Breastfeeding Archives
New Study Says Breastfeeding Raises A Baby's IQ
May 06, 2008
For the latest bit of evidence in this department...there's a new study published in the Archives of General Psychiatry. Here's some information from The LA Times:
Increased breast-feeding during the first months of life appears to raise a child's verbal IQ, according to a study of nearly 14,000 children that was released Monday.
The study in Archives of General Psychiatry found that 6-year-olds whose mothers were part of a program that encouraged them to breast-feed had verbal IQs that were an average of 7.5 points higher than those of children in a control group.
The researchers said that their findings suggested that the longer an infant is exclusively fed breast milk, the greater the IQ improvement.
The results echo smaller previous studies that found children and adults who were breast-fed tended to have higher IQs than whose who were not...
The latest study tracked breast-fed infants born between June 1996 and December 1997 in Belarus. Half of the infants and mothers were assigned to an experimental program designed to promote breast-feeding, while the remaining infants and mothers received regular pediatric and follow-up medical care.
The breast-feeding program included increased counseling and instruction when women visited doctors or clinics.
At the end of three months, 72% of infants in the experimental group were still breast-feeding to some degree, compared with 60% in the group that did not receive breast-feeding support.
The researchers believe that what drove the results was the substantially higher number of infants who were exclusively breast-fed in the experimental group: 43% compared with 6% of infants in the control group.
All children in the study were interviewed and examined between 2002 and 2005, when they were an average of 6 1/2 years old. The children's academic performance also was evaluated by their teachers.
Besides the improvement in their verbal IQ scores, children in the experimental group scored an average of 4.9 points higher on tests that specifically measured vocabulary.
Compared with children in the control group, children in the experimental group had overall IQ scores 5.9 points higher than those of children in the control group and better academic assessments from their teachers, but the improvements were not deemed statistically significant.
Kramer said that more research was needed to determine whether the benefits were related to a component of breast milk or to the physical and social interaction between mother and child that is inherent in breast-feeding...
Mama Knows Breast Book Contest Winners
April 29, 2008
Thanks to everyone for sharing their breastfeeding stories for my book giveaway contest.
Here are the ten winners of my book "Mama Knows Breast: A Beginner's Guide to Breastfeeding." Will the following ladies please send me their mailing addresses. Write to mamaknowsbreast@yahoo.com.
1. Lindsie:
I don't have a funny story because I had trouble breastfeeding my first due to inverted nipples. I would like to win a copy of your book because I really want to be able to breastfeed my second.
2. Katie:
The cable guy was working on the TV in another room and suddenly came into the room where I was nursing my daughter. while he was asking me a question I didn't even notice that she detached and my breast was hanging out free! Guess he got a little more of an eyeful than he was bargaining on!
(I would love to have this book for my mother who is a doula. She does a lot of breastfeeding education.)
3. Amira M.
I am not a mom but my good friend, who is a lactation consultant, was breast feeding her son in a lecture hall during a class. now, he has the habit of making lots of very "satisfied" noises while he is feeding and because of where she was sitting in the hall, his suckling was loud enough for the professor to hear! he stopped and everyone was looking around to see what was making the noise, but the baby was nicely hidden under a blanket.
4. Vicky:
I guess one of the funniest times was when I was nursing my second son. My oldest who was around 2 at the time always wanted to help out like a big brother. His baby brother was hungry and I was having one of those hormonal moments....you know the one that can make you cry in an instant because you are lacking sleep. I started boo-hooing and my oldest sat beside me and lifted his shirt and told me he would feed the baby so I could "rest." He immediately turned my tears of frustration to tears of joy.
5. Awesome Mom:
I was not able to nurse my #1 son because of his heart defect. He was too weak to nurse so I pumped 14 months for him. During his second hospital stay for a heart surgery I kept having nurses come in to check in on him because they thought my pump was my son breathing really funny.
6. Chris:
The look I got from a semi-truck driver as I pumped while driving home late from work one day!
7. Lucy:
My first baby is due in June, so I don't really have any stories just yet, but would love to be entered to win (it is a beginners book after all :)).
8. Liz
My craziest breastfeeding moment has to be when I was on a 6 hour car ride to visit family. We had stopped multiple times and the baby was just not happy to be in his seat. I kneeled on the seat next to him and hung over top of his seat and fed him while he was still strapped in! Oh the memories! :)
9. Becky
I wish I had a funny nursing story to tell. My first two attempts were pretty awful, so I don't remember anything funny, just sad. The lactation consultant said in her 25 years of doing this, "I've never seen anything like you." Great! : ) I'm determined to give it a try again this time with baby #3. Thanks for your nice comment on my blog giveaway. This has been so much fun!
10. Audra
I feel asleep feeding my baby in the recliner (don't worry I didn't drop him) and when I woke up awhile later. I found him asleap and me nursing his ear which was filling up with milk! Thanks for the great giveaway! I would love to give this to mis sis-in-law who was anti breastfeeding the first time but has had a change of heart and would like to breastfeed #2.
Tell Us Your Breastfeeding Problems-- Join Our Carnival
April 14, 2008
If you've had a baby, odds are you had some sort of confusion, at one point or another, about how to feed her. And if you were breastfeeding, part of it probably went like this. "Oh, man, my boobs are _______." (Fill in the blank with your own thoughts here).
So, in honor of all the breastfeeding challenges we've stared down and conquered, the April Breastfeeding carnival is focused on breastfeeding problems. We want to hear from you about how you overcame a challenge, and where you turned for help. If you used the internet, please share the link with us.
I know this is sort of last minute, but the deadline for submission is supposed to be tomorrow, April 15th (tax day). If the other breastfeeding bloggers and I pick your post, you'll be asked to link back to each of the other participants in the carnival on April 22nd.
Breastfeeding Mom in Maryland Could Face Jail Time for Postponing Jury Duty
March 25, 2008
When I was about 36 weeks pregnant with our first baby, I had to go to court for jury duty. I waddled my way into the courthouse and settled uneasily into the wooden bench. Fortunately, the lawyers took one look at me and let me go. Wise decision, I believe. Had they picked me, I would have had to raise my hand every hour to go to the bathroom.
Before that day, I had considered postponing my jury duty until after the baby was born. But I soon realized that didn't make sense since I was planning to work from home and breastfeed. Without a full-time sitter, jury duty would have been near impossible. I had served on a week-long trial once before, so I knew what I was in for.
Given the challenges of breastfeeding and serving jury duty, there are twelve states that actually exempt breastfeeding mothers from jury duty (California, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Oregon and Virginia). Click here to learn about the laws in your state.
So it's a bit of a surprise to see what's happened to a Maryland mom. A judge sentenced her to a night in jail or a $150 fine, after she asked to postpone her jury duty. Here's the story from one of the local TV stations:
Elizabeth Jett's baby boy Henry was less than 12 weeks old when she was called for jury duty. "I think it’s a case of priorities. Taking care of your children should be your first priority. Jury duty can always come later," Jett said.
Jett asked to postpone and serve during the Summer, when Henry would be older and her mother, a full-time teacher, could take care of him and his five-year-old brother.
The Carroll County judge said Jett was in contempt of court, which Jett thought was unbelievable. "I was just shocked. I couldn’t even put it into words," she said.
Legislation that would allow nursing mothers with children under the age of two to be excused from jury duty was introduced for the second time. When the plan was proposed in 2004, many lawmakers shot it down.
Brian Frosh, Chair for the Maryland Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee, said the law would cause more people to try to postpone their duties, "If you start saying, we’re gonna excuse people for breastfeeding, you’ve gotta say ok to kidney dialysis, chemotherapy and all the other maladies that afflict the human condition."
Frosh said the law already gives judges broad discretion to excuse residents from jury duty, "So what we want is for judges to use their discretion liberally."
