HUMAN LACTATION INFORMATION

Massachusetts is going to have a breastfeeding in public bill!!

2008-12-31T13:18:00.003-05:00

I have been taking a break from this blog while dealing with a health crisis, but wanted to post and help spread the word - Massachusetts is about to have a breastfeeding in public law!! The bill has made it through the Senate and the House and is now sitting on the Governor's desk waiting for his signature.

It took eight long years of hard work by advocates - congratulations to everyone who signed a petition, spoke at a hearing, attended a lobbying day, called a representative, wrote a letter or otherwise helped move this bill along. We did it folks - at long last, we did it!!!

Dysphoric MER

2008-06-18T16:44:00.002-04:00

There's been a lot of conversation lately on Lactnet (a discussion list for lactation professionals) about depression specifically tied to the milk ejection reflex (MER). This phenomenon has been named dyphoric MER, or D-MER.

I have been following these exchanges with great interest. I experienced what I now realize was D-MER, and these discussions have provided many "a-ha!" moments.

Here's a great personal description of the phenomenon at Law & Motherhood.

And there's a fantastic D-MER website - www.d-mer.org - "Because breastfeeding shouldn't make you feel this way." I strongly urge you to check this site out, and if you have experienced D-MER please fill out their survey!!

Personally, I suspect that prolactin plays a large role in D-MER. Looking at the survey responses thus far, a lot of women have reported having overactive let down and oversupply issues. Both are associated with high levels of prolactin.

And interestingly enough - endometriosis (which I have) is also associated with high levels of prolactin. And every endo patient I know who's breastfed has experienced OALD/OAS.

Girls get more protection from breastfeeding than boys?

2008-06-02T07:20:00.002-04:00

A new study out of the John Hopkins Children's Center is reported in the June issue of Pediatrics:

Doctors monitored 119 premature babies through their first year of life and found that girls who received formula were eight times more likely to be hospitalised with respiratory illnesses than those weaned on breast milk.

But breastfeeding did not have the same protective effect on boys. Nearly a fifth of boys developed respiratory infections severe enough to need hospital treatment, whether they were breastfed or not. 1

1. Sample, I. (2008, 2 June) Study finds breastfed girls protected from chest illness, The Guardian

In the news

2008-04-21T10:46:00.003-04:00

Does breastfeeding protect a woman against breast cancer? The evidence says yes.

This is the quote that really interested me:

The most likely explanation for the reduced risk is that lactation works through hormones to delay ovulation and the return of a woman's monthly cycles, Karen Collins, a registered dietitian and nutrition adviser to the group, said in an e-mail. It has long been known that the fewer menstrual cycles a woman has over the course of her life, the lower the risk of breast cancer.

As someone with endometriosis, the topic of menstrual cycles is also of interest, so when breastfeeding and menses collide in a research paper it really grabs my attention.

Free formula in hospitals is reducing natural breastfeeding

2008-02-12T20:40:00.002-05:00

This article on Salem-News.com is notable because Portland, Oregon recently became the first city in the US where none of the major hospitals are giving out those marketing bags of infant formula. I'm following this situation with great interest.

Massachusetts was poised to become the first state in the nation to ban in-hospital marketing by Big Pharma, but the Public Health Council was undermined by our Governor.

More Stone Soup

2008-02-12T20:25:00.000-05:00

As I expected, Joan in the comic Stone Soup isn't taking any of that "you can't do that in here" crap. Hooray!

Australian MPs allowed to vote while breastfeeding

2008-02-11T07:47:00.000-05:00

From Australia, we have this bit of news - Parliamentarians no longer have to choose between voting and breastfeeding.

I think this is great! What do you think?

You can't do that in here

2008-02-11T07:42:00.000-05:00

Looks like the comic strip Stone Soup is taking on the topic of nursing in public... let's see where it goes...

Editorial in Brockton Enterprise

2008-02-07T16:52:00.000-05:00

There's a great editorial piece in today's Brockton Enterprise on the breastfeeding bill which is currently in play here in Massachusetts.

If you're so inclined, let them know you appreciate the opinion!

Update on breastfeeding legislation

2008-02-04T08:42:00.000-05:00

From the Massachusetts Breastfeeding Coalition:

1) We need your action NOW on a bill in the US House of Reps, by Carolyn Maloney, the Breastfeeding Promotion Act, HR 2236. The bill currently has only 23 cosponsors, and needs about 200 cosponsors to move forward. The only current cosponsors from MA are Reps. Frank and Olver. Please contact your Rep now and urge him/her to cosponsor this bill.

To contact your Representative about this bill, you can either go through MomsRising at:
http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/organizationsORG/momsrising/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=13731 or the Children's Hospital advocacy page at: http://capwiz.com/childadvocacy/home/

This bill makes breastpumps tax deductible, provides for safety standards for them, and gives incentives to employers to help moms pump. To read the text of the bill, and see a list of cosponsors, go to: http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h110-2236

2) As you may have heard in the news, state Sen. Fargo's bill on breastfeeding in public easily passed the Senate, and has moved on to the House. Her office is currently soliciting letters of support from leading health organizations to help move this bill forward. The bill, formerly S78, has been renumbered S 2438, and no longer includes worksite measures. We support this bill!

The text is at http://www.mass.gov/legis/bills/senate/185/st02pdf/st02438.pdf

Melissa Bartick, MD
Mass. Breastfeeding Coalition

February

2008-02-03T14:30:00.000-05:00

My blog has been on hiatus for a while now. The past couple of years have been rough ones in our family. And life, rightly so, has thus taken precedence.

I've also felt that there are a number of blogs out there in the breastfeeding field which are far more interesting and, well, just plain better at what they do. If you're not reading the following blogs, then you really ought to be:

The Lactivist

The Motherwear Breastfeeding Blog

Human Milk Patent Pending

These blogs are written by smart, savvy women who are passionate about their topic. At my best, I've never been as good as they are!

I'd also like to point you in the direction of another blog, that of the amazing and wonderful WhyMommy. WhyMommy is recovering from a double mastectomy, and is a battle tested warrior in the fight against breast cancer. I am especially grateful to WhyMommy, who took the time to discuss inflammatory breast cancer with me last fall when several troubling symptoms presented themselves. At her urging, I pushed my doctor for further tests, and when my first doctor was dismissive I found another. My story has a happy ending - after lots of tests, and more sleepless and fearful nights than I care to recount, I am happy to report that I have nothing more serious than fibrocystic breast disease. I will be forever grateful for WhyMommy, as she gave me the confidence to insist on a doctor who treated me with respect and took me seriously.

Getting back to the topic of breastfeeding... I'm not sure how often I will be posting here, or what direction these posts will take - we'll just have to take it as it comes.

Applebee's accuses nursing mother of having "an agenda"

2007-08-29T14:35:00.000-04:00

Recently I heard of yet another mother being harassed in a restaurant for breastfeeding. This time it's in Kentucky, and it's a major chain - Applebee's.

I have not spoken with Brooke Ryan directly, and I will not post her email without her permission. However, Kentucky.com is featuring Ms. Ryan's story, which you can read here.

Here are the facts - Kentucky passed a law in 2006 which protects a mother's right to breastfeed her baby. Applebee's violated this law.

But that's not bad enough, apparently. Mike Scanlon is the president of Thomas & King, which operates the Applebee's restaurants in central Kentucky, and here's what he had to say about the incident:

"It is perfectly legal to breast-feed in public and we support that," Scanlon said. "I'm not sure the manager said cover the baby's head, I think he said cover yourself modestly. This was by no means intended as interference, but a request to do it modestly, which I believe is an appropriate response."

Ok, I don't love that response - but WAIT! It gets better!

Scanlon suggested that Ryan had an "agenda."

"I note with interest that she had a copy of the statute with her," he said.

An agenda?!?

Last year in Kansas, the state's Department of Health and Environment handed out 40,000 laminated cards which explained the recently passed breastfeeding law. Does Mr. Scanlan think these women have an agenda as well? Is it an agenda if you want to simply be left alone so you can feed your baby?

The sad fact is that many nursing mothers do carry a copy of their state law with them, and this incident at Applebee's is a perfect illustration of why they do so.

Mr. Scanlan should be ashamed of himself.

2007-08-15T15:43:00.000-04:00

Today the Motherwear breastfeeding Blog features a wonderful story about a breastfeeding mother whose son had heart surgery. Please take a minute to read it!

Synchroized Breastfeeding

2007-08-11T14:15:00.000-04:00

SouthCoastToday.com is running a nice article on a local group's participation in the international effort to break the Guinness World Record for breastfeeding synchronized breastfeeding. (Yes, there is a world record - last year, 3,541 mothers simultaneously breastfed their babies in the Phillipines.) The activity was organized as part of World Breastfeeding Week, and obviously it got some attention.

