The Motherwear Breastfeeding Blog

Lactation cookies.

No, this is not about cookies made with breastmilk, though I wouldn't blame you for thinking so after Monday's post.  It's about cookies that contain ingredients which increase milk supply. 

I baked a batch of chocolate chip, oatmeal "lactation cookies" for my breastfeeding support group this week.  The moms at the group thought that they were really good. 

You can find the recipe on Epicurious if you'd like to try it out.  The recommended "dose" is four cookies a day.  Oh, how I wish someone would write me a prescription for cookies.

Before I talk about the ingredients in these cookies, I should say that these cookies would certainly not be among your first options for increasing supply.  For a list of good ways to increase supply, see this page on kellymom.com, or Dr. Jack Newman's handout on milk supply.

So, what are those special ingredients?  Oats, brewer's yeast, and flaxseed meal.

Oatmeal is a frequently recommended food for increasing milk supply, possibly because it contains iron and nursing mothers are often iron deficient.  It's also a good source of fiber, and I'm told that if you ask a dairy farmer what they do to increase milk yield, they say that they increase fiber intake. 

Brewer's yeast has long been recommended to increase milk supply, though there are some doubts that it does the trick.  It does contain lots of B vitamins - another area where nursing mothers may be deficient.  At a minimum it might give you a bit more energy.  When eaten in large amounts it also might give your baby a "yeasty" smelling diaper, and I'm not sure if it's recommended for mothers who are struggling with thrush.  The recipe said 'no substitutions' for this ingredient, but I couldn't find brewer's yeast in time, so used nutritional yeast instead.

Flaxseed oil (this recipe calls for flaxseed meal) is considered by some to be a galactagogue, but I had a hard time finding much on its effects.  It does contain Omega-3 fatty acids, and many nursing mothers are deficient in that area because our stores are used in breastmilk.  Omega 3s from fish oil are considered a promising therapy for preventing and treating postpartum depression (see the podcast I did on this topic), but the Omega 3s in flaxseed oil are a different form and are not viewed as effective for this purpose.

For more on lactogenic foods, check out this great page on the MOBI Motherhood website!

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Celebrate Motherwear's 25th anniversary with another $25 gift certificate contest.

Motherwear's 25th anniversary continues with another monthly $25 gift certificate contest!

This time we're celebrating Mother's Day by asking you to leave a comment with your favorite advice from your own mom.

Here are a few from my mom that I recall on a daily basis:

When I got overwhelmed: "First things first."
When I was trying to carry too many things:  "Take two trips."
When I lost something:  "Don't forget to look under."

Leave your favorite advice from your mom in the comments section by the end of the day on May 9th.  I'll pick a winner randomly and notify you by email if you've won.  Please remember to use a "real" email address so I can contact you.

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I can buy colostrum at Whole Foods?

I was in Whole Foods last week and did a complete double take.  There, in the supplements section were several brands of colostrum for sale.  And to make it even stranger, next to the colostrum was a bottle of lactoferrin (another component of breastmilk) for sale.

I checked out the bottles and of course found it was bovine colostrum and lactoferrin on the shelf.  But this experience really got me thinking about the complete acceptance we have of cow's milk and the at best uneasy relationship we have with human milk.

As I'm sure you know, we're the only species that drinks another mammal's milk.  I consume it daily in many forms.  But it wasn't until a friend pointed out to me that the milk I drink was made to meet the exact nutritional and immunological needs of a baby cow, that I started to look at my morning cereal differently.  What messages was this milk sending my body about the way to develop, say, a baby cow's brain, or fend off a disease that a baby cow might be subject to in a pasture in another state?

I'm not arguing that we shouldn't drink cow's milk, or that we shouldn't make formula.  But I do object to the squeamishness we have about human milk when cow's milk is treated as normal.  Your thoughts?

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Join the May Carnival of Breastfeeding: Pregnancy and breastfeeding.

May is Pregnancy Awareness Month, and for this month's carnival we're seeking posts on the topic of pregnancy and breastfeeding.

