The Motherwear Breastfeeding Blog

Favorite posts from 2010

To further wrap up this year, here are some of my favorite posts, and some of those that generated the most discussion.

Podcast:  Was your baby an impostor?  Breastfeeding the late preterm infant, with Marsha Walker

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

Buy "Sweet Songs" to benefit the Mothers Milk Bank at Austin

Still lactating after all these years

"Milk fever" and "gathered breast?"  See if you can translate a Victorian era breastfeeding guide

A little too much of a good thing

Photo Friday:  Four faces

Our VBAC: What mattered most

Book review:  The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding

Poll: Formula from the breast or breastmilk from a bottle?

Want to know how the authors of The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding answered the question?

Download a free lullaby album from the Every Ounce Counts campaign

Goodbye, milk

My husband, the breastfeeding slogan genius and "Las dos"

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

Why do Western moms breastfeed more?

"She'll come off the breast when she's done"

Actually, I do want to be used as a pacifier

Making milk when there is no baby to feed

Turning "dirty milk" to "liquid gold"

New podcast on milk banking!

AAP issues new recommendation for iron supplements for breastfed babies, and the AAP Section on Breastfeeding cries foul

"She held the baby on her head"

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Guest post: Kelly's celebrity breastfeeding roundup for 2010

Each year I get to post a roundup of celebrity breastfeeding news thoughtfully written by my blogging friend Kelly.  Check out past years here:  2009, 2008, 2007.

Last year everyone was "too busy" for a photo, but this time Kelly organized the troops and recruited a photographer friend to make the memories happen. Here's Kelly with husband Jon, and daughter Anabel, 12, and son, Austin, 4. She proudly admits both children self-weaned around age 2!

Maybe its the fact I haven't nursed a child in over 2 1/2 years; I'm a little nostalgic lately. This year, I found myself taking a stroll down memory lane. And who did I find, but some very beloved celebrities from decades past in the news discussing their experiences with breastfeeding.

In the extended breastfeeding debate, It's actress Mayim Bialik's "Opinationation" that breast is best, even for toddlers. (Yes, I was a huge "Blossom" fan!) Mayim recently blogged about breastfeeding her 2 1/2 year old son. And having added certified lactation educator/counselor and Ph.D in Neuroscience to her resume since the Blossom years, she's got plenty of data to back her up. Ultimately she says, it comes down to this: "I may not have convinced you that extended nursing is as wonderful as I think is, but that’s okay. When I see my precious son gaze into my eyes and grin that milky grin - not much else matters." Well said. And for those of you who watch tv in this decade, you can catch Mayim on CBS "The Big Bang Theory."

(If you like playing six degrees of separation, breastfeeding edition, 2008's round-up featured Melissa Joan Hart who currently stars in the new ABC Family comedy "Melissa & Joey" with "Blossom" actor Joey Lawrence.)

Danica McKeller is another whip-smart former child star and new mom. We all know her as Winnie, Fred Savage's first love from "The Wonder Years", but she's been busy lately authoring empowering math books for girls and nursing three-month old son Draco. (He's named after a constellation.) "He has a ravenous appetite. He eats every three hours and I’m exclusively breastfeeding. He’s just really sweet.” McKellar recently released her third math book, Hot X: Algebra Exposed.

He may play the lovable cad Barney on "How I Met your Mother," but I've adored Neil Patrick Harris since he starred in "Doogie Howser MD" as a teen. Now, as a new dad to 9-week old twins (via surrogate with partner, David Burtka) he's won my heart again. Doogie, I mean Neil, explains that that while son Gideon was doing fine with formula, daughter Grace Harper was having issues. “Harper was very fussy ... she was always in a state of angst," he said during a recent appearance on the "Late Late show with Craig Ferguson". "We switched formulas a couple of times and now we’re having to have breast milk brought in.” He goes on to discuss how complicated and expensive the whole ordeal is. “Seriously, if someone is in Santa Monica -- down the street and wants to provide milk -- it has to go on a plane to San Jose and get fertilized and pasteurized and boiled and whatever happens in little bottles." I appreciate his sharing on two counts: one, his story illustrates the wonder-elixir that breast milk is, and two, it also sheds light on the lack of milk banks and the scarcity of donor milk for average people. Tanya blogged about her own experience donating milk earlier this year.

