Flexible scheduling, special changing and quiet rooms all are part of the benefits.
Going back to work after having a baby can be difficult, but workplace programs and options such as lactation rooms and flexible schedules can help ease the transition.
The Kansas City-based National Association of Insurance Commissioners goes even further. An Infants in the Workplace program allows parents to take their babies to work until the baby is six months old.
“It allows the new parent — we have both mothers and fathers — an opportunity to bond with the new baby and spend time with them, while at the same time they are being productive for us,” said Catherine Weatherford, chief executive officer of the association.
In many cases, the parents come back to work sooner than expected because of the opportunity to bring the baby with them, she said.
click to read more...
Wednesday, November 08, 2006
Monday, October 30, 2006
Got (extra) milk? At the U of M, it's a warm commodity (Miami Herald)
MINNEAPOLIS - When it comes to feeding newborns, experts agree, there's nothing like mother's milk. But now, a Minneapolis hospital has teamed up with a California biotech company to try to improve on Mother Nature.
The University of Minnesota Medical Center is collecting the "raw material" - breast milk - from nursing mothers who are willing to donate what they don't need.
Then it's shipped to Prolacta Bioscience of Monrovia, Calif., where it's modified and sold back to hospitals for $26 to $43 an ounce.
click to read more...
The University of Minnesota Medical Center is collecting the "raw material" - breast milk - from nursing mothers who are willing to donate what they don't need.
Then it's shipped to Prolacta Bioscience of Monrovia, Calif., where it's modified and sold back to hospitals for $26 to $43 an ounce.
click to read more...
Now's your chance to sound off on WIC changes (Daily Herald)
Proposed changes to food packages for the Special Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children would increase the variety of available foods while encouraging breast-feeding and reducing sugar, cholesterol and fat.
It's about time, according to the National WIC Association, which has been lobbying for the changes to the 32-year-old program for more than 10 years. And the U.S. Department of Agriculture is looking for input. A public comment period is running through Nov. 6 to give people a chance to weigh in on the proposal, which will affect 8 million women and children from birth to age 5 , including 14,000 in Utah County.
The alterations, if approved, include the addition of fruits and vegetables, baby food, dairy alternatives and beans, while reducing infant formula for breast-fed infants, and eggs, milk and juice for women and children. The proposal also would eliminate juice for all infants and whole milk for participants age 2 years and older.
"The changes are really based on what we know about nutrition science," said Tae Chong, public policy nutritionist for the National WIC Association.
click to read more...
It's about time, according to the National WIC Association, which has been lobbying for the changes to the 32-year-old program for more than 10 years. And the U.S. Department of Agriculture is looking for input. A public comment period is running through Nov. 6 to give people a chance to weigh in on the proposal, which will affect 8 million women and children from birth to age 5 , including 14,000 in Utah County.
The alterations, if approved, include the addition of fruits and vegetables, baby food, dairy alternatives and beans, while reducing infant formula for breast-fed infants, and eggs, milk and juice for women and children. The proposal also would eliminate juice for all infants and whole milk for participants age 2 years and older.
"The changes are really based on what we know about nutrition science," said Tae Chong, public policy nutritionist for the National WIC Association.
click to read more...
Sunday, October 29, 2006
Breast-feeding and the workplace (The Oregonian)
Oregon moms say time and space is often lacking despite recognition of the benefits to their babies
For two years, federal health officials have tried to cajole more moms to breast-feed their infants, launching a nationwide ad campaign that likened the risks of formula feeding, in one TV spot, to riding a mechanical bull while pregnant.
But the campaign has done little to help moms overcome one of the biggest barriers to breast-feeding -- the workplace.
Federal and state lawmakers have declined in recent years to force companies to guarantee female employees a time and place to nurse or express milk at work, with business lobbyists successfully arguing that a one-size-fits-all approach isn't effective in the workplace.
click to read more...
For two years, federal health officials have tried to cajole more moms to breast-feed their infants, launching a nationwide ad campaign that likened the risks of formula feeding, in one TV spot, to riding a mechanical bull while pregnant.
But the campaign has done little to help moms overcome one of the biggest barriers to breast-feeding -- the workplace.
Federal and state lawmakers have declined in recent years to force companies to guarantee female employees a time and place to nurse or express milk at work, with business lobbyists successfully arguing that a one-size-fits-all approach isn't effective in the workplace.
click to read more...
Breast-feeding: Getting employers to latch on (Oregon Live)
Perhaps you read The Sunday Oregonian's Business Section package about breast-feeding accommodations in the workplace. Two Oregon moms, Rosetta Thuresson and Cathy Kemmerer, shared how they tried to balance breast-feeding and work. Rosetta was unsuccessful and actually quit her job to start her own home-based business. Cathy still works and pumps breastmilk, but she'd never say it's easy.
When I interviewed them, I was struck by how articulately they recounted their struggles and successes. Both kindly agreed to let me post edited versions of our interviews so you could read about their experiences in their own words. Just click on the attachment below.
click to read more...
When I interviewed them, I was struck by how articulately they recounted their struggles and successes. Both kindly agreed to let me post edited versions of our interviews so you could read about their experiences in their own words. Just click on the attachment below.
click to read more...
Cow's milk allergy prevalent among children but often misdiagnosed (Singapore News)
SINGAPORE: Cow's milk allergy is one of the most common childhood allergies but it is often misdiagnosed, say doctors.
It is believed that 3.5% of all children who have severe reactions to food are allergic to cow's milk.
Angry rashes plagued Charlotte Lum from the time she was just five weeks old.
Doctors she went to told her parents it was eczema.
The girl continued to suffer till she was three.
Her mother, Stella Lum, said: "We didn't think it was an allergy. We thought it was an eczema problem, that was the diagnosis from the paediatricians from the very beginning. So, we made sure that everything was clean and we gave her the appropriate cream for her bath and daily use. In terms of food allergy, it didn't occur to us, until it was highlighted by her teacher and also when I shared this information with my friend who has been treating skin problem. She said that maybe we should do a test on the food."
Looking back, her parents realised the allergy started at the same time they began supplementing Charlotte's diet of breast milk with formula milk.
click to read more...
It is believed that 3.5% of all children who have severe reactions to food are allergic to cow's milk.
Angry rashes plagued Charlotte Lum from the time she was just five weeks old.
Doctors she went to told her parents it was eczema.
The girl continued to suffer till she was three.