You might write about:

- What you did (or wish you did) in pregnancy to prepare for breastfeeding
- What you thought/are thinking about breastfeeding during your pregnancy
- Your advice to pregnant women about breastfeeding
- Breastfeeding during pregnancy

We'll be looking for posts that are:

• Well written and grammatically correct
• Thoughtful and directly on point for the carnival subject
• Submitted from blogs related to breastfeeding or parenting

Email me your submission by May 20th, 2008.  The carnival will be on Tuesday, May 27th, 2008.  Please note that, if your post is selected for inclusion by our regular group of bloggers, you will be asked to link to each of the other participants in the carnival.  We reserve the right to choose posts for inclusion.  Examples of past carnival posts can be found here.

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Breastfeeding rates hit a 20 year high.

New data from the CDC shows that breastfeeding initiation rates hit a 20 year high of 77% in 2006.  And there were especially big gains for African American women.  The Associated Press reports:

About 77 percent of new mothers breast-feed, at least briefly, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.

"It looks like it is an all-time high" based on CDC surveys since the mid-1980s, said Jeff Lancashire, a CDC spokesman...

The percentage of black infants who were ever breast-fed rose most dramatically, to 65 percent. Only 36 percent were ever breast-fed in 1993-1994, the new study found.

For whites, the figure rose to 79 percent, from 62 percent. For Mexican-Americans, it increased to 80 percent, from 67 percent...

The latest CDC report found rates of breast-feeding were also lowest among women who are unmarried, poor, rural, younger than 20, and have a high school education or less.

I should note here that these statistics show an increase in the number of women who initiate breastfeeding.  Sustaining breastfeeding, especially exclusive breastfeeding, is a different story.  But any upward trend is something to celebrate, right?

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And now a message from 1914.

I was just reading The Nursing Mother's Guide to Weaning, which has an interesting introductory section on the age of weaning through history.  This quote put the poster in context:

"...by 1915 [the recommended age of weaning] had declined to seven to eight months.  Several trends coincided, moreover, to make many women wean earlier than recommended and others fail at breastfeeding or never even attempt it.  First, women spent more time away from home; while the Industrial Revolution sent poor women into factories, some wealthy women entered professions, and even more joined volunteer organizations...At the same time, the extreme prudishness of Victorian culture made public breastfeeding inconceivable...

Thanks to Amanda for this one!

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Breastfeeding stand-up.

This clip cracked me up.  Hope you enjoy it!

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Local news.

With apologies to those of you who don't live in my area, here are several announcements for moms who live in Western Massachusetts:

I'm working with some other women on advocating for pumping rooms at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.  We're having our first organizational meeting this week on Monday, April 28, 2008, at 4:00 at the Everywoman's Center.  Email me if you'd like to come, or if you'd like to be on the mailing list for the next meeting.

Our breastfeeding coalition is selling some great organic, fair trade Dean's Bean's coffee as a fundraiser.  If you're interested in ordering (local folks only, please) see our coalition's website for the order form.  Our next coalition meeting is on May 8th at Motherwear.  If you don't live in the area you can still support our coalition by buying a sticker or shopping at our Cafe Press store!

UMass professor Dr. Kathleen Arcaro is seeking breastmilk samples for her research.  If you're interested, contact her through this website.  Here are some pictures from her visit to our breastfeeding support group last year.

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A look inside Motherwear.

I was over at Motherwear a few months ago for a photo shoot and decided to take some pictures of the office. 

Motherwear's administrative office is located in a renovated mill building in Holyoke, Massachusetts. 

It's one of those buildings with really high ceilings, lots of light, and beautiful weathered and polished wood floors. 

So here are some pictures of the hallway, the main entrance - note our breastfeeding coalition's sticker!

To the left is Dara, Buyer for Motherwear.  She purchases the fabrics and scouts new products.  You may also recognize her from a few pictures in the online catalog.

And of course there are clothes everywhere.  Recently I've been able to give away a bunch of seconds and discontinued items to nursing moms in my area.

Also to the left is a shot of the planning for a catalog.  When it's in this planning phase it looks a little like a storyboard. 

To the right, behind the model, is Jeanne, CEO of Motherwear, working on the shot for this shirt.   

Also to the right is Tobye, Motherwear's Creative Director, checking out images from the photo shoot as they appear on the laptop.

To the left is a bulletin board in the conference room which our breastfeeding coalition was using to plan some projects.  We meet at Motherwear every other month. 

