for education on these issues.

“I feel like a lot of people aren’t aware of the breast-feeding guidelines,” she said. “I feel like it’s a very stigmatized issue within the state.”

The stigmatized issue is just one problem facing mothers, Labbok said.

“There are so many adjunct issues that are needed if you are supporting mothers and children, so this diaper drive is one of many things they do.”

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