Her mother, Stella Lum, said: "We didn't think it was an allergy. We thought it was an eczema problem, that was the diagnosis from the paediatricians from the very beginning. So, we made sure that everything was clean and we gave her the appropriate cream for her bath and daily use. In terms of food allergy, it didn't occur to us, until it was highlighted by her teacher and also when I shared this information with my friend who has been treating skin problem. She said that maybe we should do a test on the food."
Looking back, her parents realised the allergy started at the same time they began supplementing Charlotte's diet of breast milk with formula milk.
click to read more...
Thursday, October 26, 2006
Separation of detained mothers from breastfed babies to stop (Guardian Unlimited)
Immigration officials are to be ordered to stop separating breastfeeding mothers from their babies in the drive to deport failed asylum seekers after the government was told that the practice flouts UN conventions.
In August, Guardian Unlimited revealed that in at least two cases earlier this year mothers had been detained in immigration and removal centres away from their pre-weaned children.
The cases involved Mrs N, a Vietnamese asylum seeker, and her six-month-old baby, and Mrs P, a Turkish asylum seeker, and her 15-month-old infant who she was still breastfeeding on medical advice.
Ministers were warned that the cases, which campaigners fear are not the only ones, "fly in the face of a number of UN resolutions and conventions".
click to read more...
In August, Guardian Unlimited revealed that in at least two cases earlier this year mothers had been detained in immigration and removal centres away from their pre-weaned children.
The cases involved Mrs N, a Vietnamese asylum seeker, and her six-month-old baby, and Mrs P, a Turkish asylum seeker, and her 15-month-old infant who she was still breastfeeding on medical advice.
Ministers were warned that the cases, which campaigners fear are not the only ones, "fly in the face of a number of UN resolutions and conventions".
click to read more...
Promoting Breastfeeding, Promoting Guilt? (Scoop)
Biocultural anthropologist and author, winner of the American Anthropological Society Margaret Mead award in 1995, Katherine A. Dettwyler, will be presenting at the Le Leche League Conference at the Auckland Conference Centre on Tuesday, 24 October.
Dr Dettwyler has conducted research on child health and growth for more than 25 years.
“Health care professionals say they don't want to give mothers complete and accurate information about the risks of artificial infant formula because they are worried about making mothers feel guilty about not breastfeeding,” she says. “Guilt is often used to promote healthy behaviors in health advertising.”
click to read more...
Dr Dettwyler has conducted research on child health and growth for more than 25 years.
“Health care professionals say they don't want to give mothers complete and accurate information about the risks of artificial infant formula because they are worried about making mothers feel guilty about not breastfeeding,” she says. “Guilt is often used to promote healthy behaviors in health advertising.”
click to read more...
Breastfeeding lowers mental health risks (The Australian)
BABIES that are breastfed for longer than six months are less likely to develop mental health problems in childhood, new research shows.
But the number of Australian mothers who feed their infants on breastmilk beyond the six-month mark falls far short of recommended national standards.
The findings are the latest to come from a ground-breaking study which tracked more than 2500 Western Australian children over the past 16 years.
Babies breastfed for less than six months had a 52 per cent increased risk of mental health problems at two years of age than those children breastfed for longer.
This risk increased to 55 per cent by the age of six and 61 per cent two years later, but had dropped to 37 per cent by age 10.
click to read more...
But the number of Australian mothers who feed their infants on breastmilk beyond the six-month mark falls far short of recommended national standards.
The findings are the latest to come from a ground-breaking study which tracked more than 2500 Western Australian children over the past 16 years.
Babies breastfed for less than six months had a 52 per cent increased risk of mental health problems at two years of age than those children breastfed for longer.
This risk increased to 55 per cent by the age of six and 61 per cent two years later, but had dropped to 37 per cent by age 10.
click to read more...
Monday, October 23, 2006
Paris: Protesting nursing mothers breastfeed in public (Nigerian Tribune)
ONE hundred young mothers gathered to breastfeed their babies in central Paris on Sunday afternoon to campaign against the taboo on nursing in public in France.
“There are lots of prejudices against breastfeeding, especially in professional environments,” said Marie-France Astoin, co-ordinator for the Big Breastfeed demonstration outside Paris’s Sainte Eustache church, one of several taking place simultaneously in France’s major cities.
Astoin decried France’s level of breastfeeding, which at around 50%, is the lowest in Europe. During the World Health Organisation’s International Breastfeeding Week, the UN body and partner organisations are trying to promote mother’s milk as a newborn’s best defence against diarrhoea and respiratory infection.
“It’s not at all a new feminist fight,” said Monica, mother of Raphael. “Nothing beats a mother’s milk, it’s natural, so why give something artificial in its place?” Nearby, a young father ambled past wearing a placard marked “breast is best”.
click to read more...
“There are lots of prejudices against breastfeeding, especially in professional environments,” said Marie-France Astoin, co-ordinator for the Big Breastfeed demonstration outside Paris’s Sainte Eustache church, one of several taking place simultaneously in France’s major cities.
Astoin decried France’s level of breastfeeding, which at around 50%, is the lowest in Europe. During the World Health Organisation’s International Breastfeeding Week, the UN body and partner organisations are trying to promote mother’s milk as a newborn’s best defence against diarrhoea and respiratory infection.
“It’s not at all a new feminist fight,” said Monica, mother of Raphael. “Nothing beats a mother’s milk, it’s natural, so why give something artificial in its place?” Nearby, a young father ambled past wearing a placard marked “breast is best”.
click to read more...
Sunday, October 22, 2006
A Short History Of Donor Milk (Star Tribune)
• 2250 B.C.: Code of Hammurabi describes attributes for good "wet nurses" -- women who breast-fed other mothers' babies.
click to read more...
click to read more...
Got (extra) milk? At the U, it's a warm commodity (Star Tribune)
Some Minnesota moms' breast milk is going to a for-profit California company, which modifies it and sells it to hospitals. But skeptics wonder if the company's high-tech treatment of the milk --and its high prices -- are necessary.
When it comes to feeding newborns, experts agree, there's nothing like mother's milk. But now, a Minneapolis hospital has teamed up with a California biotech company to try to improve on Mother Nature.
The University of Minnesota Medical Center is collecting the "raw material" -- breast milk -- from nursing mothers who are willing to donate what they don't need.
Then it's shipped to Prolacta Bioscience of Monrovia, Calif., where it's modified and sold back to hospitals for $26 to $43 an ounce.
click to read more...