As for Elizabeth Jett, she has since asked for a waiver, because she can't afford the fine. The judge in the case, Barry Hughes, did not want to comment. The jury commissioner hung up on Andrea McCarren, as soon as she identified herself as a reporter.
Click on this link to watch the video from the TV station. You can read more about this story from the Baltimore Examiner.
Breastfeeding is Good For the Environment
February 28, 2008
Anything you can do to cut down on the amount of stuff you send to a landfill has got to be eco-friendly. Breastfeeding falls into that category. So, boob fed babes=less trash.
Nursing Mother Supplies is recognizing this with an on-line contest. Here's information from the site:
Get your saying on a t-shirt, win a $300 breastfeeding gift basket and help the environment all at the same time. We, at Nursing Mother Supplies, are searching behind every breastpump and baby to find a witty mom. We know there is a mom out there who has the perfect catch phrase to encompass the environmentally friendly impact of breastfeeding.
* The winning phrase will be printed on t-shirts and sold at nursingmothersupplies.com.
* All of the profit generated from the sale of t-shirts will be donated to charity.
* Fifty percent of the profit will be donated to La Leche League International to assist in its effort to promote breastfeeding.
* The other fifty percent will go to an environmental organization chosen by the winner.
Click here to enter. The deadline is April 30th.
Lamaze International and Mama Knows Breast
Here's a cool one... a fellow blogger recently brought this to my attention.
Lamaze International has put "Mama Knows Breast: A Beginner's Guide to Breastfeeding" on its 2008 list of Recommended Resources for Pregnant Women and Their Families.
To see the full list, click on Lamaze.org. Look for the center left column (For Expectant Parents) and the flashing "NEW" icon.
Oscar News: Ryan Seacrest, Jessica Alba and Breastfeeding
February 25, 2008
Talk about chutzpah....During the Oscars red carpet last night, E host Ryan Seacrest asked Jessica Alba if she was planning to breastfeed. Maybe it was because of an interview earlier this month when she told Extra that she was worried about breastfeeding.
Watch this video courtesy of TMZ to see her answer. All I have to say is...you go girl!
Dads and Breastfeeding
February 24, 2008
If you're easily offended, don't watch this video. If, however, you want to see an irreverant take on breastfeeding, you'll get a good chuckle out of this one from the guys at Dad Labs.com.
So there you have it, my addition to the February Breastfeeding Bloggers' Carnival. To see what the other participants have to say, visit these sites:
* Tanya at the Motherwear Breastfeeding Blog has some book reviews.
* Stacie at The Twinkies has a joke for us.
* Sinead at Breastfeeding Mums has a story about a pumping multi-tasking disaster.
* Amy at Crunchy Domestic Goddess shares several, shall we say, "titbits."
* Carol at Happy Sad Mama shares why she loves to nurse her toddler.
* Angela at Breastfeeding 1-2-3 has some search terms that lead readers to her site.
Christina Aguilera Talks About Breastfeeding on The Ellen Degeneres Show... Plus... A Breastfeeding Comic Strip
February 21, 2008
Singer Christina Aguilera stopped by the Ellen Degeneres show recently. She has a new baby, and her low cut green dress prompted Ellen to ask Christina if she was nursing. Watch the clip on YouTube.
And now check this out... a comic strip about breastfeeding. Check out Stone Soup's take on breastfeeding in public. Click here.
A Video Interview With Me
January 10, 2008
The website Boldfacers.com recently interviewed me, and the story (click here) has some of the best breastfeeding puns you'll ever come across. It all starts with the headline, "She's Stacked, Baby." Now why didn't I think of that?
If that's not your thing...just surf around the site to find profiles of people doing pretty cool stuff in all sorts of fields...people like a sneaker designer, a landscape architect and a jazz club founder.
Now click the play button below to watch this video.
How To Make A Brisket And Get Your Kids To Eat
January 03, 2008
I once ate an entire brisket. Of course it didn't happen in one sitting. But slowly, over the course of four days, I polished off about 5 pounds of meat.
This wasn't supposed to happen. The boys (ages 1 and 3) and my husband were supposed to pitch in. In fact, the meal was designed to get the boys to eat some real protein. They were going through their white period-- bread, bananas, yogurt, noodles, oatmeal and some raisins for variety. Maybe an apple. Definitely nothing green.
I figured that perhaps I needed to get more creative. It was time to focus on giving them a good old fashioned meal. So here's what I did. I called my grandmother and followed her directions:
1. Buy a big hunk of brisket (first cut) from Fairway.
2. Saute some onions and peppers (add salt and pepper) and line the bottom of a glass pan with the mixture.
3. Add in a big can of crushed tomatoes and a package of dried Lipton onion soup.
4. Put the brisket on top. Add in more peppers and onions (not cooked-- but I don't know why). Some garlic cloves go in too.
5. Add in small, pre-peeled potatoes.
6. Cook at 350 for about two hours.
7. Add in mini carrots.
8. Cook for another hour or more. (It's not possible to over-cook a brisket). Periodically use a spoon to spread the sauce over the brisket.
9. Take the brisket out of the mix and cut it on a cutting board. Slice thinly, against the grain.
10. Add the slices back into the mix.
11. The result is an incredibly tender meat that tastes even better when you re-heat it and serve it on the second and third day.
Laboring all afternoon, I eagerly anticipated the oohs and ahhs as I put the meal on their plastic, disherwasher-safe plates. I envisioned them grabbing fistfuls of meat and smearing sauce on their cheeks. I thought I'd have to tell them to chew slowly as they smashed carrots and potatoes into their mouths.
Here's what happened instead. The carrots ended up on the floor, the meat was untouched. "Please, stay in your seat," I pleaded. "Here, just give this a little try. It's delicious. No, you can't have a cookie." As I cleaned up the dinner debris, I ate what they left behind. This scenario replayed itself out at lunch and dinner for the next few days, and my husband was only home for one dinner. Hence, my brisket gluttony.
There were many times, when the boys were babies, that I worried about whether or not they were eating enough. Even in the early days of breastfeeding, I looked forward to doctor visits to see if they had gained weight. That sense of bewilderment is probably what motivated me to write my book in the first place. And despite my concerns, I do know that the kiddies are on track. At nearly 40 and 30 pounds respectively, pushing them in the double stroller is a serious work-out. Who needs the gym? Just try bench-pressing these guys all day.
My mom says not to worry, that they'll eat when they're hungry. The pediatrician assures me they're fine and don't need vitamins. I even have a 6 foot plus cousin who spent most of his preschool years, as I recall, eating raisin bread and cheerios. So I know it's not that big a deal.
But I'm not giving up yet. Every night I try to give them a protein, a fruit and a vegetable. I've decided that if they won't eat it, tough. I'm not going to do fancy cooking gymnastics a la The Sneaky Chef or Deceptively Delicious. I don't have the time or energy to puree beans and hide them inside other dishes. I do give in to their inner Cookie Monster demands, but not as often as they'd like.
Last week, we spent time with my mom. The first night we were all together we sat down for dinner, and she pulled a brisket out of the oven. I watched her put a heaping portion on the kids' plates. I looked down at the carpet, quietly thinking about removing a red stain from the fibers. I excused myself from the table for a moment, with a shrug of resignation. When I returned, our 1 year old was actually picking at something on his plate, and best of all, his older brother-- well, he had a mouthful of food and was already asking for more.
I can't explain it. Same recipe. Same presentation. Maybe they were finally hungry. Or maybe it was the grandma touch. Come to think of it, hey mom, want to come to visit us this weekend? The kitchen is all yours.
Keeping a Feeding Log
January 02, 2008
When our first son was born I kept a meticulous journal of his feedings. I'd note the time he ate, which breast he ate from, and how long he fed. I also marked down wet and dirty diapers. I was on top of things, and pretty proud of myself. At least I was, until his pediatrician more or less dismissed my note taking. I handed him a copy of the log, and he gave it right back to me. "I don't need this," he said. But look at all my hard work, I felt like saying back to him. Look, even my handwriting is neat!