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My first Mothers' Milk Bank of New England newsletter.

I sent out the first e-newsletter of the Mothers' Milk Bank of New England last week.  I wouldn't ordinarily post about it, but it's the first one I've ever done, and I'm feeling a little proud! 

You can see it in the newsletter archive site, and you can subscribe by following the link at the bottom of the newsletter.

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Judge declines to rule on FLDS mothers' request to remain with nursing babies.

Tell me what you think of this issue.  From the Salt Lake Tribune:

The Texas judge overseeing the polygamous FLDS sect's case today refused to make any ruling that would allow breast-feeding mothers to remain with their children in state custody.

Walther was addressing a request for temporary restraining orders filed by attorneys for four of the nursing mothers, but on behalf of all mothers there.  The request asked the court to stop Texas child-welfare workers from separating mothers and children, to allow private prayer, and to give the women and children telephone access to their lawyers.
   
The judge said she would leave it up to CPS officials and the attorneys to work something out on the breast-feeding. The attorneys, however, replied that they have so far been unable to come up with a workable agreement.
   
CPS officials plan to separate 68 women with children under five from their kids once DNA samples are taken. The sampling began today.

In a separate article:

[Judge] Walther acknowledged the nutritional and bonding benefits of breast-feeding.

"But every day in this country, we have mothers who go back to work after six weeks of maternity leave," she said.

...The judge's decision drew a rapid response from breast-feeding proponents, who began rallying around the FLDS mothers. Nicole D. Hoff, a certified lactation counselor in Texas, set up an instant Web site - http://fldsbreastmilk.blogspot.com.

"While we may not agree or understand the circumstances, I think we need to fight for the right of the children to have the best care and nutrition, which includes breastmilk," she said in a message on the site.

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The April Carnival of Breastfeeding: "Thrush and mastitis and blebs, oh my!"

Welcome to the April Carnival of Breastfeeding!

This month we're bringing you posts on the topic of breastfeeding problems and solutions.  Be sure to check out the posts below for great stories overcoming thrush, blebs, plugged ducts, oversupply, and other breastfeeding challenges.

I'm very pleased to share a story of overcoming a tongue tie problem, written by Lisa, a mother I know and admire.  A picture of him as a baby is to the left.

In the hospital, one of the nurses looked into my son Joe's bassinet and said offhandedly, "looks like he's tongue-tied."* My husband and I were confused because the kid was crying at the time but she was gone before we could ask her what she meant. 

I was determined to breastfeed, and while the milk was there and the effort was definitely there on both of our parts, Joe was not able to get a good latch.  He would get just about in the right place, but there wasn't the right seal and he couldn't stay on the breast.  The nurses told me that I didn't have any of the common problems like inverted or shallow nipples, so surely it would work out fine. We both kept trying and were told that it takes time and is a learned process.

When I took him to his first doctor's appointment after we got home from the hospital, I told the doctor that I was still having trouble breastfeeding.  She told me "Oh, it's easy" and that was the end of it.  I showed her what I was doing and she said it was right, just keep trying.  My mother told the doctor that she thought Joe had "brick dust urine," and she said she'd never heard of that. I said that I had heard that he might be tongue tied, and she said that he wasn't. It was very discouraging because my nipples were cracked and bleeding, I was tired, sore, and now starting to panic that my son was starving.

Luckily, our hospital offered an evening breastfeeding clinic, so I left the doctors and went to see Tanya. She was calm, reassuring and took the panic-y edge off.  We tried different positions, and she suggested trying a nipple shield to see if it would be effective, but nothing seemed to help; he just couldn't get that seal right.  He would try to latch on and then just scream. Tanya noticed that Joe's frenulum (that little piece of skin that connects the tongue to the bottom of the mouth) was very short and it was up near the tip of his tongue. His tongue only moved back; he definitely could not stick it out. When he cried, his tongue looked kind of heart shaped. Tanya also looked up the signs of dehydration, and he had several.

Tanya was worried about Joe, and suggested that I give him a bottle of formula. It took him a very long time – maybe 40 minutes - to take a few ounces from the bottle.

