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This picture from the breastfeeding support group for women in the military, Mom2Mom, has sparked a lot of discussion.
I did a podcast interview on breastfeeding while serving in the military in which my guest, the author of Breastfeeding in Combat Boots, said that nursing in uniform even while in a pediatric waiting room with a baby is not considered inconsistent with "good order and discipline."
What do you think about the image of moms nursing in uniform?
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Taking a brief break from writing about breastfeeding to write about...poop.
I started cloth diapering with my son in 2003. We were living in California and used a diaper service. Once he began sleeping long stretches at night we used disposables because the cloth just didn't cut it (we tried doubling up, but he could barely fit into pajamas that way!). When we moved to Massachusetts he was a toddler and we began washing our own.
When our daughter arrived in 2010 we got out the cloth diapers again. Since my son was born there had been a lot of changes in diaper covers (notably, they got a lot more cute and adjustable), and I purchased some more. I washed them at home in our front-loading washer. (I did consider trying Elimination Communication, but ultimately decided it wasn't for us.)
But last winter I decided that I'd had enough of this, and we signed up for a diaper service. There again, there have been some big improvements. Our current service uses hemp diapers made in the U.S., washes them using environmentally-friendly methods, and uses the same service we use to pick up our garbage - a bicycle delivery service. Yes, even through the snowy New England winter, our diapers are picked up by hearty folks on bikes.
So the only thing that didn't feel quite right was using disposable diapers at night. We used the greener-ones, but it bothered me to know that, since disposables take hundreds of years to decompose, the first diaper we ever used - and in fact the first modern disposable diaper ever used period - is still sitting somewhere, not yet decomposed.
Then this spring, my diaper service started offering something I'd never heard of: a diaper composting service.
Our service sells us a plastic-free disposable diaper, and picks them up with our cloth diapers each week. Then they send the disposables to a professional composting service, where they're turned into safe, rich compost for gardening in three months! If you're wondering how this works, check out this post I coordinated on the Dandelion blog.
So, this is about as green as I can get our diapering. But I'm really interested to see what options are coming down the line!
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Leila Ali, retired boxer and daughter of Muhammad Ali, spoke to Extra about her support of breastfeeding through the Best for Babes Foundation and reducing our kids' exposure to toxins through Healthy Child, Healthy World.
I loved her answer to the question, "How did you get involved in this?" Shades of her father, right?
Leila and the Best for Babes founders spoke about the many barriers moms face in meeting their breastfeeding goals. I've been writing a series on what they call the "Booby Traps," which I encourage you to check out!
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My toddler daughter loves books and nursing (not in that order).
And while she can't sit through the whole thing yet, she's very interested in Mommy Feeds Baby, by lactation consultant Christina Jo Hendricks.
The book is a series of photos of mothers nursing their babies, listing the many reasons why mothers breastfeed. The text on each page reads, "Because _____, Mommy feeds baby."
The images include mothers of different ethnicities nursing children of different ages, in different locations and with different family members present. All of the photos were taken by the author. It's also available in Spanish.
The best part of the book is the final page, which allows the owner to insert their own picture and write a statement about why they nurse.
This is a sweet, affirming, and beautiful book, and I have the fun of offering one to a lucky reader!
To enter, leave a comment below by June 1st, 2012. One winner will be chosen using random.org and notified by email. Winner will also be listed in the comments section. Winner has three days from notification to reply with mailing addresses; alternate winner will be chosen if no reply is received in three days. U.S. addresses only, one entry per person. *I was given a review sample of this book.
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While mother-to-child transmission of HIV through breastfeeding is a major source of new infections in the developing world, it's always been a mystery why some babies become infected and others don't.
Researchers at Duke University may have identified one reason why:
Antibodies that help to stop the HIV virus have been found in breast milk. Researchers at Duke University Medical Center isolated the antibodies from immune cells called B cells in the breast milk of infected mothers in Malawi, and showed that the B cells in breast milk can generate neutralizing antibodies that may inhibit the virus that causes AIDS.
HIV-1 can be transmitted from mother to child via breastfeeding, posing a challenge for safe infant feeding practices in areas of high HIV-1 prevalence. But only one in 10 HIV-infected nursing mothers is known to pass the virus to their infants.
"That is remarkable, because nursing children are exposed multiple times each day during their first year of life," said senior author Sallie Permar, M.D., Ph.D., an assistant professor of pediatrics and infectious diseases at Duke. "We are asking if there is an immune response that protects 90 percent of infants, and could we harness that response to develop immune system prophylaxis (protection) during breastfeeding for mothers infected with HIV-1.
For more on breastfeeding and HIV, see these prior posts:
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Just about all of us find ourselves needing to take a medication of one kind or another during breastfeeding, and we all want the best information we can get about their safety.
Fortunately, there are two new apps which can help:
Dr. Thomas Hale is the world's leading authority on medications and breastfeeding, and his Medications and Mother's Milk is the most comprehensive reference on the topic. He now offers the same information - even more frequently updated - in the form of a new app for the iPhone and Android platforms. It costs $29.99 per year. Dr. Hale also offers a free phone service through the Infant Risk Center. If you have a single question about a medication the phone line is probably all you need. If you have frequent questions or work in breastfeeding support, the app is what you'll want.
LactMed, a database published by the U.S. National Library of Medicine, offers both a searchable online website and a new app for the iPhone and Android platforms. The LactMed app is available for free. LactMed has begun expanding its coverage to include complementary and alternative medicines.
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If, like me, you're old enough to remember when Hope said, "I don't want dioxins in my breast milk!" on Thirtysomething (I know I just lost nearly all of you!), the issue of toxins in breastmilk isn't a new one.
But there has been some media coverage of it again related to the release of the book Breasts, a Natural and Unnatural History.
So I thought it would be good to round out the issue with a few facts that rarely make it into the news. I have a new post up at Best for Babes which does that. Hope you check it out!
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Here's a sad story with a happy ending.
A Denver area student who was nursing her 8 month old baby was penalized after she took a break to pump during a four hour class. Her professor approved the breaks, but then lowered her participation grade.
ABC News Denver reports:
"I asked him 'Why is my participation grade so low? I've been here every single day,'" said Osowski. "And he said, 'Well, you made the choice to leave to pump.'"
When she complained to Metro State officials, Osowski said she got no response. Metro State officials, however, told 7NEWS Reporter Jaclyn Allen that her complaint has prompted them to create a new policy.
"Our new policy specifically says that faculty would not be able to penalize students for having a need such as this," said Steve Monaco, the Health Services Director for the Health Center of Auraria.
Wondering if this mom was covered by the Break Time for Nursing Mothers federal law? I assume that, unless she was also working and covered by the FLSA, she is not.
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I've donated to Mercy Corps before, in order to sponsor their breastfeeding support project in Indonesia.
While other NGOs support breastfeeding (UNICEF is one that comes to mind), Mercy Corps is the only one I know of which allows you to target your donation directly to a breastfeeding support project. If there are others you know of, please share!
I just watched this Mercy Corps video, which explains how the project works. Check it out!
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