The Motherwear Breastfeeding Blog

Send in a nursing story or tip and be entered to win a $50 Motherwear gift certificate.

Interested in a $50 Motherwear gift certificate?  Send in a nursing tip or story, and you'll be entered to win one.

From the last few contests, here are the funniest ones (these, too) and the most moving ones, in my opinion.

To enter, just send your favorite nursing tip or story to customer service (customerservice at motherwear dot com).  One lucky entrant will win a $50 gift certificate!  Contest ends 7/20/10. Motherwear reserves the right to publish some or all of the content of the emails/stories.

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Best for Babes releases new ad in USA Today

Best for Babes, the organization dedicated to giving breastfeeding a much needed makeover, unveiled a new ad in USA Today last week.  For a better resolution copy of the ad, click on the image.

It's special in a number of ways.  It has mass market appeal, emphasizes getting support, doesn't use scare tactics, and even mentions donor milk and the WHO code.  Think you'd ever see that in USA Today?

A little too much of a good thing.

So breastfeeding has been going really well with our little girl.  She has a great latch, I've had no pain, and she's on the nearly-pound-a-week growth plan.  You can tell by the sausage-link arms and emerging third chin.

The only issue we're having is the one I always call 'the best breastfeeding problem you can have.'  I have a bit of an oversupply and a fast let-down.

I think of this as the best breastfeeding problem because it's so much easier to reduce supply than to increase it.  And there are some simple ways to help babies cope with the let down.  Usually I suggest some combination of 'uphill' positions, block nursing (if it's obvious that there is a significant oversupply), and sometimes pumping before feedings when the supply is highest.  All of these things are really nicely described in my favorite handout on this topic, from the Texas WIC program.  It does a great job of describing some common symptoms, and lays out the options in a clear and reassuring way.*  Kellymom.com also has a good page on this topic.

So I've done a little work on positional changes, and haven't tried block nursing because I don't want to mess with supply just yet.  I've pumped in the morning when my supply is highest and that seems to help.  I'm happy that it's not so overwhelming that she can't do some comfort nursing at the end.

But I'm finding myself most inclined to do nothing and see how my baby adapts.  My son, who experienced the same thing, eventually developed a routine in which he'd pull off when the let down began, catch his breath, and then latch back on.  Besides being very messy, it worked quite well for us.  I think I'm starting to see the same response in my baby.  Up until recently she'd just try to keep up, and get an increasingly worried look on her face, often choke and sputter, and sometimes cry.  But in the last few days I've noticed her pull off on her own when the flow picked up.

While I'm aware that this wouldn't work for everyone, but it makes me think about emphasizing this more when I talk to moms.  Babies are so smart, and sometimes the best response is to let them figure things out on their own.

Any of you have a let down like a fire hose?

* My only complaint is that it lists "poor weight gain" as one symptom, when I think it's far more common to see extremely fast weight gain, which La Leche League describes as significantly more than 2 pounds in one month.

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Photo Friday: Four faces

 

New film, "Latching On," explores the politics of breastfeeding

A new film out by an Academy Award nominated filmmaker Katja Esson takes on the politics, culture, and economic forces influencing breastfeeding in the U.S.  After seeing her sister breastfeed without incident in Germany, Esson returned to the U.S. and found the culture much less welcoming.  This gave rise to the film, Latching On. 

I thought you'd enjoy the trailer, below.  And for those of you in New York City, there will be a free screening on June 30th at the Tribeca Film Center. 

Study shows medications can eliminate 99% of HIV infections through breastfeeding.

In December of last year I wrote about a big change in policy regarding breastfeeding and HIV in developing countries.  Last week a new study provided more good news in the transmission of HIV from mother to child during breastfeeding.

Some quick background:  HIV can be transmitted from mother to child during pregnancy, childbirth, and breastfeeding.  In the developing world mother-to-child transmission has been a major source of new infections. 

For this reason, it's been the recommendation that women who are HIV positive not breastfeed, as long as formula feeding is "acceptable, feasible, affordable, sustainable and safe."  

Many women in developing countries don't have access to clean water, much less the resources to purchase formula, and not breastfeeding puts their infants at a high risk of death and disease.  In one recent study of 14 developing countries, not breastfeeding resulted in over 325 deaths per 1,000 births compared to 35 deaths per 1,000 births among breastfed babies. 

That's why breastfeeding, even though it may mean that a child becomes infected with HIV, has been considered safer than not breastfeeding in much of the developing world.  Both feeding options carry significant risks, but a child is far likelier to die earlier in life if he is not breastfed. 

For years the WHO has recommended exclusive breastfeeding in these situations until 6 months, and then abrupt weaning.  Last December the WHO changed its recommendation to continuing breastfeeding for 12 months provided that the mother or baby is taking anti-retroviral medications during that period.

Now to last week's study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine.  Scientific American reports: 

Giving HIV-positive mothers antiretroviral therapies has been shown to reduce transmission rates during pregnancy and birth as well as during breast-feeding, but the postpartum infection rates remained variable. And in the larger population, by six months of age, about a quarter of babies whose mothers had HIV had also contracted the virus. A new study conducted in Botswana, published online June 16 in The New England Journal of Medicine, reports a breast-feeding transmission rate of just 1.1 percent with the use of prophylactic antiretrovirals.

"This is the lowest rate of mother-to-child transmission in a study from Africa, or among breast-feeding infants," Roger Shapiro, an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and lead author of the new study, said in a prepared statement.

This is great news, confirming that the new WHO recommendation will save lives.  The hitch?  There are two:  1) Babies whose mothers took the therapy in pregnancy had a 23% chance of delivering prematurely, and 2) the New York Times reports that funding for antiretroviral medications for mothers in the developing world is declining, a victim of the global recession. 

