The Motherwear Breastfeeding Blog

Join the Quintessence Global Breastfeeding Challenge

Every year since 2001 the Quintessence Foundation has sponsored the Global Breastfeeding Challenge, an event in which mothers nurse their babies at organized sites around the world.

The Challenge started in British Columbia with 856 babies and their mothers at 26 sites, and last year the number reached 4,766 babies at 246 sites in 21 countries.

You can check to see if there's a site near you, and if not you can organize one of your own! 

The nearest one to me is at Mothers and Company in Worcester, Massachusetts.

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Podcast: How does birth impact breastfeeding? An interview with Linda Smith.

Ever wonder how epidurals, IV fluids, c-sections, or pitocin impact breastfeeding?  Or how hospitals care for newborn babies and mothers right after birth affects how breastfeeding goes? 

Maybe you're thinking about your upcoming birth and wondering what you can do to give yourself the best odds for a good start with breastfeeding if your birth involves some interventions, medications, or a c-section?

Or maybe you want to know the most important things to do to get breastfeeding going well when you've had a labor and birth that puts you at risk for having breastfeeding difficulties.

I'm very pleased to share a podcast interview of the impact of birthing practices on breastfeeding today.  In it I speak with Linda Smith, author of The Impact of Birthing Practices on Breastfeeding, Second Edition about all these issues.

You can listen to this podcast using the player below, listen to it in Quicktime, or download it for free at our iTunes store.

The Impact of Birthing Practices on Breastfeeding

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Breastfeeding tip #73

If you go to a mother/baby yoga class, and if you nurse your baby in the middle of the class, and if then you get into a pose on your back with your baby held above you, do not line up your baby's mouth directly over yours, or you may get an unpleasant surprise.

Luckily only one person seemed to notice that I was going "pppfffffttt! ppppfffffttt!" to get it out.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

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Old Navy's "formula powered" onesie

I'm a little late in posting about this, but here it is:  Old Navy is selling (though it doesn't seem to be on their website now) a onesie which says "formula powered," with an image of a bottle.

Is this wrong?  To answer that I think it's important to divide the question.

Question One: Is a mother wrong for buying and dressing her baby in this onesie?  No.  If we're serious about respecting all mothers' feeding decisions (whether by choice or necessity), then we should respect a mother's choice to announce her decision, too.  After all, we wear t-shirts that broadcast our decision to breastfeed and wouldn't tolerate being told that this is wrong.

Question Two:  Is it wrong for Old Navy to create and sell this onesie?  Yes.  These shirts promote formula feeding, and also reinforce the notion that formula feeding is the norm.  Creating - and profiting from - a product which promotes a means of feeding which is associated with negative health outcomes is irresponsible on the part of this company. 

And now for your thoughts.

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Can breastfeeding make your kids more empathic?

This video from the University of Notre Dame is pretty thought provoking.  It's a real endorsement of breastfeeding but also just loving behavior towards kids.

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Have a question about taking a medication while breastfeeding or pregnant? The Infant Risk Center is now open.

Since I had my baby in June I've had a couple of questions about medications and their affect on breastfeeding.  Fortunately I have a copy of Medications and Mothers' Milk, the best resource out there for information on medications and breastfeeding. 

But few mothers have this book, and far too few physicians and pharmacists have it.  In fact, one recent study of two large retail pharmacy chains found that "for 75 percent of drugs that are considered unequivocally safe for breastfeeding, pharmacies were inappropriately advising mothers to stop nursing."

There is a online database, LactMed, which can be helpful, but I've found that Medications and Mothers' Milk has more detailed information on a wider range of drugs.

So here's the great news:  Now anyone can have access to this gold mine of information.  The author of Medications and Mothers' Milk, Dr. Thomas Hale, has opened the Infant Risk Center.  The Center, which is associated with Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center at Amarillo and the Laura W. Bush Institute for Women's Health, is now open for calls on medication use during pregnancy and breastfeeding.

The goal of the center is to "provide accurate information regarding the risks of exposure to mothers and babies," which will "reduce the number of birth defects as well as create healthy breastfeeding relationships."

The center is now open for calls from Monday through Friday, 8-5 pm Central Time.  The number to call is (806) 352-2519.

And if you've always wondered why some medications transfer easily into milk while others don't, here's a great primer on medications and breastfeeding from Dr. Hale. 

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You never know when nursing in public is going to pay off.

