The Motherwear Breastfeeding Blog

Boston Globe asks, do nursing covers help or hurt nursing in public?

This weekend's Globe Magazine ran a first person account of nursing in public with a nursing cover:

I had nursed my daughters on planes, in the concourse of the Burlington Mall, and at tables in restaurants – but never in public without my trusty nursing cover. The pink and brown flowered apron, 24 inches long and tied at the neck like a giant bib, covers me and my daughter, maintaining a level of modesty that makes me comfortable while I breast-feed in public. (I didn’t have it handy at the bookstore.) However, I seldom see other women nursing their babies.

“People are still surprised to see someone breast-feeding,” says Karin Cadwell, a nurse, researcher, and educator who counsels mothers at the Center for Breastfeeding, a clinic in East Sandwich.

Cadwell is conflicted about nursing covers – on one hand, she says, anything that encourages nursing is welcome, since breast milk is the best source of nutrition for almost every infant, and not enough of them get enough of it. But those covers may cover too much, she says. Research indicates that the number of other mothers a woman sees breast-feeding correlates more reliably than any other support or instruction as to whether she is likely to breast-feed her own children, Cadwell says.

As Phoebe finished up, I anxiously juggled blanket and baby, glancing around and hoping that no one had noticed. The expression on the woman sitting next to me had changed. Beaming, she turned and said, “You have a beautiful daughter. You know why? Mother’s milk.”

I feel much the same way as Karin Cadwell - that nursing covers can both encourage and discourage nursing in public.  If the long term solution is the normalization of nursing in public, nursing without covers seems the right way to go.  On the other hand, many women are uncomfortable nursing in public and don't want to be the trailblazers in their communities.  For them, nursing covers are liberating.

The issue is very similar to nursing rooms (see a past post, Nursing Mothers' Rooms: Convenience or Quarantine?).

Your thoughts?

Want to get email updates from the Motherwear Breastfeeding Blog?  Subscribe here.  Want an RSS feed? Subscribe here.  Want to subscribe to our breastfeeding podcasts on iTunes?  Click here.  Picture source: Wikimedia Commons

Paul Frank Twitter comment, and apology

If you follow breastfeeding issues on Twitter you've probably heard just about enough of this already, but last week an employee at a Paul Frank store in Los Angeles posted a tweet which said, "Having your whole boob out and breastfeeding in our store #NOTOKAYATALL."

After this spread across Twitter, the Los Angeles store tweeted a non-apology: "all we can do is apologize, it made other customers and ourselves uncomfortable."

Finally, the company's PR firm responded to an Orange County Register blog:  "We sincerely apologize for the misguided comments of one employee.  Paul Frank Industries is a family company and brand and this does not reflect our opinion in any way.  The employee has been disciplined because the store's twitter account is used to promote products and special offers and is not a place to express personal opinions."

Of course, California law protects a mother's right to breastfeed in public, something never mentioned in the statement.

Want to get email updates from the Motherwear Breastfeeding Blog?  Subscribe here.  Want an RSS feed? Subscribe here.  Want to subscribe to our breastfeeding podcasts on iTunes?  Click here.

"Mama is..." very crafty.

Big thanks to artist Heather Cushman Dowdee, creator of the Hathor the Cow Goddess and Mama Is... comic strips, for giving permission to post this strip.  To check out Heathers books, comic strips, and more, see her website. 

And for a great podcast interview with her (you know you want to hear about her performance art piece making breastmilk bread with college students!), check this out.

Want to get email updates from the Motherwear Breastfeeding Blog?  Subscribe here.  Want an RSS feed? Subscribe here.  Want to subscribe to our breastfeeding podcasts on iTunes?  Click here.

Increased breastfeeding could save 900 lives, $13 billion in health care costs

A study published in Pediatrics has found that increasing exclusive breastfeeding rates at 6 months to 90% could save lives and billions of dollars. 

The Associated Press reports:

The lives of nearly 900 babies would be saved each year, along with billions of dollars, if 90 percent of U.S. women breast-fed their babies for the first six months of life, a cost analysis says.