I was struck by one detail and how it was presented in the story:

"I'm really pro breast-feeding," [Angela] Aranjo said, adding that one time, she was politely 'kicked out of Wal-Mart for breast-feeding in public' after another customer complained.

"Politely" kicked out of Wal-Mart? I'd really love to hear the back story on this one.

Massachusetts remains one of the only states without legislation to protect a nursing mother's right to feed her baby in public places, and it is an embarrassment. Exactly what do our lawmakers need in order to stop dithering and start doing something?

Getting by with a little help from your friends...

2007-08-10T12:50:00.001-04:00

CNN has a great article today, "Five breast-feeding mistakes new moms make, and how to fix them." Erika Clowes, a mother from California, is profiled; she had trouble getting started with breastfeeding, but was incredibly proactive and persistent about getting the help she needed. Clowes started "The Booby Brigade," a group of breastfeeding mothers willing to help each other out.

My favorite suggestion is that mothers turn to their successfully breastfeeding friends. So many women overlook the resource that's right there! A lot of simple issues can be solved by a friend looking over your shoulder and giving a bit of advice.

Who were your breastfeeding helpers? I owe everything to the IBCLCs at my local hospital's breastfeeding support group, who encouraged me despite the considerable difficulties we were having, and to La Leche League, who validated my family's choices when we were parenting our nursing toddler.

New CDC Rates

2007-08-03T17:49:00.000-04:00

In today's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly report, the CDC released the report "Breastfeeding Trends and Updated National Health Objectives for Exclusive Breastfeeding --- United States, Birth Years 2000--2004."

I didn't find anything terribly surprising in these figures. Just over 70% of mothers initiate breastfeeding in the hospital, and then the rates plummet. 30% of babies born in 2004 were still breastfeeding exclusively at 3 months, and at six months only 11% were still exclusively breastfeeding. White infants are more likely to be exclusively breastfed than their black peers, and babies born to unmarried mothers were less likely to be exclusively breastfed.

What I did find interesting was the way this was reported in the media. Here's a sampling of the headlines:

Breastfeeding Statistics Up, says CDC, (WebMD)

Breastfeeding at a high, but tapers fast (Los Angeles Times)

New Mothers Stop Breastfeeding Too Soon, CDC finds (Kansas City Star)

Study: Babies Off Breast Too Early (Boston Globe)

U.S. Breastfeeding Rates Rise to Record High (Scientific American)

Most of these papers are working off the same AP or Reuters story - the difference is in how the editors have chosen to spin it. Kind of fascinating when you think about it.

Here's the bads news... the CDC is tracking the breastfeeding rates as part of the Healthy People 2010 project. One of the goals of HP2010 is to increase breastfeeding rates, because the CDC recognizes that

"Breastfeeding is associated with decreased risk for many early-life diseases and conditions, including otitis media, respiratory tract infections, atopic dermatitis, gastroenteritis, type 2 diabetes, sudden infant death syndrome, and obesity. Breastfeeding also is associated with health benefits to women, including decreased risk for type 2 diabetes, ovarian cancer, and breast cancer."

What are the Healthy People 2010 goals?

* 75% of mothers breastfeeding in the early post-partum period
* 50% of mothers breastfeeding at six months
* 25% of mothers breastfeeding at one year

We have a long way to go. It's not enough to get breastfeeding started right after birth - we need to provide support and encouragement well beyond that initial postpartum period.

More WBW goodness

2007-08-03T16:43:00.000-04:00

Stork Magazine is promoting World Breastfeeding Week with the help of Jessica Hebert, a model and new mother. Enjoy!

Give the bag the boot

2007-08-02T10:50:00.000-04:00

Some great news for World Breastfeeding Week - New York City hospitals have stopped handing out formula company marketing bags! And I am also hearing, via the Reluctant Lactivist, that hospitals in Portland, Oregon have also stopped the formula 'freebies' - voluntarily!!

As someone from Massachusetts who worked hard on the Ban The Bags initiative in the Bay State - only to see then-Governor Romney put big pharma profits ahead of public health - I am thrilled about this news.

Why?

These are not freebies that are being handed out - they provide the manufacturers with up to a 1000% return on their initial investment. Formula is still provided to mothers who choose to formula feed their infants. But now health care providers are no longer put in the position of marketing products to their patients, and poor families are no longer hooked into buying expensive formula they can't really afford.

Bottom line - hospitals should market health, nothing else.

Hospital-based Marketing of Infant Formula
Ban the Bags Toolkit

WBW Book Release Challenge

2007-08-01T07:55:00.000-04:00

Now this is a fabulous way to celebrate World Breastfeeding Week - the Second Annual World Breastfeeding Week Book Release Challenge!

This month-long celebration combines two of my great loves - books and breastfeeding - and is flat out ingenious!

click to read more...

Happy World Breastfeeding Week!

2007-08-01T07:26:00.000-04:00

World Breastfeeding Week is celebrated from August 1-7 every year. This year's theme - Breastfeeding: The First Hour.

Initiation of breastfeeding within the 1^st hour of birth is the first and most vital step towards reducing infant and under-five mortality, by reducing the overwhelmingly high neonatal mortality rate. Save ONE million babies – beginning with one action, one hour support and one message: beginning breastfeeding within the 1^st hour of birth! - http://worldbreastfeedingweek.org/

Prolacta & the International Breast Milk Project

2007-07-30T06:38:00.000-04:00

I've previously written about Prolacta and their shady way of doing business, but it turns out that even worse than I'd suspected.

Jen at The Lactivist has done an excellent job, asking the right questions of the right people and exposing Prolacta's involvement in the International Breast Milk Project. IBMP was started with the best of intentions, but it has evolved into a money making scheme that takes advantage of women's generosity.

The IBFS blog has picked up the ball and is running with it. This is a story which deserves your attention.

In the Boston area, people are working tirelessly and passionately to establish a milk bank. This milk bank will be affiliated with the Human Milk Banking Association of North America (HMBNA) and will be a non-profit entity.

If you are in a position to donate breast milk, please do so. There are critically ill infants who desperately need your help. But please, please make sure you know to whom you're donating that most precious gift.

Breast milk no longer considered a potential terrorism tool

2007-07-20T10:39:00.000-04:00

Well, here's a spot of bright news - the TSA no longer considers breastmilk a threat. After countless mothers were forced to throw away their breastmilk, or in some cases to taste it for screeners to "prove" it posed no security threat, the TSA has finally changed its ridiculous policy.

Breastfeeding and Celiac Disease

2007-07-19T15:53:00.000-04:00

I've been reading The Gluten-Free Bible by Jax Peters Lowell - navigating my new gluten-free lifestyle is a little intimidating, and this book has been highly recommended. You can imagine my delight when I scanned the table of contents and discovered a section on breastfeeding!

The good news? Lowell comes down firmly on the side of the benefits of breastfeeding, listing many reasons why breastfeeding is best for your little one.

The disappointing news? Lowell appears unaware of the research which supports her advice, and misses a great opportunity to educate her readers. Given how much work went into the book, I'm fairly astonished at the oversight.

So, for your reference, here are a couple of the research articles on the topic:

Breast-feeding protects against celiac disease. (Ivarsson A, Hernell O, Stenlund H, Persson LA)

Effect of breast feeding on risk of coeliac disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies (A K Akobeng1, A V Ramanan, I Buchan and R F Heller)

Reading up on celiac disease in Sweden has proved fascinating. In the mid-eighties Sweden experienced a significant spike in the cases of celiac in children two and under; the spike resolved itself within ten years. In trying to figure out what caused the dramatic rise, researchers identified three key factors - the age at which gluten was introduced into the diet, whether the infant was being breastfed at the time of gluten introduction, and how much gluten was given to the infant.

Basically, the younger the child was when gluten was introduced to the diet (typically through cereal), the higher the risk of developing celiac disease. Breastfeeding appears to provide protection; nursing children who were consuming gluten were 40% less likely to develop celiac disease than their weaned counterparts. At the beginning of the time period studied, Swedish breastfeeding rates were at a low (37%); at the end of the time period, breastfeeding rates had increased to 76% and the incidence of celiac disease had decreased.

One of the theories is that the IgA antibodies in human milk provide protection to the infant's gut when gluten is introduced.

Yet another reason I'm glad I breastfed my daughter!

Almost back

2007-06-19T17:35:00.000-04:00

I am slowly working my way back to being able to tend to this blog again. The situation with my daughter is ongoing, but at least we now know what's going on. this is going to be something she'll have to manage for the rest of her life, so now we're all working on establishing a 'new normal' baseline.

I was able to attend an advocacy training course at Boston's Childrne's Hospital, and it was amazing. I look forward to being able to put what I've learned into action.

In the meantime, I am grappling with the meaning of lactivism and the state of the lactivist movement. I am saddened to see some people trampling over individuals under the guise of furthering the cause.

I have a little prose piece taped to my printer which is titled, "What is support?" And after reading about the events of the past week, this one leaps out at me:

We are here to discuss steps with a woman... not to take steps for her.

