The Motherwear Breastfeeding Blog

Book review: Eat Well, Lose Weight while Breastfeeding.

Eat Well, Lose Weight, While Breastfeeding (Ballantine Books, 2006), by Eileen Behan, R.D. is an updated version of her 1992 book of the same name. 

While there are a number of features to appreciate about this book, my favorite is Behan's low key and reassuring approach to balancing new motherhood with weight loss.  While she acknowledges the pressure many women feel to "bounce back" quickly to an idea shape after having a baby, she states, "while you are breastfeeding, your primary job is to take care of yourself and your baby."

This book has some wonderful practical advice, including meal plans, nutritional information for nursing mothers, and exercise information.  The final chapter provides advice on eating well after weaning. 

She also does a good job taking on the "500 extra calories per day" guideline for nursing mothers, pointing out that for some women this is far too many calories.  She dispels the myths that there is a long list of foods which need to be avoided during breastfeeding, and that a nursing mother must force herself to drink water.  She encourages mothers not to focus on what they shouldn't eat, but "instead, emphasize all the good foods you can have."  She comments on low carb diets while breastfeeding, sugar substitutes, and fish safety. 

When discussing the research on weight loss and breastfeeding, Behan presents only studies which showed minimal or no effect of breastfeeding on weight.  I'm not sure if this was intended as an exhaustive review of the literature on this subject, but there are certainly studies which do show an effect which could have been presented. 

I was disappointed by several statements she made about breastfeeding duration.  One statement, "most doctors currently recommend that mothers not introduce solid foods to their babies for at least four months," should at least have been followed by the AAP recommendation that solid foods not be introduced until babies are six months old.  She also states that one way to view breastfeeding is that "the first nine months are for building the baby, the next nine are for breastfeeding her," though the AAP recommends breastfeeding "for at least the first year of life."  In another section, she states that having a cesarean section birth "will not impact the timing of you milk coming in," though numerous studies (one here) have demonstrated an association between c-sections and delayed onset of mature milk.

Behan warns mothers that lactic acid increases in breastmilk after a nursing mother exercises, which can cause babies to reject the milk.  A number of studies have found that this is only a concern if the mother engages in "exhaustive" exercise (and very few nursing mothers have the energy or motivation to exercise to that point), and sometimes even then there is no effect.  I'm always concerned when I hear this issue raised to nursing mothers, since exercise in the postpartum period is so beneficial for our physical and mental health, and so hard to find time to do.

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Motherwear's fall season photo shoot.

I recently had the chance to check out Motherwear's fall line at their photo shoot for the new catalog. 

I got to meet the two models, Genelle and Camila, and their babies Max (3.5 months) and Mathew (10 months).

Fall is my favorite season for weather and also for clothes.  This fall Motherwear will have some great dresses and long sleeved nursing tops in new colors and fabrics.

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Nursing tank and camisole sale.

Motherwear is having a great nursing tank and camisole sale, now through Tuesday.

Time to stock up!

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Summertime at Motherwear.

Motherwear's summer line of nursing clothes is here!

Check out the new line, which is modeled by nursing moms Marni (top left), and Sophie (top right) and their babies.

We just made it through a heat wave here, and everyone is in the mood for some cool summer clothes.

You'll find some great new swimsuits - very handy at the beach and at the pool.

And Motherwear has a number of new summer dresses and tanks.  You'll find lots of layered-look nursing shirts, and some new comfy sleepwear, too.

There are a number of items made with bamboo fabric - a sustainable fabric which wicks away moisture and is very soft.  For more information on bamboo, see this post.

Watch for some great vintage covers on the site in the coming weeks, celebrating Motherwear's 25th year supporting nursing mothers in style!

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Goodbye to a revolutionary who wore pearls.

Edwina Froehlich, one of the seven mothers who founded La Leche League, International, passed away yesterday at the age of 93.

La Leche League's website announced her passing:

"In 1956, Edwina Froehlich and six other women met in Franklin Park, Illinois to share information on how to successfully breastfeed their babies. The group quickly attracted the attention of other women and became an organization called La Leche League.