While "Dharma & Greg" isn't a quite a blast from the past, its hard to believe the show hasn't been on the air for eight years! (And I can't get over "Greg" actor Thomas Gibson is now on "Criminal Minds!?") The lovely Jenna Elfman, aka Dharma, gave birth her second son Easton in this year, and recently spoke with Best for Babes about her breastfeeding efforts the 2nd time around. "I had zero education about breastfeeding before giving birth to my first son. (Story)," she explained. Jenna ultimately ended up pumping for 10 1/2 months. While she was glad to provide her son with breast milk, she was frustrated. "I had so wanted to breastfeed, and it was such a loss for me that I didn’t pull it off. I wanted to be one of those mothers who are hanging out, I wanted to be that person, who could just whip out their boob and feed their kid!"

With Easton, Jenna was determined to do things differently. She got educated. She had "major epiphanies of what had gone wrong with Story and how all of it could have been prevented." Where had it all gone wrong? The latch. "If moms know how important the right latch is, and letting the baby lead, that’s key." And the cause? Quite a few according to Jenna. "Not enough hospitals have strong breastfeeding protocol and trained staff in place. They couldn’t spend more than a few minutes with me. So too often, we’re trying to educate moms about breastfeeding minutiae. We really can’t expect every mom to have a PhD in breastfeeding science." (Although Mayim gets close.)

Until hospitals get their acts together, women need to avoid the "booby traps," which is where Best For Babes can help. "The one book that saved my life was “Breastfeeding Made Simple” — the most phenomenal breastfeeding book ever. With Easton, from the first moment I put him on the breast I made sure he had a good latch!" Check out entire interview with Jenna at Best for Babes (Part I) and Part II.

And on the topic of tv...I guess it's official: Reality stars are celebrities. And hats off to this very high-profile personality who leverages her everyday appeal to discuss breastfeeding.

If you haven't heard of the Kardashians, you may have been in a coma (or at least without cable). Sisters Kim, Khloe, and Kourtney have created a reality empire that's getting more prolific by the minute. So, when I saw Kourtney was blogging about breastfeeding her son Mason for People's Mom & Babies section, I was thrilled. She writes "Mason is now six months old and has only been fed breast milk up until this week! I just started incorporating solid foods into his diet." I really like Kourtney's down-to-earth perspective. "I still want to continue breastfeeding for maybe another six months or as long as Mason still wants it....People always have something to say about how long is too long or not long enough to breastfeed. I think this is such a personal decision that it can only be made between each baby and his or her mommy." Kourtney also mentioned that being a reality star and nursing has it's challenges. "I know that for me, I need to try to cover myself while breastfeeding so that no one snaps a picture. If this wasn’t the case, I probably wouldn’t mind as much because my son is my biggest concern."

You're likely familiar with Lisa Loeb from her iconic song "Stay," but did you know she also had a reality show called "#1 Single" a few years back? No longer looking for love, she recently married and gave birth to daughter Lyla who she is breastfeeding. Lisa relates her experiences with breastfeeding in a way that is honest and effective. "Although people say it's a natural process... it's not natural. You have no idea what you're doing." She eventually got the hang of it and became an outspoken advocate of breastfeeding starring in National Breastfeeding Month's irreverent PSA Tanya mentioned earlier this year.

And speaking of that awesome PSA, And I have to mention another celebrity featured, Ali Landry, who also breastfed her daughter, now three. Let's hope she does for breastfeeding what she did for the consumption of Doritos (Wouldn't it be amazing if breastfeeding rates increased by 23%?!) Here's a condensed version of the spot also starring breastfeeding moms Kelly Rutherford (featured in the last two roundups), Jana Williamson (from Parks & Recreation), Constance Marie (George Lopez), Sarah Jane Morris (Brothers & Sisters) to name a few.

If I've neglected to mention your fave breastfeeding mom (or dad) this year, please post a comment and let us know how a celebrity inspired you!

Have a happy and healthy 2011, full of wonderful memories in the making!

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Charitable giving that supports breastfeeding

Since some of you will be thinking about making some donations before the year's out, I thought I'd offer a few ideas for organizations which support breastfeeding, both here and abroad:

Mercy Corps's Breastfeeding Kit helps to promote and support breastfeeding in Jakarta, Indonesia.

UNICEF supports breastfeeding all over the world, with particular impact on breastfeeding promotion and support in developing countries.

Action Against Hunger has set up breastfeeding support tents in Haiti and protects breastfeeding while stabilizing malnourished babies in the Democratic Republic of Congo

Milk banks, which are independent non profits linked together by the Human Milk Banking Association of North America, need your support to continue to provide life saving donor milk to premature and sick infants.

