The Motherwear Breastfeeding Blog

My heritage, as represented in file folders.

We're just through a rash of celebrations including two birthdays, an anniversary, and two Passover Seders.  Last week brought Childrens' Day, a Japanese holiday which is sometimes celebrated in the Japanese American community.

For Passover I was asked to lead an activity which involve hiding the afikoman - a piece of matzoh which the kids hide during the Seder and is later returned in exchange for a small prize.  Since the kids who were attending aren't old enough to sew with cloth and needle, I punched holes in blue file folders and they sewed them together with yarn.  I found some clip art for them to glue on one side, too.

For Childrens' Day I wanted to do an activity with my son's preschool class.  With some help from my mom I settled on making koi wind socks (koi nobori), which are traditionally put outside houses for this holiday.  Here are directions if you'd like to make your own.

So I cut carp bodies out of yellow file folders and had the kids glue on scales and eyes and stuff them with newspaper.  They also added streamers to blow in the wind. 

You never know what to expect from file folders.

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Breastfeeding in emergencies.

It's been a week of disasters in Burma and China, and I've been thinking a lot about the victims of these horrific events. 

I traveled in Burma in the early 1990's with a good friend.  The country was beautiful (especially Pagan, shown to the right) and the political repression was palpable.  One memory:  My friend became quite ill, and we found a doctor who came to our hotel and treated her.  When we asked how much we could pay her, she refused to accept anything.  We were so grateful for her help, and asked for her address so that we could send her a gift when we got home.  She wouldn't give us her address, telling us that she didn't want to be seen as connected in any way to people outside the country. 

But back to the disasters, and the importance of breastfeeding in emergencies.  In a disaster such as the one in Burma, breastfeeding can be a life-saving act.  Why?  In emergencies formula is often not available.  If it is available, water supplies are often compromised.  Formula mixed with contaminated water can cause diarrhea and dehydration, which can quickly become life-threatening to infants.  Power to sterilize and refrigerate formula is also often not available.

Sometimes, well meaning humanitarian efforts result in such an influx of formula that efforts to protect and support breastfeeding are disrupted.  This is such a concern that in 1994 the World Health Organization adopted the following policy, urging member states to "exercise extreme caution when planning, implementing, or supporting emergency relief operations, by protecting, promoting, and supporting breastfeeding for infants," and to ensure that formula is distributed only under specific conditions.

Still, there is a lot of confusion about the role of breastfeeding in these situations.  INFACT Canada has a great write up taking on myths about breastfeeding in emergencies, which I've posted below:

MYTH 1:  Malnourished mothers cannot breastfeed.

In virtually all cases, a sub-optimally nourished mother can breastfeed her child.  The important response is to feed the mother so that she can feed her child.  It is far safe and more effective to provide nutritional support for the mother than to risk her infant's health by feeding breastmilk subsitutes.  Mothers in these situations need help and support to enable them to breastfeed.

MYTH 2:  Stress makes a mother's milk dry up.

Although extreme stress or fear may temporarily reduce a mother's milk supply, this response is often of short duration.  On the other hand, breastfeeding produces hormones that have a calming effect on mother and baby and creates an inseparable bond between the mother and her child.  There is virtually no abandonment of babies in emergency situations when mother and baby are breastfeeding and kept together.

MYTH 3:  Babies with diarrheal disease need water or tea.

Breastmilk contains about 90% water.  Exclusive breastfeeding provides all the water, nutrition and immunology a baby needs, without the risk of contamination.  Feeding an infant water can introduce disease-causing bacteria and other contaminants, especially if safe water is scarce or unavailable.  It is only in the case of severe diarrhea that infants may need rehydration fluids in addition to breastmilk.

MYTH 4:  Mothers cannot resume lactation once breastfeeding has stopped.

Mothers and babies can restart breastfeeding even after a period of not breastfeeding.  Increased skin-to-skin contact and frequent access to the breast helps to increase milk supply and enables mothers to resume full breastfeeding.  This can be critical for babies during emergencies.

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Making More Milk: Diana West talks about milk supply and answers your questions.

Welcome to another Motherwear Podcast!  This episode features Diana West, IBCLC.  Diana is best known for her work supporting mothers who have had breast surgeries through her website Breastfeeding after Reduction Surgery and her book, Defining your own Success.

Diana is co-author of a new book, The Breastfeeding Mother's Guide to Making More Milk, which will be out in December of this year and is available now for pre-order.  This is the first book to focus solely and in great detail on milk supply, and it looks like a wonderful resource.

This interview is divided into two parts.

Part One discusses what determines milk supply, what causes low milk supply, what mothers can do to increase milk supply, and what feelings are common among mothers with low milk supply.  You can listen to it on the player below, or download it.

In Part Two Diana answers your excellent questions about milk supply (shown in the comments section of this post), on topics including the impact of birth on milk supply, suggestions for maintaining milk supply when pumping at work, how stress and periods impact milk supply.  You can listen to it on the player below, download it.

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Happy Mothers' Day!

Just a quick post to wish everyone a great Mothers' Day!

I'm posting pictures here of the very cute babies who came to my breastfeeding support group last week.  It's pretty remarkable that none of them cried for their web debut picture.

If you're looking for a little activism in your Mothers' Day celebration (after all, the holiday began as an effort to promote peace), check out this e-card from Moms Rising and sign their petition to support newly introduced legislation which would provide paid maternity/family leave.

I hope that you all have a wonderful day!

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Bear with me for a moment.

Due to reasons too boring to explain, I'm re-posting a number of past podcasts. 

The podcasts themselves aren't at all boring, though!  I'll shortly be moving them back to their homes in the archives, and you'll be able to find them under the Podcasts category.  Thanks for your patience!

Making More Milk, Part II - Diana West

Part II of an interview with Diana West on milk supply.  Diana answers readers' questions about birth and milk supply, keeping up milk supply while working, and how stress affects milk supply.  Download it.

Hathor the Cow Goddess - Heather Cushman-Dowdee

An interview with the funny and intrepid artist behind the Hathor the Cow Goddess cartoon.  Heather Cushman-Dowdee shares the origins of her cartoon, her own breastfeeding experiences, and how she balances life as an artist and mother.  Download it.

Postpartum Depression and Breastfeeding, Part II - Kathleen Kendall-Tackett

Part II of an interview with Kathleen Kendall-Tackett on breastfeeding and postpartum depression.  The role of inflammation and omega-3 fatty acids, and ways of advocating for breastfeeding-friendly treatment plans are discussed.  Download it.

Postpartum Depression and Breastfeeding, Part I - Kathleen Kendall-Tackett

Part I of an interview with Kathleen Kendall-Tackett on breastfeeding and postpartum depression.  Causes, treatment options, and new research is discussed.  Download it.

MilkShare - Private milk donation - Kelly Faulkner

This episode features Kelley Faulkner, founder and owner of MilkShare, a website on private milk donation. 

Download the podcast to your own player.