'In those days you didn’t mention ‘breast’ in print,' Froehlich once said. 'We knew that if we were ever going to get anything in the paper we would have to find a name that wouldn’t actually tell people what our organization was about.' The breastfeeding support group took the Spanish name for milk as its name. From these roots grew La Leche League International, a breastfeeding support not-for-profit organization, which has groups in every U.S. state and in 68 different countries. The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding has been translated into eight languages and Braille."

Edwina had her first baby at the "advanced" age of 35, and was told that the breasts of a woman over 30 could not produce milk.  She went on to nurse each of her three sons.  She was in many a maverick for her time, leading a Catholic organization dedicated to social change, becoming a "career woman," and choosing home births for her children.

I've been reading The Revolutionaries Wore Pearls (La Leche League, International, 2007), which tells the story of Edwina and the other six founding members of La Leche League.  I'd highly recommend to anyone interested in the origins of La Leche League and the re-birth of breastfeeding. The book, which was published to commemorate the 50th anniversary of La Leche League's founding, is designed to look like an old fashioned family scrapbook, with photos, press clippings, and a lot of pearls. 

While we accept as fact that breastfeeding and mother-infant attachment is important, the seven founders raised children in an era in which mothers were taught to withhold affectionate contact with their babies for fear of "spoiling" them or even causing them brain damage.  Needless to say, formula feeding and strict feeding schedules were the norm, and babies and mothers were routinely separated for the first 24 hours following birth.  Participation in the birth of one's baby was unheard of.  One of the founders recalling her natural delivery in 1947, said "I think it made the doctor very nervous.  He had never worked on a conscious mother before."

The Revolutionaries Wore Pearls also demonstrates the remarkable influence of this La Leche League - a mother-run, volunteer organization.  La Leche League founders and leaders were instrumental in the development of the lactation consultant profession and the development of breastfeeding peer counselor programs used by WIC and around the world.  They monitored press reports for accuracy, disputed poor research, and spurred the development of the field of human lactation research.  They have played a significant role in breastfeeding related public policy at local, state, federal, and international levels.

One particularly fun chapter illustrates the power of celebrity in promoting breastfeeding.  Princess Grace of Monaco, who had nursed all three of her children, gave the keynote address at La Leche League's 1971 conference to a packed, star struck audience, giving a significant boost to the organization and to breastfeeding.   

The understated courage and dedication of these women is beautifully portrayed in this book.  It's clear that they refused to bow to pressure which came from all directions.  While raising a total of 56 children, they personally answered every single letter and phone call they received from mothers struggling to nurse their babies.  They wore pearls and hats and white gloves, referred to each other as Mrs. Gregory White and Mrs. John Froehlich, and remained steadfast in their determination to reclaim motherhood.  They changed the world, one mother at a time.

For a great video on the founders of La Leche League, which includes some footage of Edwina Froehlich, see this post.

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Lactation cookies.

No, this is not about cookies made with breastmilk, though I wouldn't blame you for thinking so after Monday's post.  It's about cookies that contain ingredients which increase milk supply. 

I baked a batch of chocolate chip, oatmeal "lactation cookies" for my breastfeeding support group this week.  The moms at the group thought that they were really good. 

You can find the recipe on Epicurious if you'd like to try it out.  The recommended "dose" is four cookies a day.  Oh, how I wish someone would write me a prescription for cookies.

Before I talk about the ingredients in these cookies, I should say that these cookies would certainly not be among your first options for increasing supply.  For a list of good ways to increase supply, see this page on kellymom.com, or Dr. Jack Newman's handout on milk supply.

So, what are those special ingredients?  Oats, brewer's yeast, and flaxseed meal.

Oatmeal is a frequently recommended food for increasing milk supply, possibly because it contains iron and nursing mothers are often iron deficient.  It's also a good source of fiber, and I'm told that if you ask a dairy farmer what they do to increase milk yield, they say that they increase fiber intake. 