What I realize now, is that he was essentially saying, your son is fine. He's peeing and pooping and most importantly gaining weight-- you can relax.
But fast forward to our second son, I did the same thing again. I kept a journal for a couple of weeks because I found it helped me keep track of what was going on. In a post-delivery fog, and sleep-deprived state, it helped me to remember when he ate. It was especially important because he was a sleepy baby, and I had to wake him to make sure he ate frequently enough.
So, I still like the idea of keeping notes for a little while, at least. And I'm sure some moms do it longer. That's why I was excited to get a copy of this journal from Random House. "Time to Feed: A Journal for Recording Your Baby's Feeding Schedule" is a great gift for a new mom. In fact, I just gave it to a friend today. It has simple entry spaces for each feeding, whether its boob or bottle, breast milk or formula. Best of all, there is a basic guide to breastfeeding at the back of the book, written by La Leche League.
One Mom's Story-- Trouble Conceiving, And Then Trouble Breastfeeding
December 27, 2007
Pregnancy and breastfeeding are hard enough when everything goes according to plan. Sometimes, nature defies us and makes it even tougher. Mel, the blogger, behind Stirrup Queens, sent me this story about the trouble she had conceiving and breastfeeding. Here's her story.
Maybe I couldn't conceive on my own and maybe I couldn't get to term, but come hell or high water, I was going to breastfeed. When the babies were born, I wanted to get to the NICU immediately, not just to check out their adorable punim (Yiddish for cutie faces!), but because I needed to get them on my breasts. Everyone knows that early breast milk is crucial for a full-term baby so imagine what I had convinced myself in my anxious little head in regards to my premature, underweight, IUGR (Intrauterine Growth Restriction) babies. It was like my breasts were literally leaking the medication that would get them home and I wanted to shove my boob straight into their mouth AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.
Except that my breasts weren't really leaking anything. Strangely, I hadn't had any breast changes during the pregnancy. No sensitivity, no big boobage. My size C's stayed firmly size C's. I commented to my OB about this and he brushed it aside saying that many women experienced no breast changes. Which is probably true.
But then my milk didn't come in. My boobs never became "engorged." In fact, it was sort of like my boobs hadn't gotten the message at all that I was pregnant nor had given birth. I thought of my boobs like teenagers glued to a Sony Playstation who have blankly turned towards my voice with a glazed over expression. "What? You were pregnant? Dude...that is nasty."
But the breastfeeding consultants and books didn't find this a problem. Rest more! Pump more! Eat more! Drink more! This was the advice that kept coming around every time I set up a session with a consultant and mentioned that eight full pumpings as well as several sessions directly on the breast every day yielded at most one ounce--altogether. In other words, I could squeeze out a few cc's each session and if you poured all of them together into a vial, you could sometimes eek out an ounce that would go to one baby for one feed.
Books promised me that if I followed their instructions, I would easily be producing four ounces or more per feed. And I believed it because I wanted to believe it. Even though everything felt wrong just as it had with conception. I knew long before that first year was up that something felt "off" and I knew long before the blood work yielded no prolactin in my body that something just didn't feel right with breastfeeding. Beyond quantity, my breast milk didn’t really even look like the breast milk the other NICU mothers were proudly placing in their child’s bottle. One triplet mum confided in me that she had so much of this creamy goodness stored in the refrigerator that the nurses were telling her to pump and dump. The babies just couldn’t keep up with her overachieving breasts.
But I really wanted to breastfeed, so I kept with it for weeks, drinking the water, popping the Reglan they promised would increase milk production, pumping with one of the twin’s dirty spit cloths under my nose to stimulate the brain. I was literally willing to try anything.
Breastfeeding for me was very similar to trying to conceive. The initial message when I expressed my fear that something was wrong, conceptionwise, was that I needed to give it time. I was told I needed to relax. I was told that a good vacation would bring me a baby. Then the blood work was taken and diagnoses were doled out. Suddenly, there were identifiable problems and doctors stopped telling me to relax and started addressing the situation as if they had believed me all along when I said, "something just doesn't seem right."
Which made me realize that some breastfeeding consultants are a lot like pilates instructors. They have a focused agenda. Pilates instructors are going to push a pilates routine with exercise being of utmost importance. They believe that almost everyone can do pilates as long as you really want to do it and you commit yourself to the exercises. If you're going to take a half-assed approach, you're going to get half-assed results. But if you make the commitment to doing pilates every single day and doing the exercises correctly, you are going to succeed and feel good and be aligned and whatever else you gain from pilates. Pilates instructors are never going to nod their head in agreement and say, "sedentary living and forgoing exercise to drink a latte and read a book is just as good as pilates."
Therefore, I cannot blame breastfeeding consultants when they have an agenda. Breastfeeding consultants do not believe that formula is just as good as breast milk, therefore, I can hardly blame them when I went to them for instruction and had them berate me for giving my children formula (we had a breastfeeding consultant tell us we made a terrible choice by taking our children off IVs and giving them formula through an nasogastric tube. She told us that this proved that we weren't committed to breastfeeding).
But I can blame them for telling me continuously that my lack of breast milk was my own doing and that all women can breastfeed if they wish. Turns out, if you don't produce any prolactin, you can't. But no one told me to have blood work taken. Instead, it was something I had to push for with my OB at my 6 week appointment. And with the results, there was no apology at pushing my body and self-esteem through hell. There was simply a shrugging of the shoulders and a comment that this "sometimes happens to women who use Follistim during fertility treatments."
Which is a long-winded way to say to breast feeding consultants, help your clients get a diagnosis. New mothers are insecure mothers, desperate to succeed at what we’re told is the most natural thing in the world. When you see issues cropping up—breasts that are never engorged, breasts that remain indifferent whether the mother is pumping or not, or simply the mother who says, “something isn’t right”—start with removing the blame from the woman and instead suggest some simple blood work to check prolactin levels prior to prescribing medication or superhuman pumping schedules. Be boob investigators. True breast advocates. And if everything checks out and no problem can be identified, run down the list of suggestions to increase supply: eat more/eat less/drink more/sleep more/stop exercising/relax.
The best day of my foray into breastfeeding came when I received my diagnosis at the endocrinologist. I walked out of her office crying, mourning that there was yet another womanly trait I couldn’t master. But also relieved that stopping the madness was the right decision. I was never going to be able to make breast milk and all of the suggestions consultants threw at me—from the 2 liters of daily water intake to the Reglan—were like drawing blood from a stone.
Most new mothers who start out trying to breastfeed truly want to succeed. Instead of admonishing those who quit, try sending the message that breastfeeding doesn’t work for everyone. We all have to make decisions that work best for our family and ourselves. And sometimes very real problems exist and the message that “breast is best” cannot trump the more useful adage: take care of yourself. Positive interactions could be the difference between the mother who tries again with her second child and the mother who swears off breast feeding forever.
For myself, I’m not giving up on the idea of somehow producing prolactin if I ever get pregnant again. Boobs, beware! I've conquered my ovaries and I've conquered my uterus. I'm coming for you next. I mean...after I get knocked up...
Notes from Andi: I inserted the links to other sites in this post. Additionally, the book "Medications and Mothers' Milk (Thomas W. Hale, Ph.D.) has this to say about Follicle Stimulating Hormones, such as Follistim: "FSH...is very unlikely to enter milk or be orally bioavailable to an infant. However, it is not known if the administration of FSH, and the subsequent maternal changes in estrogen and progesterone, would alter the production of milk. It is likely, since the onset of pregnancy is commonly followed by a decrease in milk production in most mothers." (page 379).
If you want information about different medications and breastfeeding, check out Dr. Thomas Hale's book and website. Also, check out ToxNet/LactMed.
