The Massachusetts Breastfeeding Coalition is organizing a demonstration at the Statehouse in Boston to show support for the formula marketing ban proposed by our state's Public Health Council.
It is likely to be held on May 12th at 10 AM (details and date/time confirmation will be coming very soon).
If you are able to attend the demonstration, please email MBC at massbfc AT massbfc DOT org.
See you there!
Sunday, April 23, 2006
Hillcrest collecting breast milk for premature infants (Waco Tribune-Herald)
On behalf of medically fragile infants across the state, officials at Hillcrest Baptist Medical Center are asking local mothers to donate their excess breast milk.
The hospital recently became a “milk depot” for an Austin organization called Mothers’ Milk Bank. It is one of nine places across the country that collect breast milk from mothers who have some to spare and give it to those unable to produce their own.
The milk is only available via a prescription and almost exclusively goes to ill or premature babies, said April Rudge, the Austin bank’s outreach director. In some instances, it is also given to mothers who adopt children, she said, but only when there is enough milk to meet the needs of fragile babies first.
“There is a steady increase in the demand, especially as more hospitals are using donor milk and having success with it,” Rudge said.
click to read more...
The hospital recently became a “milk depot” for an Austin organization called Mothers’ Milk Bank. It is one of nine places across the country that collect breast milk from mothers who have some to spare and give it to those unable to produce their own.
The milk is only available via a prescription and almost exclusively goes to ill or premature babies, said April Rudge, the Austin bank’s outreach director. In some instances, it is also given to mothers who adopt children, she said, but only when there is enough milk to meet the needs of fragile babies first.
“There is a steady increase in the demand, especially as more hospitals are using donor milk and having success with it,” Rudge said.
click to read more...
It’s time to make breastfeeding ordinary again (Sunday Gazette-Mail)
Some of the most serious and costly epidemics facing West Virginia children and women are directly related to a decline in breastfeeding. Children who are not breastfed are at greater risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, diabetes, respiratory infections, allergies and diarrhea. In addition, the longer children breastfeed, the less likely they are to be overweight. Breastfeeding is associated with health benefits for mothers too — reduced risk for ovarian cancer and pre-menopausal breast cancer.
Increasing rates of breastfeeding also reduces health-care costs. The American Academy of Pediatrics estimates that increasing the proportion of American children breastfed in their first few months from 64 percent in 2000, to 75 percent by 2010, would save an estimated $3.6 billion in health-care costs annually. The massive amounts the federal government spends on baby formula would be slashed as well. In 2005, West Virginia alone spent $7.5 million of public funding on formula for low-income families.
Promoting breastfeeding has become a consistent feature of public health nutrition policy. West Virginia pediatricians, backed by the American Academy of Pediatrics, recommend breastfeeding for at least the first year of life, and beyond for as long as mutually desired by mother and child. Despite this, West Virginia breastfeeding rates remain among the lowest in the nation.
click to read more...
Increasing rates of breastfeeding also reduces health-care costs. The American Academy of Pediatrics estimates that increasing the proportion of American children breastfed in their first few months from 64 percent in 2000, to 75 percent by 2010, would save an estimated $3.6 billion in health-care costs annually. The massive amounts the federal government spends on baby formula would be slashed as well. In 2005, West Virginia alone spent $7.5 million of public funding on formula for low-income families.
Promoting breastfeeding has become a consistent feature of public health nutrition policy. West Virginia pediatricians, backed by the American Academy of Pediatrics, recommend breastfeeding for at least the first year of life, and beyond for as long as mutually desired by mother and child. Despite this, West Virginia breastfeeding rates remain among the lowest in the nation.
click to read more...
Mothers donating liquid gold to bank (Journal Gazette)
When Melinda and Steve Connelly lost their infant son in August, they tried like many parents in their position to make sense of the loss.
Melinda Connelly said that the Fort Wayne couple’s Christian faith helped them cope and, in part, led to a decision to donate unused breast milk. The hope was that it could provide nourishment to other premature babies.
Connelly, 37, learned of Indiana Mothers’ Milk Bank Inc., a non-profit that opened the same month her 51-day-old son Jadon died. She donated more than 200 2-ounce bottles – one of more than 100 donors screened and approved by the Indianapolis-based milk bank.
“This was just one way … that he (Jadon) was able to make a contribution even in such a short span that he was here,” Connelly said.
click to read more...
Melinda Connelly said that the Fort Wayne couple’s Christian faith helped them cope and, in part, led to a decision to donate unused breast milk. The hope was that it could provide nourishment to other premature babies.