I also think of the great document, "What is advocacy?" and to one of the advocacy pitfalls:

Advocacy is not an opportunity to make yourself feel powerful at the expense of others.

And so I continue to grapple in my own little corner of the world, and hope that this is just growing pains and that we can move beyond it.

blog on hiatus

2007-01-08T20:34:00.000-05:00

Because of a family crisis that demands all of my attention, this blog will be on hiatus for the near forseeable future.

A group that nurtures (Daily Press)

2006-12-21T08:35:00.000-05:00

I recently joined the ranks of parenthood, and there's one thing in Williamsburg that made that transition easier: the breast-feeding support group at Sentara Williamsburg Regional Medical Center.

I had my son at the now-shuttered Sentara Williamsburg Community Hospital, and the support group was my introduction to the beautiful new facility. The support group meets in the Yorktown conference room Monday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings for new moms to drop by from 10 a.m. until 11:30 a.m. Thursday sessions are actually called the New Moms Support Group and women who aren't breast-feeding are welcome. Mothers can weigh their babies and get help from Kris Kiley, the hospital's lactation consultant.

One of the reasons this group is so important is that mothers can meet other women going through the disorienting process of trying to feed a newborn baby. Babies can be somewhat demanding and getting a feeding schedule on track can be challenging. I found talking to other moms very helpful. Other women said that it helps with the baby blues to have people to talk to about the everyday challenges.

click to read more...

Breastfeeding in mealtime, comfort (Central Kentucky News Journal)

2006-12-21T08:34:00.001-05:00

I am responding to an article written by Linda Ireland titled "Debating the public and private domain."

Do you know this woman? Have you ever met her or her child? How do you know that she could have covered up? Perhaps, her experience with her baby tells her that her baby would simply have began crying or thrown the blanket off, making it futile. Are you aware that many babies like to look around or into the eyes of their mother while they eat, that they will not nurse if covered up? For some, the blanket is a distraction. Are you aware that nursing comforts a fussy child?

Should she, instead, have allowed her child to scream and cry during the entire flight, just to avoid flashing an unsuspecting passenger? Are you aware that nursing lessens the painful popping sensation of the ears during take off and landing, that a child who is sucking on something is less apt to holler as a result of the discomfort? Are you aware that prolonged pacifier and bottle use can cause dental problems and interfere with milk supply?

click to read more...

Nursing is normal and not something to hide (Central Kentucky News Journal)

2006-12-21T08:32:00.000-05:00

Linda Ireland recently wrote an editorial responding to the New Mexico mother expulsion from a Freedom Airlines flight on Monday, Dec. 4.

As a nursing mother myself, I am offended and appalled that Ireland compared the act of breastfeeding to mouth-breathing and belching.

Nursing a child is normal and not something to be hidden in shame or done in the bathroom.

Ireland suggested that all nursing mothers carry blankets just in case someone around them gets offended. Well, here's a newsflash for you: someone will be offended whether we cover or not.

click to read more...

Airlines ask for dismissal of breast-feeding complaint (Times Argus)

2006-12-19T09:00:00.000-05:00

SOUTH BURLINGTON — Two airlines named in a complaint by a woman who was kicked off a flight for breast-feeding have asked the Vermont Human Rights Commission to dismiss it.

Freedom Airlines and Delta Air Lines say women can nurse babies on their planes, but they say the complaint filed by Emily Gillette, 27, of Santa Fe, N.M., which argues that breast-feeding is a right protected by Vermont's Public Accommodations Law, should be dismissed.

"Freedom denies having discriminated against the charging party in any manner whatsoever and specifically denies that any violation of the Vermont Fair Housing and Accommodations Act ... has occurred," Freedom wrote in its response, which was provided by Gillette's attorney, Elizabeth Boepple of Manchester.

click to read more...

Nestle

2006-12-13T14:04:00.000-05:00

The FDA has posted on their website a warning letter that was sent to Nestle on November 27th. Testing of the formula referenced revealed that they were nutritionally deficient and did not contain the amounts of calcium and phosphorus that are declared on the product label.

Note that the testing was conducted six months ago.

click to read more...

Breast Feeding In Public Called Into Question (TheDay.com)

2006-12-11T10:03:00.000-05:00

Did you hear the one about the woman who got escorted off a plane because she was flashing her boob?
No, it's not a punch line to a really funny joke.

The woman, Emily Gillette, was nursing her 1-year-old daughter. A Delta Air Lines flight attendant offered Gillette a blanket and told her to cover up. When she refused, Gillette, along with her husband and baby, were escorted off the plane.

The result was a dozen or so “nurse-ins,” protests held last month at Delta Air Lines ticket counters at airports around the country.

There's a chance that my liberalist and feminist cards may get yanked for this one, but I agree with the airlines. Not in the fact that they had the family leave the airplane — although how else would they have resolved the situation? — but that the flight attendant offered a blanket.

click to read more...

Milk Therapy (Science News)

2006-12-10T17:08:00.000-05:00

Breast-milk compounds could be a tonic for adult ills

Catharina Svanborg thought that she already knew how remarkable breast milk is. The immunologist had logged hundreds of lab hours documenting ways in which human milk helps babies fight infections. But when the group decided to use cancerous lung cells to avoid the variability shown by normal cells in laboratory tests, Svanborg and her team at Lund University in Sweden were in for a surprise. They applied breast milk to the cancerous lung cells, and all the cells died. Breast milk killed cancer cells.

"From that moment on, we've been working with it," Svanborg says.

click to read more...

What exactly is a lactation consultant? (Bradenton Herald)

2006-12-10T17:06:00.000-05:00

I have been called by many different titles here at the hospital. I have been referred to as the boob nurse, the milk nurse, the baby lady, and some other curious titles. As you can see at the end of this article however I am actually a lactation consultant (IBCLC: International Board Certified Lactation Consultant), as well as a registered nurse (RN).

What does a lactation actually do is a question that I hear often. A lactation consultant is a health care professional who works with other health care professionals to assure appropriate, evidenced-based management of breast-feeding. Our role is to protect, promote and support breast-feeding through education, counseling and clinical management.

The International Board of Lactation Consultant Examiners bestows that certification after a rigorous exam and proof of completion of at least 190 hours of course work in lactation and 250 hours of supervised clinical/practical practice in lactation. Anyone who sits for the exam is tested on maternal and infant anatomy; physiology and endocrinology; nutrition and biochemistry; pathology; psychology, sociology and anthropology; public health; normal growth and development; ethics and law; and evidence-based management principles.

click to read more...

Breast-feeding Overcomes A Genetic Tendency Toward Ear Infections, Scientists Discover (Science Daily)

2006-12-10T12:00:00.000-05:00

Breast-feeding protects children otherwise made susceptible to ear infections by abnormalities in specific human genes, researchers at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston have discovered.

About 19 percent of children are prone to chronic and recurrent ear infections (known to physicians as "otitis media"). These infections can interfere with language development and lead to learning difficulties. Scientists have long known that genetics plays a role in this vulnerability, but very few investigations have been done to pinpoint the specific genes involved. Their complex relationship with specific infectious agents and environmental factors such as exposure to cigarette smoke and breast-feeding also has remained largely a mystery.

The UTMB study, published in the December issue of the journal Pediatrics, examined genetic samples taken from 505 children in Texas and Kentucky, about 60 percent of whom were classified as "otitis media susceptible" because they had suffered an ear infection before the age of 6 months; had undergone three or more episodes of acute otitis media within a six-month period; had four or more episodes within a 12-month period; or had six or more episodes by age 6. Children who had required drainage tubes to assuage recurrent or persistent ear infections were also placed in the "susceptible" category.

click to read more...

Guest column: What’s next? Hugging your kids in public? (The Joplin Globe)

2006-12-10T11:57:00.000-05:00

My niece Karen has new baby and is feeding her the old-fashioned way. While in the hospital, I observed her telling one of her male relatives to “turn around if you don’t want to see this,” meaning she was about to breastfeed, and the man had apparently expressed an aversion to witnessing it. I found this flat-out hilarious.

First of all, we live in a culture in which breasts are used to sell everything from light beer to luxury cars. You can find wet-T-shirt contests on basic cable; cleavage is considered suitable attire for cocktails, the office, and Sunday Mass; but let a breast be used for the one purpose for which it is clearly designed and some people, and some men in particular, find it downright obscene.

click to read more...

Epidural babies can't get grip on what's breast (The Australian)

2006-12-10T11:55:00.000-05:00

WOMEN who give birth with the aid of pain-relieving epidurals find it harder to breastfeed than those who give birth naturally, an Australian study has found.
The research suggests some of the drugs used in epidurals make their way into babies' bloodstreams, subtly affecting their brains and development for weeks afterwards -- including making them less willing to breastfeed. The study by University of Sydney epidemiologist Siranda Torvaldsen adds to a growing body of knowledge that makes a link between the use of the pain-killing drug fentanyl in epidurals and problems with breastfeeding. During an epidural a catheter is inserted into the spine to allow the infusion of pain-killing drugs. These deaden the nerves that relay sensations of pain from the lower body.