Finally, a final note about Reglan-- it can cause depression, so be sure to talk to your doctor if you have a history or depression or experience any feelings of depression.
And for more information on increasing your milk supply, check out this post from lactation consultation Melissa Nagin on About.com.
Answering Your Breastfeeding Questions
December 20, 2007
I've been doing some guest writing on The Nest Baby, a cool site for new moms. Readers have been submitting questions about breastfeeding and I've been answering them. You can check out all of the answers on this link. You can also jump right to the specific questions from these links:
Breastfeeding Positions
Breast Lumps and Nursing
Dealing with Thrush
Inverted Nippes
Milk Blisters
Newborn Eating Enough?
Getting Help At Home
Prepping to Nurse?
Prepping to Pump?
Pumping and Work
Pumping Problems
Storing Breastmilk
Travel while Nursing
Weaning and Milk Supply
Pumping Extra Milk
If you have a specific question, feel free to email me any time at mamaknowsbreast@yahoo.com.
Breast Feeding on The Tyra Banks Show
December 11, 2007
If only all talk shows would do segments like this one....
Watch Tyra Banks get a lesson in breastfeeding. Click here to watch the video from one of her shows.
And thank you, Black Breastfeeding Blog, for bringing this to my attention.
What's Best for Babes?
November 30, 2007
There are a lot of organizations, professionals and moms-on-a-mission who are devoted to promoting breastfeeding. They all do good work. Now here's another group that is taking a unique approach to increasing breastfeeding rates in the U.S. Best For Babes is a non-profit founded by two moms who are trying to harness the power of mainstream media. I had a chance to talk to the founders Bettina Forbes and Danielle Rigg about their plans. Here's what they had to say:
What is Best For Babes?
Best for Babes is dedicated to increasing breastfeeding rates and making breastfeeding mainstream. To accomplish this, BfB is the first and only entity to bring together celebrities, corporations, foundations, fashion, advertising and the media to give breastfeeding a makeover. Our motto is “inspire, prepare, empower”: BfB is providing inspiring images and role-models, smart info on how to avoid the "booby traps," and how to have a game plan for breastfeeding successfully. Our research and experience have convinced us that this strategy is the best antidote to persistently low U.S. breastfeeding rates.
Why did you start BfB?
Because new moms don't need more pressure or more guilt! They need solutions, and the inspiration to succeed at nursing. We are two moms who endured unnecessary breastfeeding problems ourselves and heard many similar stories from our peers. Danielle took her personal struggle and passion for breastfeeding and turned it into a degree as a CLC (Certified Lactation Counselor) in 2002. Bettina was more recently certified. In our work we kept finding the same problem: too many moms weren’t being motivated, prepared or supported properly. At a time when breastfeeding is being encouraged as never before, women are still being set up to fail.
On the motivation side, we found that many women were being turned-off both by existing breastfeeding groups and by images with which they did not identify. Many moms also were scared-off by stories they heard about breastfeeding problems. The saddest part is that 95% of these problems are easily avoided with the proper guidance.
What are your goals?
We’d love to see the U.S. have the same breastfeeding rates as Sweden—where 99% of women initiate and 79% are still mostly breastfeeding at 6 months. In the U.S., the initiation rate is 64%, and only 14% are breastfeeding exclusively at 6 months. One of our most important goals is to provide celebrity and everyday role models. Many women have never seen another woman breastfeed and don’t know where to turn for support or inspiration.
We also want to simply get the most accurate information into women’s hands. Mainstream articles are not always evidence-based, and put little emphasis on prevention. So, we are educating women on how to be better prepared before birth—which hospitals have the best breastfeeding track record, how to find a pediatrician who is trained in lactation or has an IBCLC on staff, which health insurance covers lactation specialists; which employers provide pumping accommodations and on-site daycare. Women also need social support from families and friends. They need positive media images and stores and restaurants that are nursing-friendly. All of these make a huge difference in breastfeeding success We will also be asking for volunteers: Moms are a powerful force and we think the time is right to harness their energy. Moms deserve to be pumped up, geared up, and to feel fabulous about giving their best mom-made wonderfood™ to their babes.
What celebrities are on board with this idea?
Marilu Henner is one of our founding board members and has been terrific. She immediately “got” our concept and is tremendously supportive. Henner is a well-known actress and a New York Times bestselling author who has dedicated herself to helping people improve their health. We’re expecting other celebrities to jump in soon too.
What did you do before BFB?
Well, immediately before BfB, both of us were trying to figure out how to tend to two small children (apiece), our husbands, our homes, and still find time to change the world! Before that, Bettina worked in corporate philanthropy for Merrill Lynch where she managed a highly successful scholarship program for inner-city youth in ten major U.S. cities. The program received numerous awards, including the nation’s highest honor, the President’s “Points of Light” Service Award, in 1999. Danielle was an employment and labor lawyer working at a prestigious NYC firm, and, later, for a large corporation. She gave all that up when she found her calling to help women learn to breastfeed Danielle’s diagnosis with breast cancer at age 37, has motivated her even more to tout breastfeeding’s protective effect against breast cancer – especially the lesser-known benefit for breastfed baby girls.
What should we watch for next from BFB?
In August we were on the cover of Stork Magazine. This was the first in a series of gorgeous images plus smart info that we have planned for our advertising/media campaign. Look for interviews with us in prominent mainstream magazines, and cross-marketing projects with our partners. Also tune in to the “Boob Tube” at www.bestforbabes.com where we set the record straight on latest breastfeeding-related articles, research and products.
New Policy for Separating Illegal Immigrants From Their Breastfed Babies During Detentions
November 17, 2007
For once, here's some breastfeeding news that makes sense. The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) has issued new guidelines on the detention of nursing mothers who are in this country illegally. The New York Times is reporting today that they can now be released unless they pose a national security risk. ICE's new written guidelines also establish how agents should handle the arrests of single parents, pregnant women, and other immigrants with special child or family care responsibilities.
This follows a sad case last month. Here's part of the NYT article:
Federal immigration agents were searching a house in Ohio last month when they found a young Honduran woman nursing her baby. The woman, Saída Umanzor, is an illegal immigrant and was taken to jail to await deportation. Her 9-month-old daughter, Brittney Bejarano, who was born in the United States and is a citizen, was put in the care of social workers....
Ms. Umanzor, 26, was arrested in her home on Maple Street in Conneaut, Ohio, on Oct. 26 and was released 11 days later on orders of Julie L. Myers, the head of the immigration agency. While in detention, Ms. Umanzor did not see her daughter Brittney, who had been fed only breast milk before her mother’s arrest. Ms. Umanzor remains under house arrest with Brittney and her two other children in Conneaut, 70 miles east of Cleveland, under an order for deportation. Her lawyer, David W. Leopold, has asked that her deportation be delayed on humanitarian grounds.
Ms. Umanzor had been at home with two of her three children, both American citizens, when the immigration agents arrived, along with a county police officer carrying a criminal warrant for a brother-in-law of Ms. Umanzor who also lived in the house.
As the agents searched, Ms. Umanzor breast-fed her jittery baby, she recalled in an interview after her release.
The baby was born in January in Oregon, where Ms. Umanzor’s husband, also Honduran and an illegal immigrant, was working in a saw mill.
Through a quick records check during the raid, the immigration agents discovered a July 2006 order of deportation for Ms. Umanzor, who had failed to appear for a court date after she was caught crossing a Texas border river illegally.
The agents detained her as a fugitive. She was forced to leave both Brittney and the other American daughter, Alexandra, who is 3, since the agents could not detain them.
“Just thinking that I was going to leave my little girl, I began to feel sick,” Ms. Umanzor said of the baby. “I had a pain in my heart.”
Ms. Umanzor turned over her daughters to social workers from the Ashtabula County Children Services Board, who had been summoned by the immigration authorities. In all, the social workers took in six children who lived in the Maple Street house, including Ms. Umanzor’s oldest child, a son born in Honduras. They also included three children of Ms. Umanzor’s sister, an illegal immigrant who was at work that day. Four of the children were born in the United States.