Connelly, 37, learned of Indiana Mothers’ Milk Bank Inc., a non-profit that opened the same month her 51-day-old son Jadon died. She donated more than 200 2-ounce bottles – one of more than 100 donors screened and approved by the Indianapolis-based milk bank.
“This was just one way … that he (Jadon) was able to make a contribution even in such a short span that he was here,” Connelly said.
click to read more...
Saturday, April 22, 2006
Mothers got wrong advice for 40 years (Sunday Times - Times Online)
BREAST-FEEDING mothers have been given potentially harmful advice on infant nutrition for the past 40 years, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has admitted.
Charts used in Britain for decades to advise mothers on a baby’s optimum size have been based on the growth rates of infants fed on formula milk.
The organisation now says the advice given to millions of breast-feeding mothers was distorted because babies fed on formula milk put on weight far faster.
These breast-feeding mothers were wrongly told that their babies were underweight and were advised, or felt pressured, to fatten them up by giving them formula milk or extra solids.
Health experts believe the growth charts may have contributed to childhood obesity and associated problems such as diabetes and heart disease in later life. A government study has found that more than a quarter of children in English secondary schools are clinically obese, almost double the proportion a decade ago.
click to read more...
Charts used in Britain for decades to advise mothers on a baby’s optimum size have been based on the growth rates of infants fed on formula milk.
The organisation now says the advice given to millions of breast-feeding mothers was distorted because babies fed on formula milk put on weight far faster.
These breast-feeding mothers were wrongly told that their babies were underweight and were advised, or felt pressured, to fatten them up by giving them formula milk or extra solids.
Health experts believe the growth charts may have contributed to childhood obesity and associated problems such as diabetes and heart disease in later life. A government study has found that more than a quarter of children in English secondary schools are clinically obese, almost double the proportion a decade ago.
click to read more...
Friday, April 21, 2006
Short breast-feeding linked to later alcoholism (Reuters.co.uk)
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Early weaning from breast-feeding appears to be one factor that predisposes adults to alcohol abuse and hospitalization for an alcohol-related diagnosis, according to data from Denmark.
Previous research demonstrated a link between short duration of breast-feeding and alcoholism in men. Dr. Holger J. Sorenson and colleagues at Copenhagen University and the US examined this relationship in a larger population sample that included women and took into account other environmental and familial factors.
click to read more...
Previous research demonstrated a link between short duration of breast-feeding and alcoholism in men. Dr. Holger J. Sorenson and colleagues at Copenhagen University and the US examined this relationship in a larger population sample that included women and took into account other environmental and familial factors.
click to read more...
Thursday, April 20, 2006
Breast milk banks: an idea taken to the extreme? (The Student Operated Press)
Our society is accustomed to having things at our fingertips. We shop online, we can pay bills by phone, and we can even stop and play live television in our homes (courtesy of TiVO). We also have at our disposal facilities that harbor a few of the many necessities we need: blood banks for those needing transfusions and sperm banks for those wanting children without the hassle of having to find an appropriate father.
But a fairly new phenom has some questioning whether or not we have taken this idea of for your convenience a little too far. These are breast milk banks. Yes, breast milk banks. Women all over the country are pumping their milk and sending it in to these banks to be processed and sent out to needy families. The idea in itself is noble. The milk feeds infants who have no access to food.
click to read more...
But a fairly new phenom has some questioning whether or not we have taken this idea of for your convenience a little too far. These are breast milk banks. Yes, breast milk banks. Women all over the country are pumping their milk and sending it in to these banks to be processed and sent out to needy families. The idea in itself is noble. The milk feeds infants who have no access to food.
click to read more...
Breastfeeding at Freddies (AlterNet: Blogs: The Mix)
I'm trying to be a patriot and follow our president's wishes about what I should do in the bedroom, but it's getting awfully confusing. First, apparently, I'm supposed to be abstinent. (Or was that obstinate? I always confuse the two.) Then, if I am going to have sex, it best be the married-kind. And then, married or not, if I do get pregnant -- no matter what the situation, no matter how broke I am, how unprepared I am, or how raped I was -- I am supposed to keep the baby.
Alright, suppose I did all that, here comes the kicker. Once I do have the little crying helpless infant attached to my hip everywhere I go (since it's not like there's nationally-subsidized daycare or anything), I'm not supposed to breastfeed it in public, even though breastfeeding is still generally considered to be the healthiest, most economical, and most sanitary way to get nourishment to a newborn.
click to read more...