When it comes to feeding newborns, experts agree, there's nothing like mother's milk. But now, a Minneapolis hospital has teamed up with a California biotech company to try to improve on Mother Nature.
The University of Minnesota Medical Center is collecting the "raw material" -- breast milk -- from nursing mothers who are willing to donate what they don't need.
Then it's shipped to Prolacta Bioscience of Monrovia, Calif., where it's modified and sold back to hospitals for $26 to $43 an ounce.
click to read more...
Friday, October 20, 2006
Lactnet empowers the frontlines of breastfeeding education, one email at a time
London, UK (October 20, 2006) – Lactnet – a unique Internet community providing up-to-the-minute information and ongoing support to breastfeeding educators worldwide – has won the grand prize in L-Soft's 2005-2006 LISTSERV® Choice Awards program, the only global recognition program for email list excellence.
Lactnet is a forum for cutting-edge information, discussion and support focusing on best practices, emerging thoughts and current research. It is designed for lactation consultants and others – such as lay breastfeeding counselors, nurses, doctors, midwives, public health advocates, pharmacologists, marketing experts, writers, journalists, scientists, dieticians and doulas – involved in providing support to mothers in breastfeeding their infants and young children.
click to read more...
Lactnet is a forum for cutting-edge information, discussion and support focusing on best practices, emerging thoughts and current research. It is designed for lactation consultants and others – such as lay breastfeeding counselors, nurses, doctors, midwives, public health advocates, pharmacologists, marketing experts, writers, journalists, scientists, dieticians and doulas – involved in providing support to mothers in breastfeeding their infants and young children.
click to read more...
Tuesday, October 17, 2006
Tiffany trial was an error (NorthJersey.com)
Rosa Almond of Wayne merely wanted to breast-feed her baby.
No problem, right?
Our world respects nursing moms. Our enlightened Garden State even has a law allowing women to breast-feed "in any location of a place of public accommodation, resort or amusement wherein the mother is otherwise permitted."
Basically anywhere.
So how did a baby's need to feed become a civil rights case?
click to read more...
No problem, right?
Our world respects nursing moms. Our enlightened Garden State even has a law allowing women to breast-feed "in any location of a place of public accommodation, resort or amusement wherein the mother is otherwise permitted."
Basically anywhere.
So how did a baby's need to feed become a civil rights case?
click to read more...
Monday, October 16, 2006
The MomME Blog - A Breast by Any Other Name......
...I find it no less than absolutely outrageous that the God-given reason for breasts is a source of embarassment and outright mortification for most Americans. Bottles? Adorable. Fork and knife? Wonderful. Human milk? Disgusting. Score one for Hugh Hefner. And the moms of this land of freedom are just S.O.L. But only if they so choose. There are no state laws against breastfeeding in public, although authorities will often try to apply public indecency statutes to send nursing moms back behind closed doors. There are an increasingly large number of laws nationwide that specifically protect breastfeeding in public, including here in Maine...
click to read more...
click to read more...
Low breastfeeding rate due to fear (Irish Health.com)
Fear and embarrassment have been cited as the main reasons why Ireland has such a low breastfeeding rate, according to the latest irishhealth.com viewers' poll.
We asked our registered readers why they thought Ireland has such a low breastfeeding rate.
Twenty-four per cent said this is due to a lack of practical support, for example, from hospitals; while 42% said it is due to fear or embarrassment.
click to read more...
We asked our registered readers why they thought Ireland has such a low breastfeeding rate.
Twenty-four per cent said this is due to a lack of practical support, for example, from hospitals; while 42% said it is due to fear or embarrassment.
click to read more...
Library is welcome to breastfeeding (The Daily Evergreen)
Iwas very surprised to read in The Daily Evergreen last Tuesday that the Neill Public Library, which I direct, was being attacked for a policy it did not have.
The column suggests that we had not “gotten the memo” about breastfeeding in public. Nothing could be further from the truth. If you are a patron of the library you know that one of the strengths of the library is to welcome and support caregivers and children. We spend a good deal of your tax dollars and our energy enhancing education about child rearing – which of course includes breastfeeding. Such a life-affirming act, which by the way is one of the most important contributors to infant health, is welcome in the library and is routine, in accordance with Revised Code of Washington 43.70.640. Perhaps this had not been noticed by some newer library staff or some members of the public who may not be aware how often this occurs at the library.
So what really happened?...
click to read more...
The column suggests that we had not “gotten the memo” about breastfeeding in public. Nothing could be further from the truth. If you are a patron of the library you know that one of the strengths of the library is to welcome and support caregivers and children. We spend a good deal of your tax dollars and our energy enhancing education about child rearing – which of course includes breastfeeding. Such a life-affirming act, which by the way is one of the most important contributors to infant health, is welcome in the library and is routine, in accordance with Revised Code of Washington 43.70.640. Perhaps this had not been noticed by some newer library staff or some members of the public who may not be aware how often this occurs at the library.
So what really happened?...
click to read more...
JoAnne W. Scott, 62; Advocate of Breast-Feeding
JoAnne W. Scott, an advocate of breast-feeding who helped advance the professional qualifications of lactation consultants around the world, died Sept. 18 of breast cancer at Inova Fairfax Hospital in Falls Church, Va. She was 62.
Rarely heard of a generation ago, lactation consultants are now on the staffs of hospitals, maternity and pediatric centers and private medical practices in dozens of countries. Largely through Scott's efforts, the field has become a licensed profession with rigorous requirements for certification.
click to read more...
Rarely heard of a generation ago, lactation consultants are now on the staffs of hospitals, maternity and pediatric centers and private medical practices in dozens of countries. Largely through Scott's efforts, the field has become a licensed profession with rigorous requirements for certification.
click to read more...
Sunday, October 15, 2006
Woman Loses Breast Feeding Lawsuit Against Tiffany (WNBC.com)
PATERSON, N.J. -- A New Jersey woman has lost a lawsuit alleging she was discriminated against by Tiffany & Co. for breast-feeding her baby in public.
A Superior Court jury rendered its decision Thursday in the case of Rosa Almond, a Passaic County woman who was nursing her 4-month-old daughter at the Tiffany store in the Short Hills Mall in December 2002.
click to read more...
A Superior Court jury rendered its decision Thursday in the case of Rosa Almond, a Passaic County woman who was nursing her 4-month-old daughter at the Tiffany store in the Short Hills Mall in December 2002.
click to read more...