In jail and with her nursing abruptly halted, Ms. Umanzor’s breasts become painfully engorged. With the help of Veronica Dahlberg, director of a Hispanic women’s group in Ashtabula County, a breast pump was delivered on her third day in jail. Brittney, meanwhile, did not eat for three days, refusing to take formula from a bottle, Ms. Dahlberg said.
After four days, the county released all six children to Ms. Umanzor’s sister, who managed to wean Brittney to a bottle.
On Nov. 7, after two dozen women’s health advocates and researchers sent a letter protesting Ms. Umanzor’s detention, Ms. Myers issued a memorandum instructing field officers “to exercise discretion” during arrests by releasing nursing mothers from detention unless they presented a national security or public safety risk.
In cases where the breast-feeding children were United States citizens and entitled to public services, Ms. Myers urged the officers to seek assistance from social agencies to “maintain the unity of the mother and child.”
New Websites for You To Check Out
November 16, 2007
Here are some of my recent internet discoveries:
Sinead, from Breastfeeding Mums has launched a social networking site for moms called BMums.
Breastfeeding Guru is a beautifully designed site that has news, reviews and expert views. There's a review of my book on the site. Mindith, the woman who runs the site, is a Certified Lactation Education Counselor.
And now some food for grown-ups. Check out FoodieBytes, a new way to find a restaurant. Type in the sort of food you want to eat, in a particular city, and you'll get a list of restaurants. Right now the service is available for New York, Boston, San Francisco, Chicago and Washington, DC. There's a blog too. Thanks to Kelli of ABoobLog for telling me about this one-- it's her husband's new venture.
Does Breastfeeding Make Your Breasts Sag? New Study Says No
November 14, 2007
From December 2003 to March 2006 I was either pregnant or breastfeeding. Not a day off. I got pregnant with The Bear while still breastfeeding The Bortski. So for a while I wasn't quite sure how things would look in the boob department once I was all done with the baby feeding thing. So what happened? Let's just say my bra size has changed. I won't tell you which way it went....up or down. But let's just say that it's different. And almost any mom will tell you something similar.
All the literature I've ever read says that breast changes are due to the pregnancy itself, weight gain, weight loss and heredity. Breastfeeding has nothing to do with it. Now a study that came out last month confirms that breastfeeding doesn't make your boobs sag. Here's some information from WebMD.
"Expectant mothers should be reassured that breastfeeding does not appear to have an adverse effect upon breast appearance," report University of Kentucky plastic surgeon Brian Rinker, MD, and colleagues.
They interviewed 132 women who came to their plastic surgery clinic to get breast augmentation or a surgical lift for sagging breasts.
The women were 39 years old, on average. The majority -- 93 patients -- had had at least one pregnancy. Most of the moms -- 58% -- had breastfed at least one child.
Rinker's team noted the women's medical history, BMI (body mass index), pre-pregnancy bra cup size, smoking status, and other factors.
The bottom line: "Breastfeeding does not adversely affect breast shape, beyond the effects of pregnancy alone," conclude Rinker and colleagues
However, four other factors were linked to breast sagging:
* Older age
* Cigarette smoking
* Larger pre-pregnancy bra cup size
* Greater number of pregnancies
Age and cigarette smoking both hamper skin's elasticity, note the researchers.
When I first learned about this study, and realized it was done by some plastic surgeons, I was a bit skeptical. Their ultimate goal, obviously, is to plant the idea in women's heads that a boob job is the way to go post-baby. But put that aside for a moment, and focus on the study's bottom line. Breastfeeding is not going to change your figure. I guess it's nice to get a thumbs up for breastfeeding, no matter where it comes from.
Still Trying to Get Amazon to Let Me Create a Tag That Says Breastfeeding
November 07, 2007
So far, I haven't had any luck with my quest to create certain "tags" on the Amazon page that sells my book. Amazon won't accept any variation of the word breastfeeding. I wrote about this here and here last week. Since then, I wrote yet another letter to Amazon. I got a pretty lame response today.
Here's my letter.
To the Amazon Team:
I have been trying to create tags for various forms of the word breastfeeding. Breast feeding. Breast-feeding. Breastfeed, breast feed, breast-feed. Amazon will not let me do this. The title of my book is "Mama Knows Breast: A Beginner's Guide to Breastfeeding." So these tags are very important to me.
I wrote about my trouble with this on my blog. www.mamaknowsbreast.com My blog is linked through RSS to the Amazon site, so the post is visible on my sales page. Can someone please help me resolve this problem? Thank you.
Here's the response:
Andi, Thanks for contacting us at Amazon.com.
I'm sorry, but I will need to research the tag feature further. I
will write back to you with an answer within the next 5-6business
days.
Thank you in advance for your patience, and thanks for shopping at
Amazon.com.
The Red Sox, Manny Ramirez and Breastfeeding
October 29, 2007
Our first son saw the Red Sox win the World Series in 2004. It was momentous. The Bortsky was just weeks old, and if I wasn't breastfeeding at night, I was watching the games. I should have been asleep, bracing myself for the next feeding, but I was glued to the TV. It was history. And the moment they won, I woke him up so that he could witness it himself. It was kind of like the way my mom said I saw the first man land on the moon.
Now, three years, and two kids later, I fell asleep during the final inning of last night's victory. So did my husband. We woke up at 12:30 in the morning to find all the lights in the bedroom on and the TV blaring. "We did a grandpa," my husband declared. "We fell asleep with the TV on. So sad."
But back to baseball, you may have heard of Manny Ramirez, the Red Sox's left-fielder. According to this article he was breastfed until he was about 4 years old. True? I'm not sure. I think the team's pr machine is probably a little busy right now, so I won't bother them to check. Whatever the case...maybe Manny could become the new poster child for breastfeeding. Breastfeed...Win The World Series. Add that to the list of reasons to breastfeed!
Some Parenting Sites for You To Check Out
October 24, 2007
Here's what I've found recently:
About.com has a new breastfeeding Guide. Melissa Nagin is a lactation consultant in New York City. Click here for her bio. She has a great post right now on how she tried to teach her son economics using breastfeeding to illustrate the concept of supply and demand. (Full disclosure, my husband works at About, but I promise, he had nothing to do with this post!)
Jennifer at the Black Breastfeeding Blog, who I've mentioned before, has added a cool new audio function to her blog. (She's using utterz). If you want to hear the sound of her lovely voice, you can check out a review she posted of my book.
Finally, take a look at The Well Mom. Former ABC News Anchor Heather Cabot is running this site. The Well Mom aims to help moms take care of themselves while they are taking care of everyone else, too. She has a fantastic post on her site now about post-partum depression, and legislative efforts to increase funding for PPD research and outreach to moms. Heather also recently interviewed me about my book. Click here to read her piece.
Julia Roberts and Breastfeeding
October 19, 2007
Want a good chuckle? Watch Julia Roberts receive an award and joke about breastfeeding her new son, Henry. From Access Hollywood via Omg....Click here. And for more stories about Julia Roberts and her three kiddies go to the Celebrity Baby Blog.
Applebee's Nurse In
September 04, 2007
This story has been brewing for a while and I've been a little slow on the uptake. Sorry about that.
So a quick summary: There's a national nurse in on Saturday, September 8th at Applebee's locations across the country. It all started when an Applebee's employee in Kentucky asked a mom to stop nursing. Here's a good summary of the incident at Breastfeeding123. There's also a fantastic map of the nurse ins...so far there are 51 locations in 27 states.
Now, if you want to see if there's a nurse in near you, you can check out this Yahoo Group formed for the event.