A few months ago I went to a postpartum visit at my midwives' office.  While I was in the waiting room I fed my baby.  Then I had the appointment and went home.

Later that day one of the midwives called to tell me that she had had an appointment that day with a mother who had formula fed her first child and was now expecting another.  Apparently this mom had been in the waiting room with me.

When the midwife asked her if she was considering breastfeeding this baby she said, "Well, I wasn't considering it, but I just saw this mom nursing in the waiting room, and she looked so happy and peaceful.  So, yes, I think I'll breastfeed this baby."

I now know what my next career will be.

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Want breastfeeding help? Be wary of this "expert" line.

Have you seen ads for Similac's Expert Feeding line?  This ads promise "nurses and lactation consultants" are available 24/7 to provide free help.  They've recently advertised on Babble.

Now, you may be wondering why anyone would call a formula company sponsored line for breastfeeding help, but I'm willing to be that there are enough mothers in areas with poor support resources that this looks pretty attractive.  After all, it's a free call to a lactation consultant.  Everybody loves (and most people need) free, and lactation consultants are experts, right?

(And they're really promoting the heck out of this thing.  I just did a Google search for 'breastfeeding help,' and guess what popped up at the top?)

Recently someone on Lactnet called the line to test out what kind of advice they give about breastfeeding.  Here's what she reported:

I pretended to be a new mom with a two week old breastfed baby "who hasn't gained back up to her birth weight."  Then I asked, "Do you have any suggestions?"  The "expert's" response was, "Well, there might be a few things you could do...but the BEST thing might be to mix formula with your breastmilk to add more calories."

So, the first thing to say is that whoever gave this incredibly unhelpful (and likely damaging) advice is not an IBCLC.  The truth is that anyone can call themselves a lactation consultant, even if they've never been within fifty feet of a nursing mother and baby.  Only board-certified lactation consultants with the initials IBCLC are guaranteed to have completed a high level of training and experience.  Would an IBCLC work for a formula company sponsored help line?  No.  Our Code of Ethics would prohibit that, and it would put our credential in jeopardy.

The Similac site says that the lactation consultants are provided by LifeCare, "a leading provider of maternity and lactation support programs."  Lactnet posters have suggested that after IBCLCs working for LifeCare refused to work for the Similac line, the company had some people trained through an online course before being handed the phones.

There are a lot of issues here, starting with the harmful advice and promotion of formula evidenced by the call above, moving on to the confusion and deception caused by the use use of the term 'lactation consultant,' and then the decision made by Babble to accept the ads.  And of course we have WHO Code issues all over the place here.  What do you have so say about all of this?

And where can you turn for free breastfeeding phone help?  Fortunately there are several options:

• La Leche League: Leaders in your area who can help by phone and sometimes in person
  
• National Breastfeeding Hotline (women.gov):  Phone help from peer counselors in English and Spanish
  

You can also see the the ILCA website for listings of lactation consultants through a zip code search, and get breastfeeding help through most WIC offices.

Why do western moms breastfeed more?

The CDC just released its 2010 Breastfeeding Report Card, which tracks breastfeeding rates in each state.  They track breastfeeding initiation, any breastfeeding at 6 and 12 months, and exclusive breastfeeding at 3 and 6 months.

Below is a chart showing any breastfeeding at 6 months.  The U.S. average is 43%, and ranges from 22.5% in Mississippi to 62% in Oregon.  Utah wins the 'any breastfeeding' contest, with just shy of 90% of babies having been breastfed (the national average is 75%).  You can see the full list of states here.

Year after year the western states out breastfeed other parts of the country.  Rates tend to be highest in the West (and sometimes the Northeast) and lowest in the South, with the East and Midwest somewhere in between.

I have my theories about why this is, but I'd love to hear yours.  Do you live in the South, the West?  Can you explain why your state's rates are high or low?

 

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This blog's turning four. Celebrate with a $25 gift certificate!

It's this blog's fourth anniversary, and to celebrate Motherwear is giving away two $25 gift certificates!

To enter to win one, leave a comment telling me how you subscribe to this blog by September 20, 2010.  One entry per person, U.S. addresses only.  Winner will be chosen using random.org, notified by email, and announced in the comments section.  Gift certificates will be mailed by Motherwear.  Please note:  Winners who do not respond to email within 3 days forfeit prize, and alternate winners will be chosen.

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.