El Paso Community College (EPCC) recently united with the Binational Breastfeeding Coalition (BBC) to hold their 14th Border Latch, an event celebrating World Breastfeeding Week and aimed at normalizing and supporting the act of breastfeeding, according to EPCC News. Taking place at the EPCC Northwest Campus Library, the event featured the Global Big Latch On, where 10 mothers and EPCC student parents participated in unison with a global initiative, latching their children for one minute to promote breastfeeding.
As obtained by EPCC News, Head Librarian Lorely Ambriz discussed the importance of breastfeeding awareness in an academic environment and how EPCC has implemented lactation spaces to align with legal requirements and to support student parents, and though Texas law and federal regulations, including the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and the Providing Urgent Maternal Protections (PUMP) for Nursing Mothers Act, mandate reasonable break time and a private space for lactation, Ambriz notes that awareness among faculty and students remains limited, so EPCC administration has taken proactive measures are being taken to better accommodate the needs of lactating students.
The event tied in with the overarching theme of World Breastfeeding Week 2025, "Prioritize Breastfeeding: Create Sustainable Support Systems," focusing on establishing support for breastfeeding mothers and emphasizing its role in environmental sustainability. This theme underscores the importance of providing long-term, equitable support to breastfeeding mothers and thus highlights how breastfeeding contributes to environmental sustainability.
EPCC's Border Latch was supported by various healthcare professionals and organizations from both the United States and Mexico, such as Dr. Leticia Nevarez, who shared breastfeeding nutritional facts and Marciona Davis, a participating mother, who emphasized the abundance of available resources for breastfeeding that many mothers might be unaware of; also present was UTEP Associate Professor of Industrial Engineering Priya Pennathur who mentioned in a statement obtained by EPCC the intent to redesign breastfeeding experiences by leveraging her engineering background, the event not only focused on providing immediate support but also looked forward to creating systemic changes to improve postpartum experiences for all mothers involved.