Smoking and Breastfeeding
I had my high school experimentation with cigaretttes. (Sorry, mom). Fortunately I was never a smoker. I know it's a habit that can be very hard to kick. But if you are smoking and breastfeeding, here's yet another reason to quit... a new study has found that babies sleep less if their mother smokes. The nicotine in breast milk seems to shorten babies naps by one third.
The study was done by the Monell Chemical Senses Center. Here's their website, and here's the link to the press release.
Now some quotes from the press release:
“Infants spent less time sleeping overall and woke up from naps sooner when their mothers smoked prior to breastfeeding,” says lead author Julie A. Mennella, PhD, a psychobiologist at Monell.
The findings, published in the journal Pediatrics, raise new questions regarding whether nicotine exposure through breast milk affects infant development....
Total sleep time over the 3-1/2 hours declined from an average of 84 minutes when mothers refrained from smoking to 53 minutes on the day they did smoke, a 37% reduction in infant sleep time. This was due to a shortening of the longest sleep bout, or nap, and to reductions in the amount of time spent in both active and quiet sleep.
The level of sleep disruption was directly related to the dose of nicotine infants received from their mothers’ milk, consistent with a role for nicotine in causing the sleep disruptions....
An earlier study from Mennella’s lab demonstrated that breast milk nicotine levels peak 30 - 60 minutes after smoking one or two cigarettes and clear by three hours after the smoking episode. Emphasizing the many benefits of breastfeeding on infant health and development, Mennella notes that lactating mothers who smoke occasionally can time their smoking episodes to minimize nicotine exposure to their child...
For more on this story go to The Washington Post.
And one final thought...if you can't quit smoking, it's still best to continue breastfeeding. The American Academy of Pediatrics has said smoking is not a contraindication to breastfeeding-- translation, you can smoke and breastfeed, but you should quit. Here's some information from Kellymom on smoking and breastfeeding.
Formula Industry Lobbied To Tone Down Government Breastfeeding Ads
September 01, 2007
This is a story about big companies and their Washington lobbyists. It could be a story about getting a tunnel built, regulating gas mileage or even securing a military contract. But in this case, it's about infant formula companies influencing an ad campaign aimed at promoting breastfeeding.
The The Washington Post reported the story yesterday. Here's a quick summary:
1. The Department of Health and Human Services ran a public health campaign a few years ago to promote breastfeeding. The ads aimed to convince mothers that their infants faced health risks if they did not breastfeed.
2. Some of the original ads showed baby bottle nipples on top of asthma inhalers or insulin dispensers for diabetes. The point of the ads, which included statistics, was that breastfeeding reduces the risk of these diseases.
3. Formula makers lobbied to get the ads changed and they succeeded. The ads were never seen by the public. Instead, they were replaced by pairs of dandelions (ie. breastfeeding reduces asthama), or two scoops of ice cream (breastfeeding reduces obesity), that evoked breasts.
4. Furthermore, HHS did not promote a study by its own Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) of multiple studies on breast-feeding, which generally found breastfeeding was associated with fewer ear and gastrointestinal infections, and lower rates of diabetes, leukemia, obesity, asthma and sudden infant death syndrome, or SIDS. (To read the report, look in the right hand column of the Post story, in the box that says On The Web, and read "Breastfeeding and Maternal Infant Health.")
Now here are some paragraphs from The Washington Post story:
The formula industry's intervention -- which did not block the ads but helped change their content -- is being scrutinized by Congress in the wake of last month's testimony by former surgeon general Richard H. Carmona that the Bush administration repeatedly allowed political considerations to interfere with his efforts to promote public health.
Rep. Henry A. Waxman's Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is investigating allegations from former officials that Carmona was blocked from participating in the breast-feeding advocacy effort and that those designing the ad campaign were overruled by superiors at the formula industry's insistence.
"This is a credible allegation of political interference that might have had serious public health consequences," said Waxman, a California Democrat...
Gina Ciagne, the office's public affairs specialist for the campaign, said, "We were ready to go with our risk-based campaign -- making breast-feeding a real public health issue -- when the formula companies learned about it and came in to complain. Before long, we were told we had to water things down, get rid of the hard-hitting ads and generally make sure we didn't somehow offend."
Ciagne and others involved in the campaign said the pushback coincided with a high-level lobbying campaign by formula makers, which are mostly divisions of large pharmaceutical companies that are among the most generous campaign donors in the nation.
The campaign the industry mounted was a Washington classic -- a full-court press to reach top political appointees at HHS, using influential former government officials, now working for the industry, to act as go-betweens
Two of the those involved were Clayton Yeutter, an agriculture secretary under President George H.W. Bush and a former chairman of the Republican National Committee, and Joseph A. Levitt, who four months earlier directed the Food and Drug Administration's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition food safety center, which regulates infant formula. A spokesman for the International Formula Council said both were paid by a formula manufacturer to arrange meetings at HHS....
The industry substantially increased its own advertising as soon as the HHS campaign was launched. According to a 2006 report by the Government Accountability Office, formula companies spent about $30 million in 2000 to advertise their products. In 2003 and 2004, when the campaign was underway, infant formula advertising increased to nearly $50 million.
So there you have it. Washington D.C. at its finest. For me, while I think breastfeeding is best, I still it as a matter of personal choice. A mom has to decide what will work best for her and her baby. Even so, it is sickening to see the inner workings of the formula industry. Of course we're talking about businesses here. And businesses is designed to maximize profits. It's just a shame that for some companies, doing so can have serious health consequences for our children.
Sesame Street and Breastfeeding
August 30, 2007
Sesame Street may show Baby Bear's little sister sucking on a pacifier and taking a bottle, but according to a posting on YouTube, the show has supported breastfeeding. Watch this clip to see some mammals (including humans) doing what we've done for a mighty long time.
(Thanks to Tanya and Jennifer for posting this one first.)
But a final note...before you give Sesame Street a total thumbs up, consider something I just found on ProMom-- a sample letter to send to Sesame Street, complaining about excessive images of bottle-feeding on Elmo.
FDA's Codeine Warning For Breastfeeding Moms
August 19, 2007
After our first son was born I remember getting some sort of narcotic for pain. I can't remember which one it was, but I do know that it made me feel sick, so I stopped taking it. And maybe that was a good thing. The FDA has just issued a warning to breastfeeding moms who may take codeine to treat pain.
Here are portions of the story on WebMD:
The FDA today warned breastfeeding mothers who take codeine for after-birth pain to carefully watch their babies for signs of life-threatening drug side effects.
At risk are infants breastfed by women who are "ultra-rapid metabolizers" of codeine. Such women have a genetic makeup that allows their bodies to process codeine with extreme speed.
Normally, the body slowly turns codeine into morphine, a pain-relieving narcotic. But ultra-fast metabolizers "get a real jolt" of morphine -- and so do their breastfed babies, warns Janet Woodcock, MD, the FDA's deputy commissioner and chief medical officer.
"Infants of nursing mothers taking codeine may have increased risk of morphine overdoes if their mothers are ultra-rapid metabolizers of codeine," says Sandra Kweder, MD, deputy director of the FDA's office of new drugs....
Codeine, Kweder says, is very commonly used to relieve the pain of birth procedures such as episiotomy or C-section. The drug has been used safely for decades....
Ultra-fast codeine metabolism occurs in people who have a mutation in the gene coding for a liver enzyme called CYP2D6. The mutation is uncommon, but not rare. Kweder says it occurs in 1% to 10% of Caucasians, about 3% of African-Americans, about 1% of Hispanics and Asians, and -- surprisingly -- in some 28% of North Africans, Ethiopians, and Saudi Arabians....
The FDA does NOT advise women to stop breastfeeding if they need codeine.
"This announcement today does not mean women who need pain medicine should not breastfeed," Woodcock said. "The benefits of breastfeeding are well documented."
The FDA urges all breastfeeding women taking codeine to watch their infants -- and themselves -- for signs of side effects.