It was pretty late by then, and that night Tanya faxed the pediatrician and told her of the problem. The next morning the doctor called four times to tell me that frenotomies are rare and "major surgery." She said that she consulted another pediatrician, who wouldn't do the procedure, and he in turn referred her to another pediatrician - best pediatrician in town – who also wouldn't do it but might refer us to see an ear, nose and throat specialist.  I immediately made an appointment with the "best pediatrician in town" and he sent me to the ENT specialist.

There was a consensus among everyone that yes, the frenulum was tight, but no one was sure that having it released would have any positive effect.  We did a little research, and decided that we needed to try something. Also, a big factor in my decision to go ahead with it was that I actually dated someone in college who was tongue tied. He didn't have a speech impediment or anything, but he was self-conscious of it, and truth be told...he was a very bad kisser (!).

The actual procedure was a lot like an ear piercing--a little numbing spray, one quick stroke and it was over.  I held Joe the whole time and he only cried for a minute. It took 30 seconds and there was as much blood as a tiny papercut.

Here's the best part:  he latched on perfectly in the waiting room-I could feel the difference.  His lips made a seal this time. He's been nursing like a champ ever since, and he's still nursing now - at 18 months!

The general attitude I got from all of the doctors was that I was making a big deal out of nothing. I heard a story later about midwives in olden days keeping one of their fingernails long so they could just slice through any frenulum that looked remotely tight.  How did we get to this?

* Here's Tanya's favorite handout on tongue tie and breastfeeding (pdf) from the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Be sure to check out more posts on breastfeeding challenges on the blogs listed below (updated throughout the day):

• Mama's Magic writes about needing to supplement after birth complications.
• Half Pint Pixie writes about oversupply, blebs, plugged ducts, and mastitis.
• Speech Act writes about plugged ducts and blebs.
• Tales of Life with a Girl on the Go writes about milk supply and the mini-pill.
• Nurturing Notes writes about thrush and thrush treatment.
• Breastfeeding Mums writes about sore nipples, engorgement, and taking medications while breastfeeding.
• Blessed Nest Perch writes about sore nipples, mastitis, and low milk supply.
• Hobo Mama writes about supplementing with a finger feeder during the first week.
• Breastfeeding 1-2-3 writes about using Gentian Violet and grapefruit seed extract as thrush remedies.

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Earth Day bumper sticker give away.

Just in time for Earth Day, I have four of these great Motherwear bumper stickers to give away.

To enter to win one, leave a comment below by midnight on Earth Day (4/22/08).  I'll choose four winners in a random drawing.  Be sure to leave a 'real' email address so that I can contact you if you win.  Winners will be contacted by email.

And if you're wondering how 'green' breastfeeding is, check out this post from last year.  Happy Earth Day!

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Sign this petition to get BPA out of baby bottles.

By now you've probably heard about Bisphenol-A, the estrogen-mimicking component of some polycarbonate plastics which is found in most baby bottles and some formula cans.  I posted about its health effects last year.

BPA has been in the news quite a bit this week, with a Los Angeles Times article reporting that the National Institutes of Health now expresses "some concern" that BPA may harm fetuses and infants, and with the news that the Canadian government yesterday banned BPA from baby bottles, deeming it a toxic substance.  There were reports that Walmart has started pulling bottles with BPA off shelves.  Nalgene announced that it would get rid of BPA in its bottles and started pulling remaining stock off the shelves, and Senator Charles Schumer announced he'd introduce a bill in the U.S. Senate to ban BPA from bottles, dental sealants, and food containers. 

The plastics industry representatives, through the years of debate, has maintained the BPA is safe, but it seems pretty clear that the market is going to have the last word on this one.  Nearly every family I meet these days has heard of BPA, and all of those Avent bottles I used to see pumping moms use have been replaced by Born Free and Medela bottles.  I might add that I started noticing moms making this switch before the federal reports started coming out.  We're such smart cookies.

So, while it seems to me that the manufacturers are already backed into a corner, we might as well take the opportunity to wag our finger at them.  After all, as late as Thursday a representative of the plastics industry was offering his "reassurance" that products made with BPA are safe.

Check out this Moms Rising petition which they'll send to the manufacturers of the major manufacturers of baby bottles, asking that they discontinue using BPA in their bottles.

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A collection of Baby Blues breastfeeding cartoons.