The magnitude of health benefits linked to breast-feeding is vastly underappreciated, said lead author Dr. Melissa Bartick, an internist and instructor at Harvard Medical School. Breast-feeding is sometimes considered a lifestyle choice, but Bartick calls it a public health issue.

Among the benefits: breastmilk contains antibodies that help babies fight infections; it also can affect insulin levels in the blood, which may make breast-fed babies less likely to develop diabetes and obesity.

The analysis studied the prevalence of 10 common childhood illnesses, costs of treating those diseases, including hospitalization, and the level of disease protection other studies have linked with breast-feeding.

The $13 billion in estimated losses due to the low breast-feeding rate includes an economists' calculation partly based on lost potential lifetime wages — $10.56 million per death.

Bartick said there are some encouraging signs. The government's new health care overhaul requires large employers to provide private places for working mothers to pump breast milk. And under a provision enacted April 1 by the Joint Commission, a hospital accrediting agency, hospitals may be evaluated on their efforts to ensure that newborns are fed only breast milk before they're sent home.

The pediatrics academy says babies should be given a chance to start breast-feeding immediately after birth. Bartick said that often doesn't happen, and at many hospitals newborns are offered formula even when their mothers intend to breast-feed.

"Hospital practices need to change to be more in line with evidence-based care," Bartick said. "We really shouldn't be blaming mothers for this."

This study is consistent with a similar study from 2001, which looked at only 3 diseases.  Of course, there are many more than 10 diseases and conditions which are affected by breastfeeding, and the study didn't look at maternal disease prevention, so the actual number is likely far higher than this estimate.

The study found the following savings from these medical problems:

• $4.7 billion and 447 excess deaths due to sudden infant death syndrome
• $2.6 billion due to 249 excess deaths from necrotizing enterocolitis
• $1.8 billion due to 172 excess deaths from lower respiratory tract infections
• $908 million due to otitis media
• $601 million due to atopic dermatitis
• $592 million due to childhood obesity

Unfortunately, ABC News ran a pretty negative story about this study today.  See Bettina's post at Best for Babes for a great run down of the assertions and their response. 

One of the experts quoted in the article is Dr. Lillian Beard is, according to Marsha Walker, a medical advisor and consultant to the International Formula Council, and also answers questions on the Nestle/Gerber website. 

Funny that this wasn't mentioned in the ABC article, isn't it?  CBS News had a far better report.

Want to get email updates from the Motherwear Breastfeeding Blog?  Subscribe here.  Want an RSS feed? Subscribe here.  Want to subscribe to our breastfeeding podcasts on iTunes?  Click here.

Give away: Belly Balls

Thanks to Ameda, I'm happy to give away five sets of their Belly Balls lactation education tools.

These sets are a great way to show moms that babies' stomachs - and the amount of milk needed to fill them - are very small.  The marble represents babies' stomach capacity on day 1, the ping pong ball represents stomach capacity on day 3, and the egg represents stomach capacity on day 10.

They're the most effective way I know to help mothers feel comfortable with the normal amount of milk produced in the first few days, and to avoid the pressure to supplement with formula.

If you don't win, you might try making your own set of belly balls, using a shooter marble, a ping pong ball, and a plastic Easter egg.  Put them all in an organza bag, and you're set!  Another version by Childbirth Graphics is sold here.

To enter, tell me how you subscribe to the blog (RSS feed, email, iTunes podcasts) in the comments section below.  If you don't subscribe, get on that!  Winners will be chosen using random.org and announced in the comments section.  Enter by April 12th, 2010.  U.S. addresses only, please.  Winners notified will have three days to respond before I choose alternate winners.

Want to get email updates from the Motherwear Breastfeeding Blog?  Subscribe here.  Want an RSS feed? Subscribe here.  Want to subscribe to our breastfeeding podcasts on iTunes?  Click here.

Photo Friday: "My mom is pregnant"