Alright, suppose I did all that, here comes the kicker. Once I do have the little crying helpless infant attached to my hip everywhere I go (since it's not like there's nationally-subsidized daycare or anything), I'm not supposed to breastfeed it in public, even though breastfeeding is still generally considered to be the healthiest, most economical, and most sanitary way to get nourishment to a newborn.
click to read more...
Monday, April 17, 2006
Women with diabetes breast-feed despite obstacles (Reuters.com)
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Mothers with type 1 diabetes are just as likely as other women to be able to breast-feed their babies, despite difficulties with blood sugar levels and health problems in their infants, Danish researchers report.
Dr. Elisabeth Mathiesen and colleagues from Copenhagen University Hospital interviewed 102 women with type 1 diabetes at 5 days after delivery and again at 4 months to investigate the frequency of long-term breast-feeding and possible factors linked to successful breast-feeding.
More than half of the children had a medical complication when they were born, such as jaundice, infection or breathing difficulties. Nonetheless, most of the women (86 percent) initiated breast-feeding, the team reports in the medical journal Diabetes Care.
click to read more...
Dr. Elisabeth Mathiesen and colleagues from Copenhagen University Hospital interviewed 102 women with type 1 diabetes at 5 days after delivery and again at 4 months to investigate the frequency of long-term breast-feeding and possible factors linked to successful breast-feeding.
More than half of the children had a medical complication when they were born, such as jaundice, infection or breathing difficulties. Nonetheless, most of the women (86 percent) initiated breast-feeding, the team reports in the medical journal Diabetes Care.
click to read more...
Women with diabetes breast-feed despite obstacles (Reuters.com)
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Mothers with type 1 diabetes are just as likely as other women to be able to breast-feed their babies, despite difficulties with blood sugar levels and health problems in their infants, Danish researchers report.
Dr. Elisabeth Mathiesen and colleagues from Copenhagen University Hospital interviewed 102 women with type 1 diabetes at 5 days after delivery and again at 4 months to investigate the frequency of long-term breast-feeding and possible factors linked to successful breast-feeding.
More than half of the children had a medical complication when they were born, such as jaundice, infection or breathing difficulties. Nonetheless, most of the women (86 percent) initiated breast-feeding, the team reports in the medical journal Diabetes Care.
click to read more...
Dr. Elisabeth Mathiesen and colleagues from Copenhagen University Hospital interviewed 102 women with type 1 diabetes at 5 days after delivery and again at 4 months to investigate the frequency of long-term breast-feeding and possible factors linked to successful breast-feeding.
More than half of the children had a medical complication when they were born, such as jaundice, infection or breathing difficulties. Nonetheless, most of the women (86 percent) initiated breast-feeding, the team reports in the medical journal Diabetes Care.
click to read more...
Breast-Feeding Display On Campus To Raise Awareness (KXAN.com)
Breast-feeding in public is what six women did Wednesday in a very public arena at the UT campus.
They say, whether you squirm or not, they have the right to feed their children wherever they are.
Forget the argument: is breast-feeding good or bad for a baby? The issue many women have is a baby can get hungry anytime, and if they're breast-feeding, they may just be in a coffee shop or restaurant when they feel the need to feed.
The women who were breast-feeding on campus Wednesday say they shouldn't be made to feel ashamed.
click to read more...
They say, whether you squirm or not, they have the right to feed their children wherever they are.
Forget the argument: is breast-feeding good or bad for a baby? The issue many women have is a baby can get hungry anytime, and if they're breast-feeding, they may just be in a coffee shop or restaurant when they feel the need to feed.
The women who were breast-feeding on campus Wednesday say they shouldn't be made to feel ashamed.
click to read more...
Tuesday, April 11, 2006
Senate OKs breast-feeding bill (KPHO Phoenix)
PHOENIX The Arizona Legislature has voted to provide legal protection for breast-feeding in public.
The Senate today unanimously approved a bill which the House overwhelmingly approved last month. The bill now goes to Governor Napolitano.
click to read more...
The Senate today unanimously approved a bill which the House overwhelmingly approved last month. The bill now goes to Governor Napolitano.
click to read more...
Friday, April 07, 2006
Demonstration at Massachusetts State House
I've just received the following message from the Massachusetts Breastfeeding Coalition, and am posting it here with their permission:
From: MBC_Members On Behalf Of Melissa Bartick, MD
To: MBC_Members
Subject: [MBC_Members] statehouse demonstration: RSVP
Hi all,
MBC is planning to have a demonstration at the Statehouse about the gift bag issue. We will likely have banners, and are trying to think of an intriguing visual piece that will get the attention of Romney and of the press. We have been advised that the best time to do this is on a weekday, preferably in the morning, but it could be @ noon.