Baby Blues is one of the few mainstream American comic strip that dares to take on breastfeeding, and I love seeing those strips.  Another one which recently dealt with the topic is Stone Soup.

I've compiled links to the ones I could find below.  I know that there are more, including a great early one involving breastmilk and coffee.  If any of you can find links to strips in addition to these, please email me!

Here they are, starting with a very recent one.  I've made up the titles.

• Nice shot
• Once a breastfeeder...
• A little old?
• I have a question
• Favorite things
• Swimming pool series (copy is bad but the strip was great)
• Talking with your mouth full
• Phone call
• Solid food

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Nursing mothers get bad information at the pharmacy counter.

Last year a study proved something many of us have found out the hard way:  much of the information nursing mothers get at the pharmacy counter is inaccurate.  According to the Massachusetts Breastfeeding Coalition:

The study's authors examined the safety information used by two large retail pharmacy chains on the East Coast, looking at 14 commonly-prescribed medications. For 75 percent of drugs that are considered unequivocally safe for breastfeeding, pharmacies were inappropriately advising mothers to stop nursing.

"We were surprised by the results, when we looked at all the resources systematically," said lead author, Monica Akus, PharmD, a pharmacist at Cambridge Health Alliance and Assistant Professor of Pharmacy at University of Rhode Island. Several well-respected sources used out of date information, most commonly resulting in inappropriate advice to stop breastfeeding. "As pharmacists, our training in drugs and lactation is often limited, so it's critical to spread the word to other pharmacists. Our knowledge is only as good as our resources," notes Akus.

The authors consider two resources to be the most reliable:

• LactMed, is a website run by the National Institutes of Health which you can use to look up medications and their impact on breastfeeding.
• Medications and Mothers Milk, by Dr. Thomas Hale (2008 edition coming out soon).  I use this book a lot and find its "L1 to L5" scale of rating drugs very helpful. 

Have you received bad information at the pharmacy counter?  Were you told that a medication was unsafe when it wasn't, or safe when it was unsafe?  Tell us about it below.

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Enter to win a $25 gift certificate to celebrate Motherwear's 25th anniversary!

* This contest is now closed, and the winner will be notified by email.  The correct answer was 1993.  Thanks for entering, everyone!

This year marks Motherwear's 25th year supporting nursing moms! 

To commemorate this event, I asked Motherwear to dig up copies of old catalog covers, and a few are shown here.  I'll be posting more over the course of the year.

To celebrate this milestone, each month this year I'll be giving away a $25 gift certificate.

This month, I'm asking you to identify the year the first catalog shown (shown top left) was published.    I'll make it a litttle easier by giving you three choices:  1989, 1993, or 1997.

To enter, leave a comment with your guess below.  I'll randomly pick a winner from the correct entries. 

Be sure to leave a "real" email address so I can contact you if you win.  U.S. addresses only, please.  Good luck!

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Breastfeeding reduces mothers' risk of metabolic syndrome.

A study just published in the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology reports that breastfeeding is associated with a decrease in risk for metabolic syndrome in mothers. 

What's metabolic syndrome?  According the American Heart Association, it's a combination of factors including abdominal obesity, high cholesterol, elevated blood pressure, insulin resistance, high inflammatory state.  These factors significantly increase the risk of heart attack and Type II diabetes.

The findings also showed that the duration of lactation was associated with significance of the risk reduction.  It also found that this reduction waned after the fourth child. 

Medwire News reports:

[Out of the 2,516 participants,] there were 536 (21.3 percent) cases of metabolic syndrome, with rates among women who breastfed of 18.3 percent, compared with 26.7 percent among those who did not.

After adjusting for age, current smoking, parity, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, study site, physical activity, caloric intake, and high school body mass index, women who breastfed were 23 percent less likely to develop the metabolic syndrome than those who did not.

The researchers also report that the duration of lactation was significantly associated with the metabolic syndrome, with the risk decreasing by 20 percent for each year of lactation.

In a way this isn't too surprising, given that previous studies have shown that breastfeeding is associated with lower levels of several of the components of metabolic syndrome.  I've written before about the effect breastfeeding has on reducing the risk of heart attack, and controlling levels of cholesterol, insulin, and weight.

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