The FDA recommends that if you are a nursing mother taking codeine, you should call a doctor immediately if you become extremely sleepy to the point you are having trouble caring for your baby.
Usually newborns nurse every two or three hours and should not sleep for more than four hours at a time. If you are a nursing mother taking codeine, you should call the doctor immediately if your newborn:
* Sleeps more than usual
* Has difficulty breastfeeding
* Has difficulty breathing
* Becomes limp
Breastfeeding Quotes
July 30, 2007
It's been a few months since I last nursed The Bear...so I thought the days of funny breastfeeding quotes were over in our house. Apparently not. Here's a true discussion from today.
Scene: The floor of the boys' bedroom. I'm changing The Bortski's diaper. He pats my chest.
Me: "What you up to, babe?"
The Bortski: "Just patting your boobie."
Me: "How come?"
The Bortski: "I just love boobies."
Me: "Why?"
The Bortski: "They're great."
Super Model Eva Herzigova Breastfeeding
July 26, 2007
Most of us mere mortals don't look so stellar 7 weeks post-partum. Then again, most of us aren't super models. So if you decide to check out these pictures of model Eva Herzigova, 34, breastfeeding her baby, please (I beg you) don't compare yourself to her.
Herzigova is pictured in the German magazine Bunte with her son. The Celebrity Baby Blog has the link.
Dads and Breast Feeding-- My Husband, My Co-Author
June 11, 2007
Welcome to the June Breastfeeding Carnival, a tribute to the Dads in our lives. At the end of this post you'll find entries from our usual cast of blogging characters, as well as some guests.
As I've been talking about ad nauseam here, I've been working on a book about breastfeeding that's coming out this September. In our house, this is our "third" baby. For nearly as long as we've had kids (going on 2.5 years now), I've been working on this book. And now, it's time to give credit where credit is due-- to my silent co-author, my husband. "Da-da," as the boys call him, has encouraged me every step of the way.
To begin with, he's a lactivist in his own right. He "covered" me while I breastfed on airplanes and in fancy restaurants. He brought me water while I was nursing, changed diapers in the middle of the night so I could go back to sleep, and even re-positioned an inconsolable newborn on my chest. So when I announced, one day, 5 months post-partum, that I wanted to write a book about breastfeeding, he said, "Go hire a babysitter and get to work."
Along the way, he contributed his own ideas; read draft after draft; reviewed contracts; helped develop my blog; and celebrated the book sale with champagne and flowers. Now, ever the MBA, he's devising ways to sell as many books as possible.
So thank you, "Da-da," for serving as an in house lactation consultant, and cheerleading me through this book process. This would not have been possible without you. Happy Father's Day. Maybe you should be the one doing any book signings!
And now for the other carnival contributors:
Jennifer, at The Lactivist, writes about how dads have to accept taking "second place" when it comes to breastfeeding. Her post is "Fathers and Breastfeeding: The Importance of Seconds."
Leisa, at Down with the Kids, (writing from Australia) contributes "Mothers' Milk: A Dad's Perspective."
Angela, at Breastfeeding 1-2-3, contributes "A Father's Take on Breastfeeding: Perception Versus Reality"
Kelli, at Nursing Your Kids, writes about the "Partnership" involved in breastfeeding.
Jessica, at hepatitis-epi, contributes her story about "Fathers and Breastfeeding."
Amy, at Musings of a Crunchy Domestic Goddess, contributes "My Hubby, the Lactivist."
Sinead, writing from Northern Ireland, writes "My Hubby, my Best Breastfeeding Buddy."
And a Dad, at Fine Whine, writes "Feeding on the Outrage, or Where are All The Boobs?"
A Nursing Hat?
June 01, 2007
Here's a new one.... Want to discreetly breastfeed your baby in public? Put one of these hats with an enormous brim on your babe's head. She'll be shaded from the sun and you'll be completely covered.
The MoBoleez hats come with some cute sayings too: "Au lait, s'il vous plait," "Milky Way," or "Time to tweet."
Now, I haven't actually tried one of these hats, but I did sort of concoct my own version last summer. I put my fuschia and white hat on The Bear's head while he was nursing. Of course it didn't stay on. Too big. And he managed to swat it away. Details. So maybe a hat properly sized for a baby will do the trick. Though I must say, I'd love to see what the baby looks like when she stops eating and sits up. Can she even see out from under that brim?!
Thanks to Babble for the "heads up" on this one!
NY Store The Upper Breast Side Has a New Location
May 23, 2007
I apologize up front to all of you who aren't in New York City. But if you make it here for any reason, you've got to go check out The Upper Breast Side-- a store dedicated to all things breastfeeding. Their slogan, "You bring your breasts, we've got the rest."
This Upper West Side (hence the name) institution recently moved to a new location at 135 West 70th Street (between Columbus and Amsterdam). I knew the store was moving, but I stumbled on the location today by accident, while watching a new mom carrying her infant in a sling. (I was impressed by her sling savvy. I was a total failure at the sling thing).
Anyway, this is THE place to go if you need a nursing top, breast pump, book-- you name it. They will even help you find the perfect bra size. One caveat, double strollers with side by side seats won't fit through the doorway. They'll help you out. But maybe bring an extra set of hands with you if you have to bring two kiddos.
Silly Celebrity Breastfeeding Stories
May 01, 2007
Here are the latest celebrity breastfeeding "tit bits." I know, I know, hardly ground breaking news. But I can't help my celebrity fascination. Plus, as far as I'm concerned...the more talk about breastfeeding in popular media, the better.
Amanda Peet reportedly talked about using her breast pump in an airport bathroom on Live with Regis and Kelly. (via Breastfeeding123). (Could NBC please bring back Studio 60? I'd love to see Jordan pump in her office).
Tobey -Spiderman-Maguire does diaper duty (and a little awkwardly at that) after his wife breastfeeds.
Marcia Cross (Bree on Desperate Housewives) is breastfeeding her twins.
Tori Spelling talks about some challenges of breastfeeding. Seems like she might benefit from a little help from a lactation consultant. But kudos to her for trying, and not giving up.
And finally, here's one from a little while ago... Julie Bowen had vowed to "shock" her castmates by breastfeeding on the set of Boston Legal. I haven't heard any updates on this one yet...but I'm hoping to see something soon from this fellow class of 1991 Brown alum.
Weaned
April 29, 2007
It seems that we're done with breastfeeding. The Bear is 13+ months old, and yesterday was the first day in his life that he didn't have "bubbies." We were down to one feeding every day, usually around 5 a.m. He would wake up, eat for about 15 minutes, and then go right back to sleep for another hour or so.
But it had reached the point where I felt like a big pacifier. I wasn't sure he was actually getting anything to eat. It seemed he was just sucking to soothe himself back to sleep. Besides that, his teeth were hurting me a bit, even if I re-did his latch. And so, I think this is it.
I'm happy that we made it to the one year mark that is recommended, at a minimum, by the American Academy of Pediatrics. I know the World Health Organization recommends breastfeeding for two years, and that many people breastfeed their toddlers. But I've decided that I'm comfortable stopping now. It just feels right.
I'd like to sear in my memory the last time I breastfed The Bear. I have a bunch of impressions, but I'm not quite sure if they are specifically from the last time, or simply an amalgamation of the past few weeks. Of course it doesn't really matter. To me, this will always be what I remember.
It was around 4:30 in the morning. He started to whimper from his bedroom, so I walked down the hallway, making sure to avoid the stroller parking lot, and got him out of the room before he woke up his brother. I climbed back into bed and propped a pillow under my arm that held his head. I know he found my breast in the dark and I barely had to look to see that he latched on well. After a year of practice, we knew our routine by heart. I know he fussed a bit when I switched him from one side to the next, and that I winced when he bit me by accident. I know it was still dark and that I could hear the rain and thunder. Flashes of lightening lit the room periodically. I think I also heard some birds chirping outside our window, but I don't know if that makes sense. Would the birds have been out if it was raining? And besides, I've never noticed a ledge outside our 20th floor window where they could perch.