In a commentary on the research, published today in International Breastfeeding Journal, British scientist Sue Jordan suggests the impact of epidurals on breastfeeding should be officially classed as an "adverse drug reaction". Dr Jordan, senior lecturer in applied therapeutics at Swansea University, said women given the infusions should be offered extra support to stop their infants being "disadvantaged by this hidden, but far-reaching, adverse drug reaction".

click to read more...

Breast-Feeding Offers Resilience Against Psychosocial Stress in Children (Medscape)

2006-12-06T14:27:00.001-05:00

November 28, 2006 — Breast-feeding is linked to resilience against psychosocial stress, such as divorce, in children, according to the results of an observational study reported in the December issue of the Archives of Disease in Childhood.

"Some early life exposures may result in a well controlled stress response, which can reduce stress related anxiety," write S. M. Montgomery, MD, of the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden, and colleagues. "Breast feeding may be a marker of some relevant exposures.... Potentially, these could operate through a number of mechanisms associated with factors such as maternal characteristics, development of the mother-child bond, and early mother-child interactions."

click to read more...

Perfecting the Formula (Technology Review)

2006-12-06T14:11:00.000-05:00

Researchers have identified compounds in breast milk that might account for its oft-discussed ability to protect against certain diseases.

When it comes to infant nutrition, there's plenty of evidence to suggest that a mother's milk is not just the best food: it's also a baby's best defense against bacteria and viruses. Yet the reasons haven't been clear. Now, researchers at the University of California at Davis and at Agilent Technologies have identified a class of complex sugars in breast milk that may act as molecular protectors against gastrointestinal and other diseases.

click to read more...

Babies pay for poverty with their lives (Yorkshire Post Today)

2006-12-06T14:08:00.000-05:00

BABIES in Yorkshire are dying needlessly because of poverty, poor housing and a low level of mothers breastfeeding, a major new investigation has revealed.
A study into why babies born in Bradford are more likely to die before their first birthday than anywhere else in the region is to be published today by the district's Infant Mortality Commission.

A copy of the report, obtained by the Yorkshire Post, identifies poverty as one of the reasons for the high number of babies in Bradford who die and highlights poor nutrition, women not breastfeeding and poor take-up of immunisation as issues to tackle.

click to read more...

Mothers’ Milk Bank (News 8 Austin)

2006-12-06T14:07:00.000-05:00

April Rudge from Mothers’ Milk Bank talks about what her nonprofit needs this holiday season.

Q: Tell us a little bit about the organization.

A: We’re a nonprofit organization that serves a large area, mainly Texas, but other states as well. We accept donations of milk, we pasteurize that milk and then it is dispensed by prescription only to mostly premature and fragile babies that are in the neonatal ICU.

click to read more...

Attention Massachusetts and New York mothers: Time to act on breastfeeding rights! (Motherwear breastfeeding blog)

2006-12-06T14:02:00.000-05:00

Live in Massachusetts or New York? Now's your chance to voice your support for breastfeeding rights. Bills pending in your state legislatures would improve breastfeeding policy in your state.

click to read more...

Nursing past three (Ashland Daily Tidings)

2006-12-05T07:43:00.000-05:00

When we sat down to lunch this afternoon, my girlfriend Humaiya, also the mother of three children, marveled at my son Etani, who was putting rice on his fork with his hands and then wobbling it up to his mouth. "Look at him eat!" she cried. "He's not still nursing, is he?!"

"I'm planning to rent a house near where he goes to college," I joked to another friend who asked me in an exasperated voice when I was going to wean my son. "That way he can keep nursing."

Etani turned three in October and he nurses before his mid-day nap and at bedtime. I sometimes nurse him at other times too, when he feels sad or is really overtired or overwhelmed. He settles right down, his whole body relaxes, and he sighs with deep contentment. He doesn't have the vocabulary to tell me in words but if he did I think he'd say that nursing makes him feel safe and protected and loved.

click to read more...

New moms and newborns need privacy, study shows (USA Today)

2006-12-04T10:58:00.000-05:00

Flowers are always nice, but perhaps the best gift you can give a brand-new mom is some quiet time alone with her baby.

Now that hospital visiting hours — not to mention staffing — are 24/7, maternity units are taking steps to minimize interruptions and lower the volume. They recognize that lack of privacy can get breast-feeding off to a rocky start, while lack of sleep might play a role in postpartum depression.

A study in the latest Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic, and Neonatal Nursing found that women typically experienced dozens of interruptions during their first day after delivering a baby.

Researchers recorded the number and duration of visits and phone calls from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m. for 29 brand-new moms who intended to breast-feed. During that period, the mothers on average experienced 54 visits or phone calls, averaging 17 minutes in length. On the other hand, they were alone with their baby (or their baby and the baby's father) only 24 times on average, and half of those episodes were nine minutes or less.

click to read more...

When it's feeding time, moms have rights, too (The Republican)

2006-12-04T10:55:00.000-05:00

Here in Massachusetts, the cradle of liberty, there is no law guaranteeing mothers the right to nurse their babies in public.

The need for such a law was made obvious recently when Emily Gillette was ordered off a Freedom Airlines flight in Burlington, Vt., because she refused to cover her baby's head with a blanket while breast-feeding.

The incident sparked demonstrations at airports across the country, including Bradley International Airport, where one demonstrator, Susan Parker, the mother of a 10-month-old daughter, told the Associated Press, "It's a basic human thing that we are doing and we should be able to do it in public without being kicked off planes; without being told in sit in bathrooms. It's a human right."

click to read more...

BREAST-FEED RIGHTS BILL (New York Post)

2006-12-04T10:54:00.001-05:00

December 4, 2006 -- Declaring it's time to advertise the right to breast-feed in New York, State Sen. Liz Krueger has introduced a "Breast-feeding Mothers' Bill of Rights."

The legislation would consolidate existing laws into a list of rights to be posted and distributed in maternity wards.

One rule would ban the makers of baby formula from pressuring new moms in hospitals into using their product. Another would stress a mother's right to keep her newborn near after delivery.

click to read more...

Wet nurses latest way for rich Chinese to flash cash (Sydney Morning Herald)

2006-12-04T10:51:00.000-05:00

LUXURY cars, yachts and diamonds are commonplace for China's super-rich, but a new status symbol has just been added to their list of must-haves - the wet nurse.

The practice of infants being suckled by women other than their mothers was branded decadent by Mao Zedong and was stamped out by the country's postwar leaders.

But in the booming cities of the east coast, the moneyed classes are no longer constrained by the taboos of their Communist overlords and they are looking to the past excesses of their ancestors. Pu Yi, the subject of Bernardo Bertolucci's 1987 film, The Last Emperor, was suckled well into his teens.

click to read more...

Help for nursing moms (Cincinnati Enquirer)

2006-12-04T10:48:00.000-05:00

As family and friends raise their glasses during the holidays, mothers of nursing infants often raise a sobering question: How do I know when the occasional glass of eggnog or wine is out of my system, and my milk?

"We get lots of calls about that, especially with New Year's," says Candace Hochstrasser, a nurse and lactation consultant with St. Elizabeth Medical Center in Edgewood.

Elizabeth Smith and Julie Jumonville, first-time moms from Texas, think they have an answer.

click to read more...

Lampert Smith: Blocking lunch? Face fine (Wisconsin State Journal)

2006-12-03T16:42:00.000-05:00

Soon it could be a crime to interfere with breast-feeding anywhere in Madison or Dane County.

Come between a baby and his lunch, buddy, and you'll face a fine of between $25 and $250, under a draft Madison ordinance.

City Council President Austin King has proposed an ordinance that would make it legal for a woman to breast- feed a baby or pump breast milk anywhere they are legally allowed to be. (It doesn't apply to private homes.)

click to read more...

KRUEGER INTRODUCES BREASTFEEDING MOTHERS' BILL OF RIGHTS (Amherst Times)

2006-12-01T13:26:00.000-05:00

Legislation Codifies Mothers' Rights Into Single, Concise Document; Bans Commercial Interests from Pressuring New Mothers Into Using Formula

Seeking to codify a concise, easily understood document, State Senator Liz Krueger has introduced the Breastfeeding Mothers' Bill of Rights. The legislation, S8511, draws upon New York State Rules and Regulations, the Best Hospital Practices and the World Health Organization Baby Friendly guidelines.

"Breastfeeding is completely natural, and is in the best interests of our children. Unfortunately, the positive medical benefits that breastfeeding provides the mother and her child often go unrealized because our culture discourages women from starting to breastfeed, or continuing beyond a few weeks," said Krueger. "The Breastfeeding Mothers' Bill of Rights is common-sense legislation that empowers and supports these new mothers by providing them the information they need prior to, and after the birth of their infant so they can make the best decisions for their child and themselves."

click to read more...