Saturday, October 14, 2006
Nursing My Daughter, and Some Grievances (New York Times)
...I took off my shoes, put my bags into the bin, and dumped the ice that was keeping my newly pumped milk cool. Then the security agent said that I couldn’t take any milk onto the plane unless I had a baby with me. I told him that I wouldn’t have milk in a bag if I had my baby with me.
We started arguing. I feared I was going to miss my flight. I knew it was fruitless to try to explain how much this milk meant to me, that it was, at this point, my only primal connection to my baby back home. It was mother’s milk — was I really going to have to throw it in the trash? Yes. I tossed it into the gray can.
Sadness shot through me, then anger. “How many women have you made throw away breast milk today?”
“Six,” he said....
click to read more...
We started arguing. I feared I was going to miss my flight. I knew it was fruitless to try to explain how much this milk meant to me, that it was, at this point, my only primal connection to my baby back home. It was mother’s milk — was I really going to have to throw it in the trash? Yes. I tossed it into the gray can.
Sadness shot through me, then anger. “How many women have you made throw away breast milk today?”
“Six,” he said....
click to read more...
Friday, October 13, 2006
Breast-feeding mom tells jury of humiliation (NorthJersey.com)
A Wayne woman suing Tiffany & Co. for sex discrimination testified in state court Wednesday that an employee who saw her breast-feeding in the store angrily told her to go into the bathroom to do it.
"I was crying. I was very upset," said Rosa Almond, who testified that she went to the Short Hills Tiffany & Co. store in December 2002 with her two children and a friend to do Christmas shopping. She is seeking monetary damages for emotional distress.
A lawyer for Tiffany maintained that the incident was merely a "flawed interaction" between an employee and a customer in a cramped store hallway during the hectic holiday shopping season.
Defense lawyer Kelly Bird, in an opening statement before jurors in Paterson, also raised questions of gender discrimination and whether they apply. "Not all women choose to breast-feed. It's a choice, not a requirement," she said.
click to read more...
"I was crying. I was very upset," said Rosa Almond, who testified that she went to the Short Hills Tiffany & Co. store in December 2002 with her two children and a friend to do Christmas shopping. She is seeking monetary damages for emotional distress.
A lawyer for Tiffany maintained that the incident was merely a "flawed interaction" between an employee and a customer in a cramped store hallway during the hectic holiday shopping season.
Defense lawyer Kelly Bird, in an opening statement before jurors in Paterson, also raised questions of gender discrimination and whether they apply. "Not all women choose to breast-feed. It's a choice, not a requirement," she said.
click to read more...
Mums win right to breastfeed in public (AdelaideNow)
WOMEN will be able to breastfeed in restaurants or anywhere in public under new equal opportunity laws to be introduced to Parliament later this month.
They will also prevent discrimination against a person for wearing items such as a crucifix or headscarfs. The changes will be the first to the state's equal opportunity laws for 20 years and will adopt many of the recommendations made by Brian Martin, who is now Northern Territory Chief Justice, in a 1994 report.
The new laws will also prevent discrimination on the basis of potential pregnancy against women seeking employment.
While many restaurants and public institutions now provide areas where women can breastfeed, they can still be asked to leave if other patrons complain.
click to read more...
They will also prevent discrimination against a person for wearing items such as a crucifix or headscarfs. The changes will be the first to the state's equal opportunity laws for 20 years and will adopt many of the recommendations made by Brian Martin, who is now Northern Territory Chief Justice, in a 1994 report.
The new laws will also prevent discrimination on the basis of potential pregnancy against women seeking employment.
While many restaurants and public institutions now provide areas where women can breastfeed, they can still be asked to leave if other patrons complain.
click to read more...
Gym settles breastfeeding dispute (ABC News Online)
Two women who were told to stop breastfeeding their babies at a women's-only gym in Canberra have had a victory at the Discrimination Tribunal.
click to read more...
click to read more...
Thursday, October 12, 2006
The stigma of breastfeeding (The Daily Evergreen)
Many in the public don’t recognize the legality and necessity of the act
It seems that some people will never be at ease with the sight of a woman’s breast. Last week, a woman at Pullman’s Neill Public Library was engaged in the sort of activity most people do in such places: reading a book, that is. The problem was she also had the outrageous gall to breastfeed her baby at the same time – at least that is what must have been on the mind of the employee, and the patron who complained to her, when she approached the mother to scold her for nursing her baby in public.
“You have to stop that,” the employee said. “It is against the law of the state of Washington to breastfeed in public.” Luckily for everyone involved, especially the robust baby in the woman’s arm, this breastfeeding fanatic knew her rights and told the misguided and misinformed librarian to go fly a kite.
Quick question: What do Barbara Walters and a Neill librarian have in common?
Answer: Equating public nursing with public indecency.
click to read more...
It seems that some people will never be at ease with the sight of a woman’s breast. Last week, a woman at Pullman’s Neill Public Library was engaged in the sort of activity most people do in such places: reading a book, that is. The problem was she also had the outrageous gall to breastfeed her baby at the same time – at least that is what must have been on the mind of the employee, and the patron who complained to her, when she approached the mother to scold her for nursing her baby in public.
“You have to stop that,” the employee said. “It is against the law of the state of Washington to breastfeed in public.” Luckily for everyone involved, especially the robust baby in the woman’s arm, this breastfeeding fanatic knew her rights and told the misguided and misinformed librarian to go fly a kite.
Quick question: What do Barbara Walters and a Neill librarian have in common?
Answer: Equating public nursing with public indecency.
click to read more...
Wednesday, October 11, 2006
Important Action Alert
Dear Friend of Breastfeeding,
You may have heard that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has recently proposed exciting and significant changes for the food package provided by the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) Nutrition Program--based on recommendations from the Institute of Medicine--including the addition of fruits and vegetables, whole grains, lower fat dairy products, and dairy alternatives such as soy beverages and tofu!
The proposed food packages also include some welcome and very important changes related to breastfeeding promotion in the WIC program, such as:
Breastfeeding infants will not receive formula in the first month of life
Limits are set for the amount of formula that can be provided to partially breastfeeding infants after the first month
Food packages for fully breastfeeding mother/infant pairs are greatly enhanced, including the provision of infant fruits, vegetables and meats
Implementation of these proposed regulations will enhance the existing breastfeeding promotion and support available to WIC mothers and will significantly strengthen WIC's efforts to increase breastfeeding initiation, exclusivity and duration.