La Leche League and Nursing Mothers Counsel provide vital mother-to-mother support for breastfeeding.

Best for Babes is giving breastfeeding a makeover and fighting to eliminate the 'Booby Traps' which undermine breastfeeding.

Finally, consider donating your used nursing clothes, bras, and other supplies to other moms, through WIC, your local church, or community organization

I know I've missed some!  Feel free to add more in the comments section.

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The top ten breastfeeding stories of 2010

Another year is ending (my fourth writing this blog!) and it's time to summarize the big events in the breastfeeding world this year.  If I've forgotten something please leave a comment letting me know!

If you're feeling nostalgic, here are my summaries from 2009, 2008, 2007 and 2006.

Health care reform gives most moms workplace lactation accommodation - A little noticed provision of the gigantic federal health care reform law gave most mothers the right to pump in their workplace and the space to do it.  It will take a while for employers to catch up with this requirement, but it was a huge step forward.  Another provision requires private insurers to pay for breastfeeding support in some cases, though it's not clear how this will be implemented.  The IRS wasn't quite as friendly, denying flexible spending account holders from using their tax sheltered funds to pay for breastpumps.

Eats on Feets enables mother-to-mother milk sharing through Facebook.  Sparking lots of discussion - from cheers of support to an FDA warning - a network called Eats on Feets began spreading across Facebook, enabling moms to connect and share milk.

CDC supports the WHO growth charts.  The CDC and the AAP voiced its support for the WHO growth charts which are based on the norm of the exclusively breastfed baby.  As pediatricians begin adopting the charts, fewer exclusively breastfed babies should be seen as faltering in growth after the 3rd or 4th month.

Study shows increasing breastfeeding rates could save $13 billion, save 900 lives annually - A analysis co-authored by Dr. Melissa Bartick found that increasing breastfeeding initiation and exclusivity rates could save the U.S. billions and save nearly a thousand lives annually.  Unrelated but important

Michelle Obama became a champion of breastfeeding, noting that it is an important piece of the fight against childhood obesity, and that disparities persist between African American and other moms.

Study shows medication can halt 99% of mother-to-child HIV transmission in developing world.  Mother-to-child transmission of HIV through breastfeeding is a major cause of new infections in the developing world, and research from Botswana showed that use of antiretroviral drugs can prevent over 99% of these infections.

Formula company sells human milk product - This one might not seem that significant, but it certainly raised a lot of eyebrows.  Prolacta, maker of a human milk fortifier for preterm infants that is actually made with human milk, announced that its fortifier would be sold by Abbot Nutrition. 

Medication and breastfeeding information now free to all - The Infant Risk Center began providing information on medications and breastfeeding previously available only to those who owned a copy of Medications and Mothers Milk. 

Breastmilk donations for Haiti - There was a lot of confusion over the donation of breastmilk to Haiti following the country's disastrous earthquake.  First there was a call for donations, and then a call to stop sending donations.  Either way, it did focus our attention on the importance of breastfeeding in emergencies.

Formula company launches a 'feeding expert hotline,' and test calls suggest that some of the advice it was dispensing was dangerous to breastfeeding.  Their ads on Babble also caused a stir.

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My baby's TV debut

If you watch carefully you'll see my baby in this TV ad for a store in my area! 

She's being held by Kirsten, founder and owner of Cradle, a wonderful maternal wellness center in the town where I live. 

Happy Holidays, everyone!

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Feed the baby, protect the milk supply: an example from the Democratic Republic of Congo

One of the often repeated phrases in breastfeeding support when a baby isn't gaining well is "feed the baby, protect the milk supply."  This means that while the first priority is always the well being of the baby, feeding the baby should be done in a way that doesn't undermine the ability of the mother to make milk. 

I was reminded of this when Action Against Hunger contacted me to share this video of babies being fed at stabilization centers in the Democratic Repulic of Congo.

It shows a baby who was severly malnourished being fed at one of these centers.  The mother, malnourished herself, had a very compromised milk supply, and the baby was in real danger.  The help they got at this center was supportive of breastfeeding.  I'll let you see how.

You might be wondering why a healthy mother wasn't recruited to nurse the baby.  I asked, and here was the response: 

After Jolie wasn’t able to breastfeed successfully, she did actually search for other mothers in her village who could help her. At a certain point, though, the child became so severely malnourished he got a fever, was vomiting and developed other grave medical complications that require around-the-clock care. At the hospital, he is fed with F-100 [see video for how this was done], which is a therapeutic milk formula specially designed to treat severe acute malnutrition, the most serious form of the condition. This milk formula is high in energy, fat, and protein, and provides a large amount of nutrients vital for severely malnourished children. Once the child reaches the target weight, he can be exclusively breastfed, but for now, F-100 is critical for his recovery.