I know that once his sucking and breathing slowed, and he became heavier in my arms, I stuck my finger into the corner of his mouth and he popped off. He started to cry again, annoyed at the disturbance, and arched his back as I carried him to the Pak n Play in our room. I put him down on his back and he promptly flipped onto his stomach. I stroked the back of his head for a few seconds, whispered sh sh sh, and then slipped back into bed.
Will he remember any of this? No. His older brother, The Bortsky, certainly doesn't believe me when I tell him that he used to "have bubbies" once too. As far as he's concerned, "bubbies" are for babies, and he's been drinking from a Dora cup since the beginning of time.
But isn't that the way it's supposed to be? As moms, we remember almost everything. The smell of pajamas just washed in Dreft. Rubbing lotion on pudgy thighs. The wailing that kept us up at nights. And certainly, the bliss of a baby that has breastfed and fallen asleep.
Even though The Bear will never recall these 4 a.m. feedings, I imagine, on a certain level he'll remember that sense of contentment. Those were our moments together. Our moments alone, in the middle of the night. And our moments alone, even when we were surrounded by the outside world on a park bench.
Bye, "bubbies." The Bear may not miss you, but I think I will. Now I just have to figure out how to wean myself.
Breast Feeding and What I Didn't Expect When I Was Expecting
April 18, 2007
Welcome, once again, to our monthly Carnival of Breastfeeding. This time we're writing on the theme...What I didn't expect when I was expecting."
So here's my top ten list of things I didn't expect about breastfeeding when I was pregnant:
1. I had no idea that that newborns eat every two to three hours around the clock. And, that you start counting when the feeding starts, not when it stops. In other words, if you feed the baby at 9 a.m., you feed again at 11:00 a.m.
2. I didn't know what engorgement was, how to fix it, and that that it would make me look like a cartoon porn star.
3. I could never have imagined that I'd breastfeed during an OB-Gyn exam. True story.
4. I didn't know that I could get pregnant while breastfeeding. Turns out I didn't meet the Lactational Amennhorea criteria for breastfeeding as birth control.
5. I never thought my fear of dropping the baby would actually come true. I could never have imagined falling asleep while breastfeeding and that the baby (10 months) would fall out of the bed. (He was fine, thank God).
6. I didn't expect to comprehend why sleep deprivation is used as a torture device.
7. I didn't know that you can donate milk to human milk banks.
8. I never thought I would have to buy a padded bra after I had weaned my baby. I didn't realize my boobs would need all the help they can get.
9. I didn't expect to learn how to run a blog all because of my new fixation on breastfeeding.
10. And I certainly didn't expect to write a book about breastfeeding.
And now...I bring you what my fellow breastfeeding bloggers have to say: The Lactivist, BreastfeedingMums, The Motherwear Blog and Breastfeeding123.
And here are our guest bloggers: Spit up on my Shoulder, Adventures of a Breastfeeding Mother, New Mama's Nest, The True Face of Birth, Down with the Kids, and The Spice Choir.
New Study Shows Breast Feeding Protects Against Breast Cancer
April 17, 2007
My friend Kelley recently found out she has breast cancer. She has a three year old and a baby who is less than a year old. She was nursing the baby when she first detected the lump. Since then she's had a mastectomy, reconstructive surgery, and now chemotherapy.
Despite this, Kelley has a bottomless reservoir of optimism. She's a reporter at WCVB TV in Boston, and she's even been providing viewers with updates on her story. There are on-line diary entries and video clips.
When I asked Kelley if it was ok to write this post, she sent me a quote (ever the reporter!) from one of her doctors. The doctor emphasized that breastfeeding can actually reduce the risk of breast cancer:
"On a population level, we'd see a 5 percent reduction in breast cancer cases globally if everyone breast fed. Also, breast cancer in young women is rare, so the vast majority of lumps are benign. A good way to differentiate is a clogged duct should go away. If you are activley breast feeding, it (the plugged duct) should be gone if the baby empties that breast. If you wean, it should dissipate in about two weeks. "
-- Dr. Hope Ricciotti, OBGYN, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
Similar news today confirms that breastfeeding can reduce the risk of breast cancer.
The most important finding of the new study is that breastfeeding seems to lower the risk of developing breast cancer that comes from having children later in life, said Dr. Giske Ursin, associate professor of preventive medicine at the University of Southern California medical school and the study’s lead author.
“Evidence suggests that women who have children after age 25 can reduce their risk of breast cancer by choosing to breastfeed,” Ursin says.
Please take a moment to read this story, and, for inspiration, visit Kelley's site.
Tori Spelling Talks About Breast Feeding
April 06, 2007
Here's the Tori Spelling baby scoop from US Weekly. And here's what Tori had to say when the reporter asked if she was breastfeeding:
"Yes. It's hard, but I love it. That's our time together, and I can give him the one thing he wants: food. Dean took a photo of me nursing, and I was horrified. I was like, "Oh, this poor baby must be so scared of this giant thing coming at him."
It's not clear to me from the quote what this "giant thing" is. The camera? Her boob? But I guess it doesn't really matter. So what I want to know, will Tori breastfeed on her new reality show, Tori & Dean: Inn Love? I don't plan on watching it, but if you do, let me know what happens.
Weaning Parties for Toddlers and Some Weaning Problems of My Own
April 01, 2007
I'm back home in Boston for the weekend, and lo and behold The Boston Globe had a story on the growing trend to breastfeed toddlers and young children.
At the start of the story we meet a little girl who is having a weaning party, complete with cake and friends.
On a recent Saturday evening, Ruth Tincoff and Bruce Inglehart of Wellesley had a party for Gwen, their not-quite-5-year-old daughter. They served six squealing girls squiggly pasta with red sauce and Gwen's favorite dessert -- vanilla cake with raspberry - and - lemon frosting. While the adults munched on veggies and dip, the girls played dress-up.
According to the piece, more and more moms are breastfeeding longer.
Figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and from Abbott Labs' Ross Mothers Survey show a steady increase in the number of women who initiate breast-feeding, from 57 percent in 1994 to 72 percent in 2005. Less well-known is the gradual increase in the age at which breast-feeding stops. In 1997, 26 percent of mothers were still nursing their babies at six months; in 2005, 39 percent were. In 1997, 14.5 percent of mothers were still breast-feeding at 12 months; by 2005, the number had climbed to 20 percent.
No one keeps count beyond 18 months, not even La Leche League International, a lactation support system. Katherine Dettwyler , the nation's leading breast-feeding researcher, says women who continue to nurse typically keep quiet about it, sometimes even to family members, because the culture is so biased against it.
So why the new trend? Here's what the article says:
Public health campaigns account for the increase in women who breast-feed, says Lawrence. Those who stay with it, particularly beyond 18 months, tend to be highly educated. "This is not a cult," she says. "It's about education and learning that the benefits persist." Research shows that breast-feeding provides continued protection against infection and allergies.
There is also the matter of the mother-child relationship. For a working mother who is separated from her child all day, nursing in the morning and at night is a loving way to reconnect, says Naomi Bar-Yam of the Massachusetts Breastfeeding Coalition.
As for me, here's the latest on the breastfeeding front with The Bear (12 months). We're down to just one feeding per day...unfortunately at 5 a.m. But we've had a few set backs lately. When I tried to transition him from formula to whole milk at 12 months, he rejected the milk. I tried mixing the formula with milk, and then tapering the formula until we were left with milk. That didn't work. Eventually, I just fed him when I was certain he was hungry and had no choice but to drink the milk.
Eventually I broke the formula addiction. But now that seems to be replaced by a general rejection of the sippy cup. Every day I find myself struggling to make sure he drinks enough, and thus monitoring the number of ounces he's getting. The pediatrician told me to aim for a cup and a half to tw