To help make these changes a reality, we need your support! Please go to the National WIC Association’s website at http://www.nwica.org to send an automated email of support, including any of your own personal comments, to USDA by the deadline of Monday, November 6, 2006. It only takes a couple seconds, and USDA will be counting up the numbers and types of comments, so make your voice heard! If you can send this email to other members of your organization (MLCA, LLL, NMC/BACE, etc) or other interested folks, please do! At the website, you may also access a copy of the proposed rule and learn more about the WIC community’s position on the changes.
As someone who cares about the health and well-being of women, infants and children, you are an important supporter of the WIC Program, and your input on the food package revisions is critical in making these changes a reality. Thank you!!
Read on for Additional Information…
The new proposed rule is based on the published recommendations (April 2005) of the Institute of Medicine. These recommendations were based on extensive scientific review of dietary intakes and the nutritional needs of women, infants and children (http://www.iom.edu/CMS/3788/18047/26667/28119.aspx). They are the first major changes to the WIC food package in 30 years, bringing the WIC food package in line with current nutrition knowledge and dietary guidance by introducing new foods such as fruits, vegetables and whole grains, offering lower fat dairy products, and offering items such as soy beverages and tofu as alternatives to dairy products to address the cultural needs and preferences of our diverse WIC population. The changes are a significant step towards improving the overall health of our population through reduction in obesity and other diet-related chronic diseases. The attached PDF has more information about the proposed changes related to breastfeeding.
It is very important for all stakeholders to comment on these new regulations. The total number and types of comments that USDA receives on these proposed regulations will influence what is included in the final regulations. Thus, it is critical for all WIC partners and supporters to weigh in and let USDA know of the widespread support for changes to the WIC foods. We urge you to support the new rule and comment on ALL of the items that you support, and offer any suggestions you have for further improvements.
Please go to the National WIC Association’s website at http://www.nwica.org to send an automated email of support, including any of your own personal comments, to USDA by the deadline of Monday, November 6, 2006.
Thank you for your time on this important matter!
You may have heard that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has recently proposed exciting and significant changes for the food package provided by the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) Nutrition Program--based on recommendations from the Institute of Medicine--including the addition of fruits and vegetables, whole grains, lower fat dairy products, and dairy alternatives such as soy beverages and tofu!
The proposed food packages also include some welcome and very important changes related to breastfeeding promotion in the WIC program, such as:
Breastfeeding infants will not receive formula in the first month of life
Limits are set for the amount of formula that can be provided to partially breastfeeding infants after the first month
Food packages for fully breastfeeding mother/infant pairs are greatly enhanced, including the provision of infant fruits, vegetables and meats
Implementation of these proposed regulations will enhance the existing breastfeeding promotion and support available to WIC mothers and will significantly strengthen WIC's efforts to increase breastfeeding initiation, exclusivity and duration.
To help make these changes a reality, we need your support! Please go to the National WIC Association’s website at http://www.nwica.org to send an automated email of support, including any of your own personal comments, to USDA by the deadline of Monday, November 6, 2006. It only takes a couple seconds, and USDA will be counting up the numbers and types of comments, so make your voice heard! If you can send this email to other members of your organization (MLCA, LLL, NMC/BACE, etc) or other interested folks, please do! At the website, you may also access a copy of the proposed rule and learn more about the WIC community’s position on the changes.
As someone who cares about the health and well-being of women, infants and children, you are an important supporter of the WIC Program, and your input on the food package revisions is critical in making these changes a reality. Thank you!!
Read on for Additional Information…
The new proposed rule is based on the published recommendations (April 2005) of the Institute of Medicine. These recommendations were based on extensive scientific review of dietary intakes and the nutritional needs of women, infants and children (http://www.iom.edu/CMS/3788/18047/26667/28119.aspx). They are the first major changes to the WIC food package in 30 years, bringing the WIC food package in line with current nutrition knowledge and dietary guidance by introducing new foods such as fruits, vegetables and whole grains, offering lower fat dairy products, and offering items such as soy beverages and tofu as alternatives to dairy products to address the cultural needs and preferences of our diverse WIC population. The changes are a significant step towards improving the overall health of our population through reduction in obesity and other diet-related chronic diseases. The attached PDF has more information about the proposed changes related to breastfeeding.
It is very important for all stakeholders to comment on these new regulations. The total number and types of comments that USDA receives on these proposed regulations will influence what is included in the final regulations. Thus, it is critical for all WIC partners and supporters to weigh in and let USDA know of the widespread support for changes to the WIC foods. We urge you to support the new rule and comment on ALL of the items that you support, and offer any suggestions you have for further improvements.
Please go to the National WIC Association’s website at http://www.nwica.org to send an automated email of support, including any of your own personal comments, to USDA by the deadline of Monday, November 6, 2006.
Thank you for your time on this important matter!
Monday, October 09, 2006
Sunday, October 08, 2006
Breast milk donation heals wounds (Clumbia Daily Tribune)
In wake of tragedy, mothers help others
New Florence resident Christi Lobb found herself on an emotional roller coaster from the day her son, Thomas Allen Lobb Jr., was born with multiple congenital anomalies until the day he died from them three weeks later.
"All we know is the nerves to his legs didn’t develop. He was paralyzed from the waist down. The same thing made his brain stem too small," said Lobb, 19. "They gave us hope, but we knew there wasn’t anything we could do."
On April 23, the day before Thomas died, Columbia Regional Hospital Medical Social Worker Dasi Schlup told Lobb about a donation program that offered an opportunity for some good to come out of Thomas’s death.
Lobb could donate her breast milk to HIV/AIDS orphans in Durban, South Africa, through the International Breast Milk Project, Schlup told her.
"I automatically said yeah, because, you know, I couldn’t use that for my baby, but I could use it to help somebody else, especially those babies that don’t have nobody," she said.
click to read more...
New Florence resident Christi Lobb found herself on an emotional roller coaster from the day her son, Thomas Allen Lobb Jr., was born with multiple congenital anomalies until the day he died from them three weeks later.
"All we know is the nerves to his legs didn’t develop. He was paralyzed from the waist down. The same thing made his brain stem too small," said Lobb, 19. "They gave us hope, but we knew there wasn’t anything we could do."
On April 23, the day before Thomas died, Columbia Regional Hospital Medical Social Worker Dasi Schlup told Lobb about a donation program that offered an opportunity for some good to come out of Thomas’s death.
Lobb could donate her breast milk to HIV/AIDS orphans in Durban, South Africa, through the International Breast Milk Project, Schlup told her.