Action Against Hunger also set up breastfeeding support tents in Haiti after the earthquake. 

I'll be posting soon on ways to support breastfeeding with your charitable giving.  But for now, this video might give you one idea for a way to support mothers and babies in real need.

Helping Hospitals Treat Malnutrition in D.R. Congo from Action Against Hunger USA on Vimeo.

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The Capitol Hill "Boob Cube"

The Associated Press recently had an article on the nursing mothers' rooms on Capitol Hill.  The House facility is known to nursing moms as the Boob Cube.

Two floors down from the historic chambers where lawmakers cast votes in the House and Senate, the lactation room is part lounge, part office-away-from-the-office for scores of women trying to balance their babies' nutritional needs with the demands of a fast-paced Capitol Hill job.

The room is equipped with two hospital-grade pumps, a mini-refrigerator for storage, hand sanitizer and sterile wipes, comfortable chairs and all the necessities of a congressional office: multiline phones, a TV often tuned to C-SPAN, and power outlets for laptops.

Conference calls are taken over the mechanical whirring of pumps. Legislation is read and marked for questions or revisions amid bottle changes. Interviews are conducted and e-mails written and answered between swipes of sanitizing wipes.

Nothing like C-SPAN to get your hormones going.

The article says that, prior to the establishment of the Boob Cube, mothers often had to use bathroom stalls for pumping.  Sound familiar to any of you?

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A gift I never expected

Welcome to the December Carnival of Breastfeeding!  This month's theme is the gifts of breastfeeding.  You'll find more posts on this topic at the bottom of this one.

When I was pregnant with my first baby I knew that I would breastfeed, but I'm not sure that I knew why.

If pressed, I might have been able to come up with some reasons having to do with health and nutrition, but I really think that my motivation was related to the vague idea that this was what I was supposed to do.  All my friends did it, and it seemed pretty normal.

Since I didn't really anticipate anything in particular from breastfeeding, nearly everything about it felt like a gift.  The cozy feeling, the interaction with my baby at feedings, the feeling of accomplishment, the healthy baby/child (not a single infection in seven years!).  Even pumping at work seemed like a gift because I knew that my son would get the best I could offer him.

But the biggest surprise of all was the gift of a new profession. 

I remember sitting in my nursing chair one day, reading the feeding chapter of Our Babies, Ourselves, and getting that rare, pit of the stomach feeling that the world was about to change for me.  Right around the section on immunoglobulins coating the baby's instestinal tract I was hooked.  I knew that I had to pursue this interest somehow.

At the time I was working in a completely different field, doing education policy work for a state legislature.  I did know that I was going to make a change of some kind, but I had no idea in which direction I was headed.

Fast forward a few years, and instead of sitting in front of a computer I'm sitting in front of two breasts and a baby.  And I couldn't be happier about that.

Breastfeeding my daughter, seven years after that epiphanic monent, has made me appreciate the gifts of feeding all over again.  I'm grateful for every smile before a feeding, every sausage link roll on my baby's arms, every nursing-nap.  And I'm also grateful to be part of a profession that helps other moms experience these gifts, too.

Check out these posts on this month's theme (updated throughout the day):

Momma's Angel: The 12 gifts of breastfeeding
Breastfeeding Moms Unite: The gift that keeps on giving
Motherhood Actually: The gift of life: breastfeeding during a time of war
Massachusetts Friends of Midwives: The intangible gifts of breastfeeding
Blacktating:  The gift of confidence
The Milk Mama;  My baby's gift to the Milk Mama

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Breastfeeding books for everyone on your list

Each year around this time I update the list of books I've reviewed on this blog.  It makes for a good list of present ideas for moms or breastfeeding support people.

I've put asterisks by the ones I think would make particularly good gifts.