Instant Messages (Chicago Sun-Times)

2006-11-29T10:51:00.000-05:00

On Monday, Sun-Times columnist Laura Berman wrote about a "nurse-in" protest of Delta Air Lines after the carrier booted off a female passenger for breast-feeding; Berman urged social support for women who need to breast- feed in public. Readers responded:

click to read more...

Mama-rama: Breast-feeding is not offensive (The Hub)

2006-11-29T10:41:00.000-05:00

Maybe you've heard about the woman who was kicked off a Delta Airlines flight for nursing her daughter a couple of weeks ago. According to 27-year-old Emily Gillette of Santa Fe, N.M., she was in a window seat in the second-to-last row with her husband between her and the aisle, and no part of her breast was showing. Unfortunately for Emily, a flight attendant took offense and asked her to cover up with a blanket. When Emily declined, she and her husband and daughter were asked to get off the plane.

Now, I'm sure I don't have to tell you -- again -- how I feel about people who are offended by public breast-feeding. Basically, it begins with "too" and ends with "bad," with a "damn" in the middle there. The idea that feeding a child could be considered obscene or indiscreet, while every day thousands of men get away with plumber's crack scot-free, is enough to raise my blood pressure to dangerous heights.

click to read more...

Breastfeeding Rally To Take Place At DFW Airport (Press Release)

2006-11-28T08:39:00.000-05:00

Nursing mothers and their supporters will be gathering on Friday, December 1 at 10 AM, at the Delta ticket counter in Terminal E of DFW airport.

On November 21, mothers and other advocates took part in a nation-wide nurse-in at roughly 40 U.S. airports. Like all of the rallies across the country, the Dallas/Fort Worth Airport Nurse-in supported the right to breastfeed in all public and private locations, anywhere a mother and child might be, regardless of any issues of discretion. There was no formal national organization sponsoring this event, but amazingly, hundreds of mothers and other supporters turned out nation-wide. Unlike the rest of the nation, however, the supporters at the DFW Airport rally were harassed, insulted, and threatened with possible arrest by members of the DFW police (Department of Public Safety officers), and then asked to leave.

Though the right to breastfeed already exists, many people are unaware of this right, or may choose to challenge this right, or otherwise intimidate and cause discomfort for nursing moms, posing a great threat to the continuation and exclusivity of breastfeeding relationships and compromising the health of mothers and children, and the economic well-being of the society.

The goals of this Friday’s nurse-in are:

• To insist that the DFW Airport Police (DPS) apologize to the attendees of the November 21st rally for the unacceptable comments and threats, and provide documentation that training is being implemented to educate all DPS officers about the laws concerning breastfeeding in the state of Texas (specifically Texas Health And Safety Code Chapter 165 Section 002, which states “A mother is entitled to breastfeed her child in any location in which the mother is authorized to be,” as well as the definitions of indecent exposure and disorderly conduct). The DPS should ensure that in the future, officers will protect, rather than endanger breastfeeding relationships, by refraining from engaging in harassment of nursing moms and their children. The police should not approach breastfeeding mothers, but rather the mothers should be left alone.
• To hold Delta accountable for the removal of Emily Gillette from one of their flights and to insist that training procedures will be put into place to ensure that all staff at Delta and its subsidiaries will uphold and support a child’s right to breastfeed.
• To call for airlines to revisit their breastfeeding and transport of pumped breast milk policies, to support traveling families and working mothers who must travel for business and be separated from their children. Current policies about liquid items, which restrict the amount of pumped breast milk allowed on board with mothers who do not have their babies with them, compromise the health of babies who depend on pumped milk, and force mothers to dump precious breast milk that they have pumped while they were separated from their children. This situation is especially harmful for babies whose mothers already have difficulty pumping enough to meet the child’s needs during times of separation.
• To call for immediate passage of pending federal legislation that offers civil rights protection for breastfeeding women in the workplace, and new federal legislation to protect the right to breastfeed whenever and wherever mothers and their children are allowed to be, regardless of whether any part of the mother’s breast might be exposed during or incidental to the feeding. This legislation will clarify rights that already exist, and nullify any business policies or laws throughout the country that are already in place or might come into existence, which would infringe on a mother and child’s constitutional right to breastfeed (For example, Tennessee law protects a mother’s right to breastfeed a child in public only as long as the child is younger than 13 months of age).

The issue of breastfeeding rights goes far beyond a woman’s right to nurse - it also encompasses a basic human right for children, the right to eat and to receive comfort and nurturing at the breast.

The Nurse-ins have been coordinated by volunteers.

Get past breast-feeding unease (DesMoines Register)

2006-11-28T08:37:00.000-05:00

News that Delta kicked a family off a flight in October because the breast-feeding mother refused to cover her baby with a blanket is unfortunately not surprising.

Despite growing knowledge about the health benefits of breast-feeding - as if nourishment weren't enough - many people still feel uncomfortable about public breast-feeding.

Remember a few years ago in Iowa when a West Branch restaurant owner asked a nursing mother to cover up, go to the restroom or leave? She left.

click to read more...

Airlines gain extension in breast-feeding case (Burlington Free Press)

2006-11-28T08:35:00.000-05:00

Delta Air Lines and Freedom Airlines have asked for an extension to answer the charge that they violated Vermont's Public Accommodations Law when a breast-feeding passenger was kicked off a flight in October, according to the attorney representing the woman.

The air carriers were supposed to respond to the Vermont Human Rights Commission by Monday, but instead were granted an extension and have until Dec. 14 to respond, according to Elizabeth Boepple, the attorney who is representing Emily Gillette of New Mexico.

click to read more...

A little common sense (The Mountain Press)

2006-11-28T08:33:00.000-05:00

Public breastfeeding OK if it's done with some privacy, sensitivity

It's not so much that people are offended by the very act of breastfeeding in public. It's that a few mothers just don't know how to do it discreetly. Those who make a production out of it and seem to want to attract attention are making it difficult for those who respect privacy and realize the sensitive nature of such an act.

It's funny how things can get quickly out of hand. A woman was ordered off an airplane recently for breastfeeding her daughter openly. Now that's become a rallying point for women all over. Several airports, including the one in Nashville, saw protests by women who object to what the airplane personnel did.

click to read more...

Lawyer: Airline using 'avoidance tactics' (Bennington Banner)

2006-11-28T08:30:00.002-05:00

MANCHESTER — Manchester lawyer Elizabeth Boepple, representing a woman who filed civil rights charges against Delta/Freedom airlines, issued a press release Monday morning intended to draw attention to what she calls "avoidance tactics" on the part of Delta and Freedom Airlines. Boepple is representing Emily Gillette, the mother booted off a the airplane in Burlington after a dispute involving the way she breastfed her child.

The statement, released by the Manchester firm of Witten, Woolmington, Campbell, and Boepple, announced that Delta and Freedom Airlines had failed to meet Monday's deadline to file an answer to Gillette's complaint that charges the airlines with violating her civil right to breastfeed her daughter. Gillette, a resident of Albuquerque, N.M., was asked to leave an Oct. 13 flight out of Burlington after she refused a Freedom Airlines flight attendant's demands to cover her 22-month-old daughter with a blanket while she breast-fed.

click to read more...

Keeping the Skies Safe from Nipples and Muslims (CounterPunch)

2006-11-28T08:30:00.001-05:00

The unwarranted removal of passengers from a domestic air flight has triggered an investigation, a discrimination complaint and a national protest.

click to read more...

Putting Breast Milk to Good Use (Time Magazine)

2006-11-28T08:27:00.000-05:00

A Minnesota mom finds a way to send surplus milk to HIV/AIDS orphans in Africa

Geny Cassady's daughter Madison was born last November with a congenital heart defect and needed surgery at five days old. While she was hospitalized, nurses encouraged Cassady to pump and store breast milk for her daughter's recovery. But that time never came — Madison died of a pulmonary embolism less than two weeks later. For a month, Cassady couldn't look at the containers in her freezer because the sight of the unused milk was too hard to bear. "It wasa very difficult time," she says. Her husband, Bill, finally poured them down a sink drain while she was out.

The Cassadys didn't know of any other choice; doctors and nurses at the hospital hadn't offered any alternatives other than disposing of it. But now a program named for their daughter offers a way for mothers who have lost children to donate their milk in an effort to help some of the world's most vulnerable children. The Madison Cassady Program is a part of the larger International Breast Milk Project, which helps feed children orphaned by HIV/AIDS in Africa with surplus breast milk from mothers in the U.S.

click to read more...