We will need to get as many folks as possible to come, and we would like mothers with babies as well. It would likely be the week of May 15. Please let me know if you think you can come and if you can round up people to come, as well. Exact date is TBA-- we need to get a sense on attendance, best days of the week, etc. Please let me know!
In other updates, we have not been successful in scheduling meetings with officials-- all the more reason to have a big demonstration to get attention of the press and the Governor.
We have drafted an ad for the Parents' Paper, which will come out in early May. I will send out an HTML email with it shortly, so that people can forward it. In the meantime, I'm attaching a pdf of it now. We would like people to print it out, and post it everywhere: your workplaces, community boards, etc.
Also-- one last thing-- we still need more petition signatures: we have all states represented by West Virginia, North Dakota and South Dakota-- if you know people in those states, please get them to sign!
Melissa
Massachusetts Breastfeeding Coalition
to email: massbfc@massbfc.org
Please spread the word far and wide!!
From: MBC_Members On Behalf Of Melissa Bartick, MD
To: MBC_Members
Subject: [MBC_Members] statehouse demonstration: RSVP
Hi all,
MBC is planning to have a demonstration at the Statehouse about the gift bag issue. We will likely have banners, and are trying to think of an intriguing visual piece that will get the attention of Romney and of the press. We have been advised that the best time to do this is on a weekday, preferably in the morning, but it could be @ noon.
We will need to get as many folks as possible to come, and we would like mothers with babies as well. It would likely be the week of May 15. Please let me know if you think you can come and if you can round up people to come, as well. Exact date is TBA-- we need to get a sense on attendance, best days of the week, etc. Please let me know!
In other updates, we have not been successful in scheduling meetings with officials-- all the more reason to have a big demonstration to get attention of the press and the Governor.
We have drafted an ad for the Parents' Paper, which will come out in early May. I will send out an HTML email with it shortly, so that people can forward it. In the meantime, I'm attaching a pdf of it now. We would like people to print it out, and post it everywhere: your workplaces, community boards, etc.
Also-- one last thing-- we still need more petition signatures: we have all states represented by West Virginia, North Dakota and South Dakota-- if you know people in those states, please get them to sign!
Melissa
Massachusetts Breastfeeding Coalition
to email: massbfc@massbfc.org
Please spread the word far and wide!!
Mum left 'humiliated' by breastfeeding ban (Leeds Today)
A MOTHER was forced to leave the family area of a health club's restaurant – for breastfeeding her baby son.
Lindsay Cooper was feeding 10-week-old Calum at Esporta in Cookridge yesterday when the manager told her she had to move to a different room.
The incident took place in full view of the restaurant and Mrs Cooper described the experience as 'humiliating' and 'upsetting'.
According to the 30-year-old PE teacher, there were only other women present at the time but when confronted, the manager said that it was 'against company policy' to allow breastfeeding in that section of the club.
click to read more...
Lindsay Cooper was feeding 10-week-old Calum at Esporta in Cookridge yesterday when the manager told her she had to move to a different room.
The incident took place in full view of the restaurant and Mrs Cooper described the experience as 'humiliating' and 'upsetting'.
According to the 30-year-old PE teacher, there were only other women present at the time but when confronted, the manager said that it was 'against company policy' to allow breastfeeding in that section of the club.
click to read more...
Thursday, April 06, 2006
Mystery of 'nuns' disease' (The Star Phoenix)
OTTAWA -- Breast cancer used to be known as "nuns' disease." As far back as the 14th century, the disease affected nuns more than any other group of medieval women. Studies since have continued to confirm high rates among nuns. The breast cancer rate in 19th-century nuns was 6.3 per cent -- about the same as it is today among Western women. In 1968, a U.S. National Cancer Institute study of 31,658 nuns from 41 religious orders found dramatically elevated levels of breast cancer in the women.
Why? Numerous researchers say it's because the nuns did not give birth or breastfeed. Today the breast cancer rate in nuns mirrors the rate in modern women, who frequently delay or forgo childbirth and infrequently choose to breastfeed their babies.
click to read more...
Why? Numerous researchers say it's because the nuns did not give birth or breastfeed. Today the breast cancer rate in nuns mirrors the rate in modern women, who frequently delay or forgo childbirth and infrequently choose to breastfeed their babies.
click to read more...
Breastfeeding in Public (SearchMothers.com)
Over the last few years many words have been spoken and written about nursing in public. I think this is good. Better to work out this problem of competing rights through civil dialogue and not in confrontations between a stressed mother whose child is crying and an embarrassed lifeguard, flight attendant, or store manager.