"I automatically said yeah, because, you know, I couldn’t use that for my baby, but I could use it to help somebody else, especially those babies that don’t have nobody," she said.
click to read more...
Breast v bottle is a no-brainer (The Sunday Times)
Ever since 1929, scientists have been searching for just one, single example of a breast-fed person who was as thick as three short planks. Now, at last, they must have found one, because Glasgow’s Medical Research Council feels confident enough to announce that there is no link between breast-feeding and cleverness. It’s official — being breast-fed doesn’t necessarily make you bright; what really matters is how you’re brought up.
click to read more...
click to read more...
Moms donate breast milk for AIDS babies (UPI)
DURBAN, South Africa, Oct. 7 (UPI) -- New mothers in the United States have been donating breast milk for babies in South Africa orphaned by AIDS.
The Ithemba Leptu Home in Durban has received 180 liters (about 190 quarts) since the first shipment in April, the Durban Independent reported.
"That's enough milk to feed 10 babies five times a day for a month," said Jill Youse, executive director and founder of International Breast Milk Project.
click to read more...
The Ithemba Leptu Home in Durban has received 180 liters (about 190 quarts) since the first shipment in April, the Durban Independent reported.
"That's enough milk to feed 10 babies five times a day for a month," said Jill Youse, executive director and founder of International Breast Milk Project.
click to read more...
The great New York breast-feeding test (New York Daily News)
Mostly milk of human kindness on bus, at Met & Le Cirque
When a Brooklyn mom claimed she was harassed for breast-feeding her baby at the Toys "R" Us store in Times Square, her story brought forth complaints from other mothers with similar tales of woe.
A state law, enacted in 2002, says that any mother can breast-feed a child in any place, public or privately owned, where she is otherwise authorized to be.
But to hear some mothers tell it, there are still stores and restaurants hostile to women who nurse in public - or NIP, the shorthand used on breast-feeding Web sites.
The Daily News put the issue to a test by dispatching reporter Tracy Connor and her 3-month-old daughter, Charlie, to nurse at humble and posh locations around town. Here's her account of who is hip to NIP and, perhaps surprisingly, who is not.
click to read more...
When a Brooklyn mom claimed she was harassed for breast-feeding her baby at the Toys "R" Us store in Times Square, her story brought forth complaints from other mothers with similar tales of woe.
A state law, enacted in 2002, says that any mother can breast-feed a child in any place, public or privately owned, where she is otherwise authorized to be.
But to hear some mothers tell it, there are still stores and restaurants hostile to women who nurse in public - or NIP, the shorthand used on breast-feeding Web sites.
The Daily News put the issue to a test by dispatching reporter Tracy Connor and her 3-month-old daughter, Charlie, to nurse at humble and posh locations around town. Here's her account of who is hip to NIP and, perhaps surprisingly, who is not.
click to read more...
Friday, October 06, 2006
Breast-Feeding, Intelligence Link Probed (Fox News)
LONDON — Breast-fed children are more intelligent than their bottle-fed counterparts, but this has nothing to do with the content of the milk they receive, a study published in the British Medical Journal said.
For decades scientists have been looking for a correlation between feeding and intelligence, but the report says genetic and environmental factors affect a child's intellect.
Researchers, who analyzed data from more than 5,000 children and 3,000 mothers in the United States, found that mothers who breast-feed tend to be more intelligent, according to a study published Wednesday on the journal's Web site.
"When this fact was taken into account, most of the relationship between breast-feeding and the child's intelligence disappeared,"said Jeff Dar, one of the report's authors.
"This research shows that intelligence is determined by factors other than breast-feeding,"
click to read more...
For decades scientists have been looking for a correlation between feeding and intelligence, but the report says genetic and environmental factors affect a child's intellect.
Researchers, who analyzed data from more than 5,000 children and 3,000 mothers in the United States, found that mothers who breast-feed tend to be more intelligent, according to a study published Wednesday on the journal's Web site.
"When this fact was taken into account, most of the relationship between breast-feeding and the child's intelligence disappeared,"said Jeff Dar, one of the report's authors.
"This research shows that intelligence is determined by factors other than breast-feeding,"
click to read more...
DOH warns mothers vs bottle feeding (Phillipine Information Agency)
BUTUAN CITY (October 5) -- The Department of Health (DOH), Caraga Region thru Dr. Grace Lim, Maternal and Child Health Coordinator warns mothers on the ill effects of cows milk or milk formulas to infants and babies during the Milk Code Orientation here, recently.
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimated that some 16,000 infant deaths occurred annually due to bottle-feeding. Bottle feeding is also associated by WHO to high blood pressure, heart disease, obesity, diabetes, respiratory tract infection like pneumonia, stroke, meningitis, kidney problems, leukemia and other forms of cancer.
Bottle feeding, according to experts, increases the child's risk to asthma, allergy, acute respiratory disease, infection from contaminated formula, childhood cancers, chronic diseases, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, obesity, gastrointestinal infections, mortality, otitis media and ear infections and side effects of environmental contaminants.
click to read more...
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimated that some 16,000 infant deaths occurred annually due to bottle-feeding. Bottle feeding is also associated by WHO to high blood pressure, heart disease, obesity, diabetes, respiratory tract infection like pneumonia, stroke, meningitis, kidney problems, leukemia and other forms of cancer.
Bottle feeding, according to experts, increases the child's risk to asthma, allergy, acute respiratory disease, infection from contaminated formula, childhood cancers, chronic diseases, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, obesity, gastrointestinal infections, mortality, otitis media and ear infections and side effects of environmental contaminants.
click to read more...
Nibbling Nursers - What to do when baby bites (The Times News)
Most mothers picture nursing as a serene experience, and it usually is. But when Baby gets a few teeth, biting often becomes a concern. Then what? Here are some tips!
A playful nip?
Breastfeeding Melanie Walenciak, mother of two in Tulsa, Oklahoma recalls the first time her baby bit while nursing.
"He had that glint in his eye but he was only playing," she says. "I screamed so loud I scared us both. He would occasionally glint at me after that day but I would say no, no, no and he would giggle. It became almost a ritual. I am glad to say that my son and I had a great nursing experience. He weaned himself at almost three when I was five months pregnant with baby number two."
click to read more...
A playful nip?
Breastfeeding Melanie Walenciak, mother of two in Tulsa, Oklahoma recalls the first time her baby bit while nursing.