Delta Airlines Joins 21st Century (The Nation)

2006-11-28T08:25:00.000-05:00

The Nation -- I'm happy to report some insta-progress on the Delta Air Lines breast-feeding scandal, which I've been chronicling hereat the Notion. For those who've been out of the loop: a mother (in crunchy Vermont!) was thrown off a plane for the dire national security breach of nursing her baby. A remarkable number of people -- over 20,000 -- signed a petition by MomsRising, an online mothers' political group (an excerpt from the founders' new book, by the way, recently appeared in the Nation). Countless numbers of people were inspired to call Delta about the incident, and many also participated in protests and "nurse-ins" at Delta terminals across the land. Last week Delta issued an apology, as well as chiding its subsidiary, Freedom Airlines, which operated the plane from which the lady was so rudely escorted. Here's Delta's morsel of holiday crow: "Delta Air Lines supports a mother's right to breastfeed her baby onboard our aircraft. We regret the decision to remove the passenger from Flight 6160 as it was not in keeping with Delta's high service standards, and we are coordinating with Freedom Airlines to ensure that they deliver the level of service we expect for all of our customers."

click to read more...

Time to support breast-feeding (Chicago Sun Times)

2006-11-28T08:22:00.000-05:00

Breast is best, didn't you know? But don't show those precious breasts in public, or else.

It seems that women just can't win when it comes to their breasts. Last week, a nationwide "nurse-in" took place to protest a flight attendant who had a breast-feeding mom thrown off a plane for refusing to cover up. Emily Gillette was seated with her husband during a three-hour delay on a flight out of Burlington, Vt. When asked by a flight attendant to cover herself with a blanket while she breast-fed her daughter, Gillette refused. She and her family were escorted off the plane and rebooked on a different airline the next morning.

Women everywhere were outraged and a "nurse-in" in response took place last Tuesday. At 10 a.m., impassioned women gathered at Delta Airlines ticket counters across the country to show their support for Gillette and every woman's right to breast-feed her child.

click to read more...

Lampert Smith: UW rethinks its stadium lactation (Wisconsin State Journal)

2006-11-26T09:01:00.000-05:00

I'm pleased to announce a breakthrough in the "breast wars" at Camp Randall Stadium.

There will be no need to strap a nursing bra on the statue of Barry Alvarez, paint nipples on the white footballs on that ugly sculpture outside the stadium, or stage a "nurse-in" at the Capital One Bowl. (Although it was fun hearing all of your ideas, really!)

The folks in the UW Athletic Department have heard the complaints loud and clear about the nursing mom who was turned away from the first-aid station where she had hoped to use her breast pump. They have apologized profusely for not doing a better job helping her find one of Camp Randall's seven new family restrooms. (The upper deck, where that mom has been a season- ticket holder for many years, doesn't have one.)

And they want to make it very, very clear that they didn't kick her out of the stadium for breast-feeding.

click to read more...

No modesty (Patriot News)

2006-11-26T08:55:00.000-05:00

Whatever happened to modesty? Why do women think, just because they're nursing a baby, that they can let it hang out?

Not everyone wants to look at a breast. I'm tired of being bombarded with naked bodies and breasts.

click to read more...

Decriminalizing breast feeding (Baltimore Sun)

2006-11-26T08:52:00.000-05:00

If there is one area of human behavior into which legislatures should not have to intrude, it would surely be breast feeding.

Nature's brilliant plan for nourishing infants that also helps support tiny immune systems is regarded by medical experts as superior to any substitute method and thus widely encouraged.

Yet more than 40 states, including Maryland, have enacted statutes to affirmatively assert a mother's right to nurse her child in public or at least to exempt her from criminal prosecution under indecency laws. A more sweeping proposal is also pending at the federal level.

Is this necessary? It shouldn't be. But the genesis of such laws was made clear enough recently when a nursing mother was put off a Delta Air Lines flight in Vermont because she refused to put a blanket over her child's head.

click to read more...

Breastfeeding simply requires some modesty (Statesman Journal)

2006-11-26T08:51:00.000-05:00

This is regarding the article about the woman removed from the plane because she refused to cover herself while nursing her child.

I know that breastfeeding is natural and wonderful for both mother and child, and I agree. However, it is not unreasonable that the woman cover herself for her modesty and those around her.

click to read more...

Engage in some modesty when breast-feeding (The Leaf-Chronicle)

2006-11-26T08:49:00.000-05:00

After reading an article in the paper titled "Nursing moms support women taken off plane," I was simply appalled.

This woman was taken off the plane not because she was breast-feeding but because she refused to cover up.

I support breast-feeding to the fullest. I have three children of my own, and I breast-fed all of them up to one year old, but never did I feel the need to bare myself to the public.

When I breast-fed in a public place, I always covered up, for my own comfort as much as for everyone else's comfort.

click to read more...

Rep. Maloney Hails Nurse-In at Delta Ticket Counter (press release)

2006-11-25T07:56:00.000-05:00

NEW YORK, NY – U.S. Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney (D-Manhattan, Queens) hailed the breastfeeding advocates and new mothers who staged nurse-ins at the Delta Airlines ticket counters at JFK Airport and other airports around the country earlier today. The advocates and new moms initiated the nurse-ins after Delta Airlines employees removed a nursing mother and her family from one of its flights earlier this month.

“I commend the women who are out at airports all over the country today to help make sure that women can breastfeed if they choose to,” said Rep. Maloney. “Breastfeeding is healthy and natural and women who choose to breastfeed their children should not be discouraged, regardless if they are at home, at work or on an airplane. This incident again shows that we need to do more to back women who choose to breastfeed in this country -- which is exactly what my legislation, the Breastfeeding Promotion Act, would do.”

click to read more...

Metro moms stage 'nurse-in' protest (The Detroit News Online)

2006-11-25T07:52:00.000-05:00

Airline's treatment of woman draws ire

ROMULUS -- Ten moms, a grandma and a contingent of diaper-clad rabble rousers staged a "nurse-in" at Detroit Metropolitan Airport on Tuesday as part of a nationwide protest against the treatment of a nursing mother aboard a plane.

Emily Gillette and her family were escorted off a plane departing from Burlington, Vt., on Oct. 13 after she refused to cover up while nursing her 22-month-old toddler during a flight on Freedom Airlines, a contractor for Delta Air Lines.

Mothers across the country are buzzing about the incident on Internet sites like BloggingBaby.com and Motheringdotcommune.

The grassroots protests, with no identifiable leadership, occurred at 10 a.m. at Delta ticket counters nationwide.

click to read more...

Breast-feeding debacle damages Delta (Berkshire Eagle)

2006-11-25T07:41:00.000-05:00

Last week, dozens of self-proclaimed "lactivists" held protests at Delta Air Lines ticket counters throughout the United States. The women nursed children in a show of support for Emily Gillette, a New Mexico woman who, on Oct. 13, was ordered off a Freedom Airlines flight about to take off from Burlington International Airport in Burlington, Vt. Gillette's offense was not making a bomb threat or even carrying a forbidden bottle of shampoo aboard the plane, a Delta subsidiary. Rather, she and her family were removed from the flight by a flight attendant who took offense at the woman for openly breast-feeding her 22-month-old daughter during a delay.

click to read more...

Breastfeeding campaign offers legitimate advice (Elmira Star-Gazette)

2006-11-25T07:38:00.000-05:00

Kathleen Costello wrote in an Oct. 2 column that the "use of scare-tactics and negative advertising is inaccurate and irresponsible," in regard to the breastfeeding campaign. This campaign is not irresponsible. Let's take the in-your-face, anti-smoking campaign. It goes to extremes to get the message across that you should stop smoking. Where are the complaints about the smoking campaign?

click to read more...

Mothers Rally to Back Breast-Feeding Rights (WashingtonPost.com)

2006-11-24T16:53:00.000-05:00

Karen Gral knows how difficult it is to travel with small children: standing in long lines with squirming toddlers, dealing with new security rules that prohibit liquids -- including some baby foods -- and lugging strollers, car seats and diaper bags through airports.

For her, the finish line is sitting on the airplane and breast-feeding her hungry and worn-out 16-month-old to sleep.

So when the Alexandria mother of two heard that a family was kicked off a Delta Air Lines flight last month because the mother refused to cover her baby with a blanket while breast-feeding, Gral decided to join 70 people at Reagan National Airport yesterday for a "nurse-in" in front of the Delta ticket counter. Similar protests were held at more than 30 airports around the country, including Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, where 62 people gathered in support of Arlington native Emily Gillette.

click to read more...

Mums begin 'lactivism' after airline bans breastfeeding (The Australian)

2006-11-24T16:51:00.000-05:00

IT'S ironic that since a lot of US airlines - airlines everywhere, actually - treat you like cattle that they also might get a bit squeamish over the thought of a dairy.
But last month a nursing mother was ejected from a plane about to take off in Vermont because she was trying to breastfeed her baby

The extraordinary tale has sparked a discrimination complaint from the mother, Emily Gillette, and a huge embarrassment for the airline, Delta. The brouhaha here has also sparked a form of protest being dubbed "lactivism".