Mom harrassed for breastfeeding at Colorado baseball game, nurse-in planned

Supporters of a mother who was told to use a family bathroom to breastfeed her baby are organizing a nurse in at an upcoming Colorado Rockies baseball game.

The Denver Channel reports:

Sandra Snow and her family were seated in the nosebleed section during Tuesday's baseball game when she decided to nurse her hungry newborn daughter. She moved to an empty row behind her seat so no one was around. She claims she was fully covered.

"An usher came up to me and told me I needed to do that in the family restroom," said Snow. "I told her, 'I’d be done in a moment and I would come down then.'"

After finishing, Snow said another employee came to her, reiterating that there were family restrooms in the ballpark."

What I felt was, 'This was offensive to other people and that I needed to take my disgrace to the restroom,'" Snow said. "I'm always careful about covering up and making sure nobody sees anything they don't want to see."

The family was so upset they decided to leave the game early. “I was shocked this was still an issue in this day and age,” Snow said.

7NEWS checked out the family restroom and found the only place Snow could sit to nurse was on the toilet.

"What other time do we eat and use the restroom? That was not an appropriate area for me to feed a child," Snow said.

Women in Colorado have a legal right to breastfeed in public.

The Rockies responded that the mother was in a closed off area of seating, but it's unclear why the ushers raised the issue of breastfeeding.  Rockies management say that breastfeeding is allowed in any part of the ballpark and that employees are trained in this policy.

Supporters of the mother are organizing a nurse-in at an upcoming game.  See their Facebook page for details.

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Our VBAC: What mattered most

I wrote a while back about how lucky I feel to be living in a community - and I know many of you don't - where having a VBAC is a real option.  I feel even more gratitude now, having had one last week.

At some point in the immediate period following our daughter's birth, my doula said to my midwife, "Tanya prepared for a VBAC like people prepare for the LSAT."  And it's true that I did everything I could think of to give us the best odds. 

I did chiropractic, acupuncture, prenatal yoga, hired a wonderful doula, took a full day VBAC class, read the VBAC book, listened to the VBAC CD, read the books I hadn't read during my last pregnancy (Hypnobirthing, Ina May's Guide, The Doula Guide, etc.), meditated, spent hours on my hands and knees and in inversions, scoured the Spinning Babies site, sat on the birth ball and kneeling chairs and reclined as little as possible, talked to moms who had had VBACs, read VBAC stories on the ICAN website, took a ridiculous number of supplements, and walked and walked.  Every night my husband and I played "guess the baby's position," and I started calling him Ira May Gaskin after he read Ina May Gaskin's book and wanted to read me a birth story every night.  I also made a point of peering as far as I could into the operating room at the hospital, and at home I visualized what it would be like to have another c-section. 

All of that helped, no doubt.  My baby didn't end up in a posterior position, which was one of the factors contributing to my c-section with my first child.  My cervix was ready to go.  I felt more or less prepared when my labor started.  I didn't go 'post dates,' which would have jeopardized my chances of having a VBAC because I couldn't be induced.  I labored for a long time at home with the help of my husband and our doula.

But reflecting on it now I can see that the most important factor which contributed to the birth was the attitude of the staff at the hospital.  Everyone, from the OB to the midwives, to the nurses, understood how important it was to me to avoid another c-section.  This made me feel like I could trust the process, even at unexpected moments.  And while safety was always the first consideration, I believe that this spirit made a significant difference in the outcome.

It's hard to pinpoint a moment which illustrates this; I feel like the belief that a VBAC was possible was somehow in the air the entire time I was there.  The closest I can come to an example was when my baby's heart rate dipped with a few contractions.  Both my husband and I held our breath while listening to the monitor, and my own heart sank.  This was the reason why I had a c-section with my son, and in that moment all seemed lost.  But in a few minutes the doctor said that everything looked fine and things moved along from there. 

Do I think that safety was ever sacrificed to intention or ideology?  No.  But do I think that two doctors could have read the same information differently?  Yes.  And might doctors who attend lots of VBACs view it differently than doctors who see virtually none?  Probably.  Can parents' wishes be respected and fully integrated into the care they get without compromising safety?  I really think so.

The day after the birth there was a virtual parade of nurses, midwives, and doctors who came to tell me how happy they were that things had worked out as we had hoped.  Two nurses whose shifts had ended during the labor told me that they called in on their days off to find out what happened.  One OB told me that she wished she'd been there. One nurse said, "I'm just so happy that we could help your birth wishes come true."

This is all making it sound like a remarkable feat, when the fact is that 3 out of 4 women who attempt a VBAC at this hospital end up having one.  I'm so grateful to be counted in that number, and I wish that all women who want a VBAC had the same odds, and the chance to birth in the same supportive environment I had.

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A breastfeeding rap

I'm working on a post about our daughter's birth and how breastfeeding is going, but it's not quite done.  We just got home from the hospital yesterday after a week of antibiotics (for her), so things are moving slowly around here.

In the meantime, I hope you'll enjoy this breastfeeding rap performance from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.  Thanks to Andi for alerting me to it!

Summer Fun with You and Your Baby!

Motherwear's Summer line is here and better than ever! There is no reason not to be confident and comfortable while nursing in public or just about anywhere with these new nursing styles.

A few of my favorites are shown here, including the Clean and Simple Tank (shown top-left), the Sweetheart Tankini (shown bottom-left), and the Mackenzie Sundress (shown right)! To be honest, they're  all my favorite!

For a great visual explanation of all the types of nursing openings offered just check out the "how it works" page under customer care.

Be sure to sign up for the FREE seasonal catalog. Also subscribe to our emails for special offers and savings!

Don't forget: a Motherwear gift certificate makes for a great gift  to  any expecting or already nursing mom!

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