"He had that glint in his eye but he was only playing," she says. "I screamed so loud I scared us both. He would occasionally glint at me after that day but I would say no, no, no and he would giggle. It became almost a ritual. I am glad to say that my son and I had a great nursing experience. He weaned himself at almost three when I was five months pregnant with baby number two."
click to read more...
Focus: Breastfeeding - Let’s invest in the best (The Malta Independent)
On occasion of Breastfeeding Week, which will be celebrated during the week starting on Monday, the Association of Breastfeeding Counsellors (ABC) pledges its support to help women breastfeed successfully.
Pregnant women and mothers of young children need relevant and appropriate information to help them make right choices when deciding how to feed their baby. Women need consistent advice from a reliable source, prior to delivery and especially in the first days after delivery and that’s where ABC can offer them help and support.
The association offers antenatal breastfeeding courses for expectant and new parents to prepare for the vital days, weeks and months after the baby’s birth.
click to read more...
Pregnant women and mothers of young children need relevant and appropriate information to help them make right choices when deciding how to feed their baby. Women need consistent advice from a reliable source, prior to delivery and especially in the first days after delivery and that’s where ABC can offer them help and support.
The association offers antenatal breastfeeding courses for expectant and new parents to prepare for the vital days, weeks and months after the baby’s birth.
click to read more...
Readers speak out about breastfeeding (The News Tribune)
The News Tribune of Washington state invited comment from readers about breastfeeding. Having just heard about The View's latest attack on breastfeeding mothers, I found these letters the perfect antidote.
click to read...
click to read...
Law is clear: Mothers can breastfeed in public (The Ithaca Journal)
OK, Ithaca, once more, slowly. Section 79-e of New York State's Civil Rights Code 6403 states:
“Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a mother may breast feed her baby in any location, public or private, where the mother is otherwise authorized to be, irrespective of whether or not the nipple of the mother's breast is covered during or incidental to the breast feeding.”
No exceptions for other people's discomfort. Nothing about health precautions. Women have the right to breastfeed anywhere they have a legal right to stand or sit or swim or eat or teach.
Only ignorance says a mother shouldn't nurse in or near a pool. The squeamish can remind themselves that pools are chemically treated precisely because every person in them — HIV positive or negative, sick or healthy — leaks fluids. We can't stop those fluids, and the pool is safe anyway. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and OSHA agree that human milk is not a body fluid requiring special handling. Breast milk, like spit, happens. Get over it.
It is ignorance, not store policy, that sends a breastfeeding mother to the back room. Stores might as well ask her to move because she is black or female or nearsighted. New York State stores do not have — and may not have — policies against breastfeeding.
click to read more...
“Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a mother may breast feed her baby in any location, public or private, where the mother is otherwise authorized to be, irrespective of whether or not the nipple of the mother's breast is covered during or incidental to the breast feeding.”
No exceptions for other people's discomfort. Nothing about health precautions. Women have the right to breastfeed anywhere they have a legal right to stand or sit or swim or eat or teach.
Only ignorance says a mother shouldn't nurse in or near a pool. The squeamish can remind themselves that pools are chemically treated precisely because every person in them — HIV positive or negative, sick or healthy — leaks fluids. We can't stop those fluids, and the pool is safe anyway. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and OSHA agree that human milk is not a body fluid requiring special handling. Breast milk, like spit, happens. Get over it.
It is ignorance, not store policy, that sends a breastfeeding mother to the back room. Stores might as well ask her to move because she is black or female or nearsighted. New York State stores do not have — and may not have — policies against breastfeeding.
click to read more...
Breast is best for forward planning obesity fight (The Australian)
BREAST-FEEDING may be another weapon in the war against childhood obesity. New research in the journal Diabetes Care shows that children who are breast-fed as infants are less likely to become obese as they get older, regardless of whether their mothers are overweight or diabetic. The study included 15,253 boys and girls aged 9 to 14. Children and their mothers were surveyed to determine current height and weight, as well as the method of feeding used in the first six months of life.
click to read more...
click to read more...
Thursday, October 05, 2006
Building a bond: Nursing moms want a place to breast-feed infants, acceptance by community (Altoona Mirror)
When debates ensue, there are usually two sides, both with the notion they are right. But for Michelle Baughman, there can also be com-
promise.
The 33-year-old Tyrone mother of four has breast-fed her children in public. She doesn’t have to think hard to recall the stares of people and even the comments. Some believe mothers should breast-feed only at home or out of the public’s gaze.
Baughman isn’t one of them. While she is an advocate for breast-feeding in public, she is also trying to appease those who don’t want to see public breast-feeding by working toward creating legislation that not only would support a woman’s choice to breast-feed in public, but would also require public places to have some sort of separate area for mothers to breast-feed away from the public.
click to read more...
promise.
The 33-year-old Tyrone mother of four has breast-fed her children in public. She doesn’t have to think hard to recall the stares of people and even the comments. Some believe mothers should breast-feed only at home or out of the public’s gaze.
Baughman isn’t one of them. While she is an advocate for breast-feeding in public, she is also trying to appease those who don’t want to see public breast-feeding by working toward creating legislation that not only would support a woman’s choice to breast-feed in public, but would also require public places to have some sort of separate area for mothers to breast-feed away from the public.
click to read more...
Advocates for breast-feeding question formula giveaways (Daytona Beach News-Journal Online)
By the time 9-pound Campbell Bundza debuted at Halifax Medical Center on Monday, her parents had received mountains of information about how feeding from her mother's breast is best -- along with a stockpile of free infant formula.
Janet Bundza said boxes of complimentary infant formula came to her Port Orange home after she signed up for Publix Supermarkets' Baby Club. She collected more free formula samples when she went to Lamaze classes at the hospital.
"From the research I've read, breast-feeding has benefits for her and for me, so I thought it'd be the way to go," said Bundza, 31, as her first child slept cradled in her arms.
But she also read that breast-feeding doesn't work for everyone.
"I had a question in my mind," Bundza said. "So I thought I'd take it (the formula) as a just-in-case kind of thing."
Sending new mothers home with free infant formula -- practiced to some degree at all of the area's birthing hospitals -- has become more controversial as the benefits of breast-feeding have become more incontrovertible.
click to read more...
Janet Bundza said boxes of complimentary infant formula came to her Port Orange home after she signed up for Publix Supermarkets' Baby Club. She collected more free formula samples when she went to Lamaze classes at the hospital.
"From the research I've read, breast-feeding has benefits for her and for me, so I thought it'd be the way to go," said Bundza, 31, as her first child slept cradled in her arms.