Over the past week there's been rolling breastfeeding sit-ins where dozens of nursing mothers position themselves in front of the Delta airline counters in protest and, like maternal gunslingers, unleash their bosoms and latch on their babies.

click to read more...

Discretion and tolerance (Lowell Sun)

2006-11-24T16:49:00.000-05:00

No one with any common sense is going to argue against a mother breast-feeding her baby. Numerous studies have shown that breast milk gives infants lasting protection against infections, colds, flu and pneumonia, is believed to help prevent asthma and may reduce the likelihood of obesity.

Breast milk is the preferred nourishment for a child's first six months of life, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.

However, common sense also suggests that mothers use discretion while nursing since a part of their anatomy the law normally requires clothed must be uncovered to breast-feed. Unexpectedly seeing a mother nursing her baby can make some people uncomfortable.

click to read more...

My Tits and My Toddler Fly the UNfriendly Skies (The Huffington Post)

2006-11-24T16:41:00.000-05:00

For the second time in less than a week I will board a now infamous Delta partner flight and lift up my shirt. Some passengers will turn away in disgust. Some passengers will nod in approval. Some passengers will do a double take in the hopes of seeing some action. And while I breastfeed, some passengers will dare to tell my daughter to eat her meal in the toilet.

In the end, it's not the passengers I worry about- I can handle those of you sitting alongside me in coach. I'm wondering if the power hungry flight attendants will see my breasts as a threat to national security or a disruption to the carrier. Will I, or won't I, be allowed to feed my 19-month old on a plane? Just what exactly is Delta's position on public breastfeeding?

click to read more...

Gov't stands firm on revised IRR of "Milk Code" (Phillipine Information Agency)

2006-11-24T16:38:00.000-05:00

San Fernando City, La Union (23 November) -- The Philippines strongly supports and promotes breastfeeding to achieve a healthier nutrition rate of infants from the day of birth and onwards, and the government also adheres to reasonably strict standards for the entry of infant milk formula products here in the country.

Department of Health (DOH) Secretary Francisco Duque III, being the point person, stood firm on defending the Philippine government as well as the revised Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of the Executive Order 51, otherwise known as the Milk Code.

The IRR, Duque explained was meant to "regulate indiscriminate advertising and promotion of products not founded on scientific evidence and studies."

click to read more...

Backing breast-feeding (The Durnago Herald)

2006-11-24T16:33:00.000-05:00

Protest at airport for ex-FLC student kicked off flight

Two dozen nursing mothers, some with other progeny in tow, gathered Tuesday morning at the Delta Air Lines ticket counter at the Durango-La Plata County Airport to protest the expulsion of a nursing mother from a Delta plane in South Burlington, Vt., last month.

Jennifer Smith breast-feeds her son Elliot during a "nurse-in" Tuesday at the Durango-La Plata County Airport. Smith was one of two dozen mothers who were protesting Delta Air Lines’ dismissal of Emily Gillette from an Oct. 13 flight for breast-feeding her baby on the plane.

Concurrent protests, called "nurse-ins," were planned Tuesday at more than 30 airports from Anchorage to Atlanta that Delta serves.

click to read more...

Cover up, you offend me (Electric Newspaper)

2006-11-24T16:31:00.000-05:00

THE flight attendant felt offended when Ms Emily Gillette of New Mexico breast-fed her 22-month-old daughter.

Protesting mum Velisha Lukovic holds her son Julien at Fort Lauderdale airport, Florida. -- REUTERS
Cover yourself with a blanket, she told Ms Gillette.

When the young mother refused, she was ordered off a Freedom Airlines flight that was about to leave Burlington International Airport.

Ms Gillette, who has filed a complaint with the Vermont Human Rights Commission, was sitting in a window seat next to her husband when the incident took place last month.

click to read more...

Critics of nursing in public reveal hypocrisy (USA Today)

2006-11-24T16:27:00.000-05:00

I am part of a small percentage of women who are commercial airline pilots. I am also a wife, mother and strong supporter and advocate of mothers who choose to breast-feed their children ("Nursing mom files complaint against airlines," News, Nov. 17).

In all my years of traveling about in public, I have never seen a nursing mother willingly expose herself to feed her child.

Yet, I can spot a nursing mother and child from across a crowded room because I am drawn to the beauty of the bonding between mother and child. I often flash a smile of support or offer words of encouragement because I know firsthand that nursing does not always come naturally or easily for all who attempt it — yet that mother has chosen to take the healthier choice of nourishing her child.

click to read more...

Lactivists fight for the right to breastfeed (Guardian Unlimited)

2006-11-24T16:26:00.001-05:00

America has been swept by an unusual protest movement. It is called lactivism and involves hundreds of women taking to the check-in counters of US airports to demonstrate the right to breastfeed their babies.

About 900 breastfeeding women demonstrated at 35 US airports on Tuesday outside check-in counters for Delta, one of the biggest domestic carriers. Groups of 30 or more women assembled by the counters, sat in a circle and began nursing their babies, some wearing "Got breastmilk?" T-shirts and their children in ones saying "Smart, cute and healthy. Thanks to Mom's milk."

click to read more...

Mothers stage 'nurse-in' protest (MSNBC.com)

2006-11-24T16:23:00.000-05:00

Nursing moms take to airports in show of solidarity

SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt. - Babies at the breast, protest signs close by, nursing mothers staged "nurse-in" demonstrations in airports across the country Tuesday, rallying behind a woman ordered off a plane for breast-feeding her daughter too openly.

"I truly hope it does get the message across," said Becky Fontana, 29, nursing her four-month-old daughter as she sat cross-legged on the terminal floor at Burlington International Airport.

click to read more...

Nursing moms rally at airports (Seattle Post Intelligencer)

2006-11-24T16:04:00.000-05:00

SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt. -- Carrying signs with slogans such as "Best in-flight meal ever," scores of mothers breast-fed their babies at airports around the country Tuesday in a show of support for a woman who was ordered off a plane for nursing her daughter without covering up.

"It's about raising consciousness about our culture's sexualization of the breast. Breast-feeding needs to be supported wherever and whenever it happens. Babies don't know the meaning of `wait,'" said Chelsea Clark, 31, wearing a "Got breast milk?" T-shirt as she nursed her 9-week-old son at the Burlington airport.

click to read more...

Happy Thanksgiving

2006-11-22T10:07:00.000-05:00

My morning has gotten away from me, so I will have to save my updates for this weekend.

I wish all a wonderful Thanksgiving - may your holiday be filled with family and friends and love, and may your travels be safe and uneventful.

Let nursing mothers be (Boston Globe)

2006-11-22T10:06:00.000-05:00

BREAST-FEEDING is back in the news, thanks to a flight attendant for a small regional airline who ordered a nursing mother off a plane in Vermont last month. Advocates of this healthful practice rallied around, and yesterday chose one of the busiest airline travel days to stage "nurse-in" protests at airports around the country.

click to read more...

Hathor's take on the Freedom Airlines incident

2006-11-21T17:23:00.000-05:00

Hathor the Cowgoddess has a great comic on the Emily Gillette incident....

click to view...

Logan Airport Nurse-In

2006-11-21T16:46:00.000-05:00

So, the newswires are all afire with the reports of nurse-ins across the country. Overall, the coverage has been fair, even favorable.

My daughter and I attended the nurse-in at Boston's Logan Airport this morning. Up until this very morning, I wasn't sure if we were going to be attending; the Peanut has been having a very emotional couple of weeks, grieving quite deeply and in a simultaneously complicated and straightforward manner for the loss of a beloved friend and family member. This morning, however, the Boston Globe covered the planned nurse-ins on the front page, and when I told my three year old about it, she was thrilled.

"But why did they make that mama get off the plane?" she asked. "Because the flight attendant didn't like breastfeeding," I explained. "Will they make me get off the plane the next we go on it?" she asked with great concern. Despite being weaned, once a breastfed child, always a breastfed child in her mind. "That's why the people are going to the airports, lovebug - because they don't want to see this happen to anybody else." She nodded solemnly and said, "I want to give the bag the boot* - let's go."

So off we went. There was a decent turnout, I think, considering that the nurse-in was organized only a week ago, that Logan is very difficult to get to right now and that the event was scheduled for 10 AM, which meant fighting commuter traffic while managing babes (a fact which many non-attendees cited as the reason for not going). There was a total of seven mothers and eight children, and everyone was peaceful and cheerful. The media attention was a bit overwhelming, to say the least. We had many folks smile and give us friendly waves as the walked past; a pair of men cheered, "Way to go, ladies!"

Overall, it was a great experience, and I'm glad we made the effort to get out and attend.

* A reference to the Massachusetts Breastfeeding Coalition-sponsored rally we attended this spring

Bless The Moms Who Breast-Feed In Public Places (The Huffington Post)

2006-11-21T16:44:00.000-05:00

As I write this, mothers are staging breast feed-ins at Delta Air Lines ticket counters all over the U.S.