For moms:

• If These Boobs Could Talk (humor)*
• The Breastfeeding Diaries (humor)
• Nursing Mother, Working Mother
• Eat Well, Lose Weight while Breastfeeding
• The Revolutionaries Wore Pearls*
• Breastfeeding Made Simple*
• Mama Knows Breast*
• Sleeping with your Baby*
• Nursing Mother's Guide to Weaning*
• The Milk Memos*
• Pumping Secrets (CD)
• Breastfeeding Meditation (CD)
• More Mama's Milk (CD)*
• The Ultimate Breastfeeding Book of Answers*
• The Nursing Mother's Herbal*
• Mama's Little Breastfeeding Book
• The ABCs of Breastfeeding
• Permission to Mother*
• Child of Mine: Feeding with Love and Good Sense*
• The Breastfeeding Mother's Guide to Making More Milk*
• The Wet Nurse's Tale (fiction)*
• Great Expectations: The Essential Guide to Breastfeeding*
• The Essential Breastfeeding Log
• Breastfeeding, A Parent's Guide*
• The Black Woman's Guide to Breastfeeding*
• Breastfeeding with Comfort and Joy*
• The Nursing Mother's Herbal*
• Your Best Birth*
• Making Babies*
• Birth Day
• Breastfeeding: Portraits in Black and White*
• The Politics of Breastfeeding*
• Saggy Boobs and other Breastfeeding Myths*
• The Food of Love*
• The Nursing Mother's Companion, and the Nursing Mother's Breastfeeding Diary*
• Breastfeeding in Combat Boots*
• The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding, 8th edition*
• Mothering Multiples*
• Breastfeeding Facts for Fathers
• Balancing Breast and Bottle
• The Complete Book of Breastfeeding* (review coming)

For children:

• Mama's Milk*
• Mommy Breastfeed my Baby Brother*
• If my Mom were a Platypus*
• Best Milk* (review coming)

For breastfeeding support people and advocates:

• Spanish for Breastfeeding Support (my book!)*
• The Revolutionaries Wore Pearls*
• Baby Led Breastfeeding (DVD)*
• The Nursing Mother's Herbal*
• Supporting Sucking Skills in Breastfeeding Infants*
• The Breastfeeding Mother's Guide to Making More Milk*
• The Politics of Breastfeeding*
• The Impact of Birthing Practices on Breastfeeding*
• Giving Breastmilk* (academic, review coming)

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PUL, I heart you.

When I unearthed my brestfeeding supplies for my new baby I found a lot of washable breast pads I bought seven years ago when nursing my son. 

It reminded me that back then I never found the nursing pad of my dreams: washable, leakproof, thin, soft, and not too expensive.

Seven years ago I dutifully followed the advice not to use pads with a waterproof backing, but I have a very fast let down and a lot of milk, and I always leaked through (including once, embarassingly, at work).  Once I decided to abandon that advice and purchase ones with waterproof backing I found only ones that made it look like I had saucers in my shirt.  I considered wool, but I've never been able to wear wool without getting some skin irritation.  Disposables worked, but if we were cloth diapering didn't it make sense to use washable pads?  And the kinds they had back then looked, as one mom told me, like I had oatmeal cookies in my bra.

I'm sure that most people do just fine with soft cotton pads.  But they just don't work for me. 

I began the search again when my daughter arrived, and was happy to find that, as is the case in so many baby products, there have been some great improvements since 2003.  The one that I'm the most happy about is the use of PUL fabric.  It's the same stuff used on a lot of cloth diaper covers, and it's really working for me.  It's waterproof and flexible and thin.  The other improvements have been in the types of fabrics used; now you can find bamboo, hemp, and silk, all of which are quite absorbent. 

The pads to the right,* which are made by Bamboobies, work really well at preventing leaks, are cute, and are super, super soft.  They're made with organic bamboo fabric, hemp, and a PUL backing.  And the heart shape contours nicely so they don't show through my shirts.  They also make overnight bamboo sets without PUL which are thicker and also incredibly soft. 

I also tried pads with PUL made by Knicker Nappies, which were not quite as soft but also very leak-proof.  They're larger and thicker (maybe a little too thick for me, tending to bunch up around the outer edges), and made with a microfleece outer layer and a hemp inner layer.  I use them when I'm out in the morning, when my supply is especially high, or when I'm going to be nursing a long time straight (like through the baby-friendly movie I'm seeing today!)

In the end I bought a bunch of pads with PUL (picture to the left) made by a stay at home mom who sells them on eBay.  They're very thin, with an outer PUL layer and inner layers of cotton, with a flannel top layer.  They aren't as soft as Bamboobies, but they do the trick, and at $2 a pair and very cheap shipping they fit the bill.  She'll also add extra layers up on request.

Not everyone needs this kind of protection, but if you do it's nice to know that there are some good options out there.  

* All pads mentioned here were purchased by me with the exception of those made by Bamboobies.

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