In the basic "public nursing" problem scenario there are three roles: a child, the child's breastfeeding mother, and an observer. The child indicates a need. The mother responds to the need by giving the child her breast to suck. The observer complains.
click to read more...
In the basic "public nursing" problem scenario there are three roles: a child, the child's breastfeeding mother, and an observer. The child indicates a need. The mother responds to the need by giving the child her breast to suck. The observer complains.
click to read more...
Infant formula warning: The poisoning of infants with formula products, and why breastfeeding is best (News Target)
Over the years, countless studies have shown that when it comes to infant nutrition, breast milk is best. This fact remains true, as there is simply no infant formula product on the market that can match the superior nutrition of mother's milk. In fact, some infant formulas actually contain ingredients that can be harmful to your baby.
Although some formula recipes have improved over time for mothers who must rely on formula to feed their new baby, many products are still loaded with unhealthy and even dangerous ingredients, making breastfeeding the best way to go for new mothers who have the option.
click to read more...
Although some formula recipes have improved over time for mothers who must rely on formula to feed their new baby, many products are still loaded with unhealthy and even dangerous ingredients, making breastfeeding the best way to go for new mothers who have the option.
click to read more...
New Mississippi Law Affirms Rights Of Breast-Feeding Mothers (WLOX-TV)
Getty Israel knows firsthand the benefits of breast-feeding: It's one of the ways she provided nutrition to her son when he was a baby. She hopes a new Mississippi law will help raise awareness of the health benefits of nursing, while also giving support to moms as they try to care for their infants and toddlers.
"We still have a lot of work to do,'' said Israel, a Jackson State University student who helped lead lobbying efforts to push the bill through the Legislature this year.
Gov. Haley Barbour signed the bill this week, and it became law immediately.
"It's one thing to sign the bill. It's another thing to really promote breast-feeding,'' Israel said Wednesday.
click to read more...
"We still have a lot of work to do,'' said Israel, a Jackson State University student who helped lead lobbying efforts to push the bill through the Legislature this year.
Gov. Haley Barbour signed the bill this week, and it became law immediately.
"It's one thing to sign the bill. It's another thing to really promote breast-feeding,'' Israel said Wednesday.
click to read more...
Vote shields moms' rights (The State)
The sight of little children playing in the lobby of the State House isn’t all that unusual during the legislative session.
But on Wednesday, their doting mothers seemed particularly happy, too.
The state Senate gave final approval to a House-passed bill protecting a mother’s right to breast-feed her child in public places without violating the law.
“It’s done!” said a jubilant Lin Cook of Charleston, a breast-feeding counselor and doula, who spent a number of days at the State House this year, attending meetings and hearings in support of the bill.
“We focused on the health of the baby, but those babies grow into (larger) people, so we feel like we’ve raised the health of all South Carolinians today.”
Simple in tone, the bill states a mother can breast-feed children in any location she is authorized to be and that the practice cannot constitute indecent exposure.
click to read more...
But on Wednesday, their doting mothers seemed particularly happy, too.
The state Senate gave final approval to a House-passed bill protecting a mother’s right to breast-feed her child in public places without violating the law.
“It’s done!” said a jubilant Lin Cook of Charleston, a breast-feeding counselor and doula, who spent a number of days at the State House this year, attending meetings and hearings in support of the bill.
“We focused on the health of the baby, but those babies grow into (larger) people, so we feel like we’ve raised the health of all South Carolinians today.”
Simple in tone, the bill states a mother can breast-feed children in any location she is authorized to be and that the practice cannot constitute indecent exposure.
click to read more...
Retention plan targets breast-feeding mothers (Arizona Daily Wildcat)
A grant from the Commission on the Status of Women is funding a new UA program that offers lactating mothers a discount when buying or renting a breast pump at University Medical Center.
The program, Mommy Connections, is an extension to the UA Life Work Connection services geared toward recruiting and retaining a diverse student/employee population on campus, said senior coordinator Caryn Jung.
Renee Palting, a board certified lactation consultant at University Medical Center and for Mommy Connections, said the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that babies receive breast milk for at least the first year of their lives.
click to read more...
The program, Mommy Connections, is an extension to the UA Life Work Connection services geared toward recruiting and retaining a diverse student/employee population on campus, said senior coordinator Caryn Jung.
Renee Palting, a board certified lactation consultant at University Medical Center and for Mommy Connections, said the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that babies receive breast milk for at least the first year of their lives.
click to read more...
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