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3 August: what is celebrated today
3 August brings an essential idea for contemporary life into focus: the possibility of deciding. Deciding when, how and whether to start a family; deciding how to care for a changing body; deciding with information and support. On this date, family planning and the start of a week dedicated to breastfeeding coincide, two distinct dimensions but ones deeply connected by rights, health and autonomy.
International Family Planning Day
International Family Planning Day recalls that motherhood and fatherhood should not be the result of chance, but of a conscious choice. Planning does not mean only controlling birth rates: it involves sex education, access to safe contraceptive methods, prevention of sexually transmitted infections, support before and during pregnancy and care for infertility.
This right, however, is not guaranteed for everyone. Millions of women and families around the world still lack real access to modern contraceptives, whether for economic, cultural, geographical or gender-related reasons. Family planning saves lives: it reduces unwanted pregnancies, lowers maternal and neonatal mortality and allows people to organise their life project with greater emotional and economic stability. On a planet strained by population growth and inequality, planning is also a form of collective care.
World Breastfeeding Week
World Breastfeeding Week is celebrated from 1 to 7 August, promoted by the World Health Organization and UNICEF, and coordinated by the World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action. Although it is moved to October in some European countries, its symbolic framework coincides with these first days of August.
Breastfeeding is a deeply personal practice, but also a social one. It brings decisive benefits for the health of the baby and the mother, reduces inequalities and has a positive environmental impact compared with artificial feeding. Talking about breastfeeding is talking about supportive environments: families, health systems, labour policies and public spaces that respect the rhythms of the body and care.