They are protesting the actions of a Delta-affiliated airline's flight attendant, who removed a passenger who was (gasp) breast-feeding her baby.

Even though Delta has formally apologized, the symbolism involved in the removal of this passenger from the aircraft still sticks in my craw.

I am male, and I don't think I was breast-fed n public. But still:...

click to read more...

Breastfeeding and probiotics may protect children from allergies, finds NoE (Cordis News)

2006-11-21T15:13:00.000-05:00

The Network of Excellence (NoE) GA2LEN has presented evidence that breastfeeding, early diet and probiotics may have an effect on the development of allergies in children.

GA2LEN is funded under the Sixth Framework Programme (FP6) and brings together 26 research centres from around Europe, as well as the European Academy of Allergology and Clinical Immunology (EAACI) and the European Federation of Allergy and Airways Diseases Patients' Associations (EFA).

The number of people suffering from allergies has increased dramatically over the past few decades. The phenomenon is particularly evident in children, with one in three now suffering from some sort of allergy. GA2LEN predicts that by 2015, half of all Europeans will have some sort of allergy.

click to read more...

Breastfeeding moms protest discrimination by airline (WBIR.com)

2006-11-21T15:12:00.000-05:00

Breastfeeding mothers will conduct "nurse-ins" today against Delta Air Lines at more than a dozen U.S. airports.

click to read more...

Local group urging support of measure on breast-feeding (The Transcript)

2006-11-21T15:10:00.000-05:00

NORTH ADAMS — Berkshire Nursing Families might not be participating in one of the 19 planned "nurse-ins" scheduled to take place at 10 a.m. at airports around the country — but the group is encouraging people to support a bill that protects the right of women to breast-feed in public.

"Massachusetts is one of only five states not to have legislation protecting nursing mothers in public," Rosalie Girard, director of Berkshire Nursing Families, said on Monday.

click to read more...

Milk bank experiecing shortage, needs donors (KVUE.com)

2006-11-21T15:08:00.000-05:00

The Mothers' Milk Bank of Austin says it needs donors to help overcome a critical shortage

click to read more...

A Breast Feeding Offensive(The National Ledger)

2006-11-21T15:06:00.000-05:00

I’ve often thought that there are people in this world who spend their days walking around just looking for something to get offended about. An article in the November 17, 2006 edition of USA Today has confirmed that notion. The most inoffensive and natural act a person can perform, that of a mother nursing her baby, caused a young family to be removed from a Delta Airlines (operated by Freedom Airlines) flight back on October Thirteenth. Why? Because a flight attendant found it offensive.

click to read more...

Nursing Moms Protest After Breastfeeding Mom Taken Off the Plane (Toronto Daily News)

2006-11-21T15:04:00.000-05:00

Nursing mothers, along with their babies, staged protests around the U.S. airports after a woman was ordered off a plane for breast-feeding her 2-year-old daughter.

Women blocked the Delta Air Lines ticket counter waving signs saying "Don't be lactose intolerant" and "Breasts - Not just for selling cars anymore." Women also plan to breastfeed their infants in front of Delta ticketing counters around the country.

click to read more...

Women To Promote Breast-Feeding At Airports (NBC30.com)

2006-11-21T15:02:00.000-05:00

WINDSOR LOCKS, Conn. -- Several women turned out at Bradley Airport Tuesday as part of nationwide protest involving breast-feeding mothers.

Breast-feeding mothers are conducting "nurse-ins" against Delta Air Lines at more than a dozen U.S. airports, including Bradley.

One woman at Bradley, 30 year-old Susan Parker, was breast-feeding her 10-month-old daughter.

click to read more...

Mothers Breast-Feed In Protest (Click On Detroit)

2006-11-21T15:01:00.000-05:00

The ejection of a nursing mother from a Delta Air Lines commuter flight last month prompted plans for "nurse-ins" held Tuesday at more than a dozen airports, including Detroit Metropolitan.

Emily Gillette, 27, filed a complaint last week against Delta Air Lines Inc. and Freedom Airlines, which operated the commuter flight for the Atlanta-based carrier, over the Oct. 13 incident at Burlington International Airport. In the complaint, Gillette said she was breast-feeding daughter River, 1, aboard the New York-bound plane when a flight attendant tried to hand her a blanket and told her to cover up.

When Gillette balked, she and her husband were ordered off the plane before takeoff, triggering a complaint with the Vermont Human Rights Commission, a "nurse-in" last week at that airport and now the national protest action, which was scheduled for 10 a.m. local time at 19 airports from Anchorage to Islip, N.Y.

click to read more...

Will nurse-in protests hurt Delta's stock? (And, should I go?) (Blogging Stocks)

2006-11-21T15:00:00.000-05:00

I'm a breastfeeding mama, my little guy is almost 19 months old and not showing any signs of wanting to wean. I nurse him in public whenever it's required (i.e.: whenever he's tired or fussy and a little warm milk will keep the volume down for a bit). Along with lots of other modern moms, I was pretty peeved when I heard the story of Emily Gillette, escorted off a Freedom Airlines flight because she wouldn't put a blanket over her breastfeeding daughter's head. (After a three-hour delay. At 10 p.m. In the window seat. In the second-to-last row. !!)

click to read more...

Louisville mothers stage ‘nurse-in’ protest (The Courier-Journal)

2006-11-21T14:58:00.000-05:00

Nursing their babies as holiday travelers passed nearby, nine mothers at Louisville International Airport joined in a national protest Tuesday in support for public breastfeeding.

“Breastfeeding is not normal enough in our society,” said Jenny Claire Kragel, who was holding her 2-month old son, Soren. “And so we are just kind of here to spread the word that breastfeeding is normal and that it is not a crime to do it in public.”

They joined a host of women nationwide who staged protests at more than a dozen airports around the country, after the ejection of a nursing mother from a Delta Air Lines commuter flight in Vermont.

click to read more...

Local women join in show of support for breast-feeding mom (WPRI Eyewitness News)

2006-11-21T14:56:00.000-05:00

BOSTON Five mothers showed up with their infants today at the Delta Airlines ticket counter at Boston's Logan Airport. They were there to protest the removal of a nursing mother from a Delta commuter flight in Burlington, Vermont.

The so-called "nurse-in" at Logan was one of about a dozen held at airports around the country.

The mothers had not met before in person, but gathered at the airport after word of the New Mexico mother's case spread over Internet message boards.

Ali Crehan Feeney, a certified lactation counselor from Quincy, says she hopes the incident will lead to further action by airlines to protect women's breast feeding rights.

click to read more...

Nursing moms take to airports in show of solidarity (Boston.com)

2006-11-21T14:54:00.000-05:00

SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt. --Babies at the breast, nursing mothers staged "nurse-in" protests Tuesday to take up the cause of a woman ordered off a plane for breast-feeding her daughter too openly.

click to read more...

Local Mothers Hold "Nurse-In" At Logan (WBZ Radio)

2006-11-21T14:51:00.000-05:00

Five mothers with their infants today gathered at the Delta Airlines ticket counter at Logan Airport. They protested the removal of a nursing mother from a Delta commuter flight in Burlington, Vermont.

The mothers had not met before, but knew where to meet after word of the New Mexico mother's case spread over internet message boards.

click to read more...

Path smoother for breast-feeding moms (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)

2006-11-20T10:51:00.000-05:00

Julie Maness, who twice returned to work while she was breast-feeding, has seen both the good and the bad when it comes to pumping breast milk on the job. The 38-year-old mother of two from Cahokia remembers pumping in a restroom stall following the birth of her older daughter, Molly, now 11.

"It was basically a carpeted warehouse," Maness says. "The bathroom was the best I could do there, so I would take my equipment into a stall and try to pump there and try not to touch anything."

In spite of those conditions, Maness pumped and nursed until Molly was more than 10 months old.

Circumstances were much better after the birth of Cordelia, now 5. Maness had taken a job at Fleishman-Hillard, where she still works as coordinator of accounts receivable. There was no lactation room or official policy for nursing moms, but her supervisors and employer were very supportive, even before her maternity leave.

click to read more...

National 'nurse-in' set to protest treatment of mom (USA Today)

2006-11-20T10:50:00.000-05:00

BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) — A national "nurse-in" will be held Tuesday to protest the treatment of a passenger who was kicked off a plane for refusing to cover herself while breast-feeding her baby.
A similar protest, in which mothers sat on the floor near the Delta Airlines counter, breast-fed their babies and held signs, took place at the Burlington International Airport last week.

Chelsea Clark, 31, of Fairfax, said she is using Web message boards to organize a national protest at Delta counters across the country. What happened to Emily Gillette, 27, of Santa Fe, has prompted an "out-swell of outrage," Clark said.

"This is for all of the nursing mothers in the country who felt that way," Clark said. "This is our opportunity to make a statement."

click to read more...