Merced Breastfeeding Network

📢 Community All Call — Sunrise Ceremony & Milky Way Journey Submissions Are Now Open!

We’re inviting our relatives, friends, and community to share offerings for Indigenous Milk Medicine Week 2026 (August 8-14). This year’s theme, We Keep the Fires Lit: Rising Through Milk Medicine, honors our collective care, continuity, and cultural practice. Here's how the community can get involved:

☀️ Sunrise Ceremony Offerings
Consider sharing a pre‑recorded prayer, song, movement, or cultural expression to be featured in our daily Sunrise Ceremonies during IMMW.

🌌 Milky Way Journeys
Share photos and a brief reflection from your Milk Medicine journey to help us uplift the diversity of Indigenous lactation experiences.

Deadline: July 25, 2026
Your voice keeps the fires lit. Your story matters. Your offering strengthens our community.

👉 Submit here: 🔗 https://forms.gle/ts1Y9nV6qCdbZd6y6

Please help us spread the word — like, comment, and share to help this reach our relatives.

Castle Family Health Centers' Community Wellness Day!

Join out community partners for a day of free health screenings, entertainment, giveaways and valuable resources for families. We're excited to contribute First 5 backpacks filled with early learning materials for children ages 0-5 to help support school readiness!

📅 Saturday, July 25
⏰ 9:00AM - 1:00PM
📍 Castle Clinic, 3605 Hospital Rd.

We hope many families take advantage of this wonderful community event!

National Breastfeeding Month 2026 is right around the corner. We are getting ready for a full month (and more!) of education, celebration, and advocacy. This year's theme is RISE: Resilience, Interdependence, Self-Determination, Empowerment.

Please mark your calendars for our National Breastfeeding Month Proclamations happening at the City & County level!

The Merced Breastfeeding Cafe Support groups meets today at 10am until noon.

ATTN: New Mommy & Me Program

Join us in partnership with Boys & Girls Club of Merced County THURSDAY June 25 at 10am for a Lactation Education Class! We will be covering the basics such as getting a good latch, newborn care, bottle feeding, newborn behavior, sleep patterns, and more!

1520 W Main St (NEW! Boys & Girls Club Teen Center)
Merced, CA
10am
Thursday June 25th

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Atención: nuevo programa para mamás y bebés.

Clase de education sobre lactancia! En colaboracion con Boys & Girls Club of Merced County. Bolsas de reglaos para los participantes que asistan. Education sobre el cuidado del recien nacido. Informacion sobre la alimentacion, lactancia y biberon).

Clase es gratuita y conducida en ingles y espanol 🙌🏻

1520 W Main St (Boys & Girls Club Teen Center)
Merced, CA
10am
Junio 25, 2026

The California Health Collaborative’s Maternal Wellness Program is excited to invite pregnant individuals or families with children under 3 to participate in our upcoming Color Me Calm painting event on Wednesday, June 17, 2026, from 2:00PM - 3:00PM at NK Designs & Gifts studio located at 2836 G Street at Bear Creek Galleria in Merced 🎨

This event is designed to bring together families to cultivate meaningful connections, learn about mental health resources, and strengthen support within Merced county.

Participation is free but must register to attend. There will be refreshments and families will be painting a baby/toddler shirt.

Registration - Limited Space:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeVUDdcQoomPhTnz_R-KTEyCaVPgYGN1BuCXr5pekjLUtcwpw/viewform

Eligibility:
Merced County resident
Pregnant, postpartum, or parent/caregiver of a child under age 3

This event is organized by the California Health Collaborative - Maternal Wellness Program with funding made possible by First 5 Merced County

Join us for Merced's World Breastfeeding celebration planning! First planning commitee takes place June 16 on Zoom at 11am

(Link in the comments to register!)

TWO Meetings coming up - if you're looking for ways to support families in Merced County, join our Network of passionate community advocates! We are currently planning our World Breastfeeding Week/Month celebrations and our general body quarterly meeting is in July.

congrats to Mercy Medical Center Merced on the new Mamava pods!! Thank you as well to First 5 Merced County for always supporting breastfeeding 🥰 Our Network Member, Miranda, was honored to be at today’s Ribbon Cutting to celebrate the partnerships happening in Merced County that support families 💓