Brewer's yeast has long been recommended to increase milk supply, though there are some doubts that it does the trick.  It does contain lots of B vitamins - another area where nursing mothers may be deficient.  At a minimum it might give you a bit more energy.  When eaten in large amounts it also might give your baby a "yeasty" smelling diaper, and I'm not sure if it's recommended for mothers who are struggling with thrush.  The recipe said 'no substitutions' for this ingredient, but I couldn't find brewer's yeast in time, so used nutritional yeast instead.

Flaxseed oil (this recipe calls for flaxseed meal) is considered by some to be a galactagogue, but I had a hard time finding much on its effects.  It does contain Omega-3 fatty acids, and many nursing mothers are deficient in that area because our stores are used in breastmilk.  Omega 3s from fish oil are considered a promising therapy for preventing and treating postpartum depression (see the podcast I did on this topic), but the Omega 3s in flaxseed oil are a different form and are not viewed as effective for this purpose.

For more on lactogenic foods, check out this great page on the MOBI Motherhood website!

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A look inside Motherwear.

I was over at Motherwear a few months ago for a photo shoot and decided to take some pictures of the office. 

Motherwear's administrative office is located in a renovated mill building in Holyoke, Massachusetts. 

It's one of those buildings with really high ceilings, lots of light, and beautiful weathered and polished wood floors. 

So here are some pictures of the hallway, the main entrance - note our breastfeeding coalition's sticker!

To the left is Dara, Buyer for Motherwear.  She purchases the fabrics and scouts new products.  You may also recognize her from a few pictures in the online catalog.

And of course there are clothes everywhere.  Recently I've been able to give away a bunch of seconds and discontinued items to nursing moms in my area.

Also to the left is a shot of the planning for a catalog.  When it's in this planning phase it looks a little like a storyboard. 

To the right, behind the model, is Jeanne, CEO of Motherwear, working on the shot for this shirt.   

Also to the right is Tobye, Motherwear's Creative Director, checking out images from the photo shoot as they appear on the laptop.

To the left is a bulletin board in the conference room which our breastfeeding coalition was using to plan some projects.  We meet at Motherwear every other month. 

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Enter to win a $25 gift certificate to celebrate Motherwear's 25th anniversary!

* This contest is now closed, and the winner will be notified by email.  The correct answer was 1993.  Thanks for entering, everyone!

This year marks Motherwear's 25th year supporting nursing moms! 

To commemorate this event, I asked Motherwear to dig up copies of old catalog covers, and a few are shown here.  I'll be posting more over the course of the year.

To celebrate this milestone, each month this year I'll be giving away a $25 gift certificate.

This month, I'm asking you to identify the year the first catalog shown (shown top left) was published.    I'll make it a litttle easier by giving you three choices:  1989, 1993, or 1997.

To enter, leave a comment with your guess below.  I'll randomly pick a winner from the correct entries. 

Be sure to leave a "real" email address so I can contact you if you win.  U.S. addresses only, please.  Good luck!

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Alternative uses for your nursing stool.

A while back Angela posted a great list of uses for leftover lanolin creme.

I loved it, and thought I'd do a post on how we use our old nursing stool now that it's out of commission. 

Our nursing stool is a pretty popular item in our house.  It's used as:

- A footrest used while working on the computer.

- A ramp for shooting cars through a poster tube.

- A stool for helping the height-challenged member of our house turn on the lights.

I also recently saw it used as a footrest for a model at a Motherwear photo shoot!

Have another use for your nursing stool?  Send me your pictures or tell me about it in the comments.

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Spring has sprung at Motherwear.

Motherwear's spring collection is now online, and I've posted my favorites here.

You'll find several items with the bold black and white floral pattern that's so popular this year, as well as lots of blue-and-white nautically themed items.  My favorite item is to the lower right - the red embroidered tunic.

I had the chance to meet models Carmen and Jennifer, and their babies Cameron and Zoe back in at the photo shoot in early February.

Motherwear is continuing to offer a number of items made with bamboo and other eco-friendly fabrics.

There are more pictures from photo shoots, and interviews with Motherwear models here.  All Motherwear models are nursing mothers, and many of them have written about their nursing experiences for this blog.

Be sure to order your spring catalog, and sign up to get Motherwear's newsletter.  Signing up for the newsletter automatically enters you into a $100 gift certificate drawing.

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