But she also read that breast-feeding doesn't work for everyone.
"I had a question in my mind," Bundza said. "So I thought I'd take it (the formula) as a just-in-case kind of thing."
Sending new mothers home with free infant formula -- practiced to some degree at all of the area's birthing hospitals -- has become more controversial as the benefits of breast-feeding have become more incontrovertible.
click to read more...
BREAST-FEED MA CAN (New York Post)
October 5, 2006 -- A New Jersey mother who says she was ordered not to give her infant daughter breakfast at Tiffany's - by breast-feeding her - has gotten the go-ahead to sue the legendary jewelry store for discrimination.
Rosa Almond, 32, of Wayne claims she was feeding her 4-month-old in the Tiffany branch in Short Hills when a male employee stopped her and publicly chastised her.
The staffer told her "in a loud and annoyed tone, 'You can't do this. You can't be here . . . You can go to the bathroom and do that.' He then 'stormed off,' " according to a Superior Court summary of Almond's complaint.
click to read more...
Rosa Almond, 32, of Wayne claims she was feeding her 4-month-old in the Tiffany branch in Short Hills when a male employee stopped her and publicly chastised her.
The staffer told her "in a loud and annoyed tone, 'You can't do this. You can't be here . . . You can go to the bathroom and do that.' He then 'stormed off,' " according to a Superior Court summary of Almond's complaint.
click to read more...
Wednesday, October 04, 2006
Breast-feeding best for diabetic moms (US News)
For most moms, experts say, breast-feeding's the healthier choice. It protects babies against diarrhea and respiratory infections, as well as other illnesses. But mothers who are obese or diabetic might have been given the opposite advice: Because some research has suggested that milk from diabetic or overweight mothers is more fattening, doctors have worried that babies who drank this milk might be at an unusually high risk of developing lifelong weight problems. (These babies already have an increased risk for becoming diabetic or obese, since their mothers are.)
It appears those concerns can now be set to rest. A new study of more than 15,000 children, published in the October issue of the journal Diabetes Care, shows that breast-feeding does a better job of preventing obesity in kids even when their mother is overweight or diabetic. "For these moms, breast-feeding is the first thing they can do to reduce their child's chances of developing these conditions," says lead study author Elizabeth Mayer-Davis, a professor and associate chair in the department of biostatistics and epidemiology at the University of South Carolina in Columbia.
click to read more...
It appears those concerns can now be set to rest. A new study of more than 15,000 children, published in the October issue of the journal Diabetes Care, shows that breast-feeding does a better job of preventing obesity in kids even when their mother is overweight or diabetic. "For these moms, breast-feeding is the first thing they can do to reduce their child's chances of developing these conditions," says lead study author Elizabeth Mayer-Davis, a professor and associate chair in the department of biostatistics and epidemiology at the University of South Carolina in Columbia.
click to read more...
Breastfeeding needs boost (London Free Press)
Half of new moms who breastfeed give up within months.
While 88 per cent of women giving birth in the London area start out breastfeeding, by six months half of them have stopped.
The majority of those quit within the first three months.
These are statistics the Middlesex-London Health Unit wants to improve because they fall far short of the recommendation that a woman breastfeed her child for two years.
The first week of October is World Breastfeeding Week and the local health unit is trying to spread the word on the importance of breastfeeding and to encourage mothers to keep going.
click to read more...
While 88 per cent of women giving birth in the London area start out breastfeeding, by six months half of them have stopped.
The majority of those quit within the first three months.
These are statistics the Middlesex-London Health Unit wants to improve because they fall far short of the recommendation that a woman breastfeed her child for two years.
The first week of October is World Breastfeeding Week and the local health unit is trying to spread the word on the importance of breastfeeding and to encourage mothers to keep going.
click to read more...
Breast-feeding mother can sue (NorthJersey.com)
A Wayne woman claiming that an employee for Tiffany & Co. told her not to breast-feed in the store has legal basis to sue under New Jersey's Law Against Discrimination, a state judge ruled Tuesday.
Attorneys for the exclusive retailer had filed a summary judgment motion trying to block Rosa Almond's civil suit, arguing, among other things, that state law does not address breast-feeding per se. Superior Court Judge Burrell Ives Humphreys in Paterson ruled, however, that the law can be "liberally construed" in combination with other New Jersey statutes that do protect breast-feeding in places of "public accommodation."
Quoting past case law, the judge also noted that the law's overriding purpose is "nothing less than the eradication of the cancer of discrimination."
The judge did agree with Tiffany's other arguments that the woman's claim does not meet the legal criteria to sue for emotional pain and suffering. Attorneys for the plaintiff said they can still sue for other compensatory damages under the law. It was not immediately clear what the nature of those damages would be.
click to read more...
Attorneys for the exclusive retailer had filed a summary judgment motion trying to block Rosa Almond's civil suit, arguing, among other things, that state law does not address breast-feeding per se. Superior Court Judge Burrell Ives Humphreys in Paterson ruled, however, that the law can be "liberally construed" in combination with other New Jersey statutes that do protect breast-feeding in places of "public accommodation."
Quoting past case law, the judge also noted that the law's overriding purpose is "nothing less than the eradication of the cancer of discrimination."
The judge did agree with Tiffany's other arguments that the woman's claim does not meet the legal criteria to sue for emotional pain and suffering. Attorneys for the plaintiff said they can still sue for other compensatory damages under the law. It was not immediately clear what the nature of those damages would be.
click to read more...
Breastfeeding Does Not Make Baby More Intelligent (Medical News Today)
Breastfed babies are more intelligent because a higher percentage of highly educated mothers tend to breastfeed, say researchers from the Medical Research Council (UK) and the University of Edinburgh. A higher percentage of breastfed babies are brought up in a mentally stimulating environment.
You can read about this study in the British Medical Journal.
The researchers looked at data on 5,475 children and 3,161 mothers from the United States.
A link between breastfeeding and higher IQ was first spotted in 1929, and has been a controversial subject ever since, says Geoff Der, lead researcher. He said that not only do breastfed children generally perform better on intelligence tests, but they also tend to come from more advantaged backgrounds.
click to read more...
You can read about this study in the British Medical Journal.
The researchers looked at data on 5,475 children and 3,161 mothers from the United States.
A link between breastfeeding and higher IQ was first spotted in 1929, and has been a controversial subject ever since, says Geoff Der, lead researcher. He said that not only do breastfed children generally perform better on intelligence tests, but they also tend to come from more advantaged backgrounds.
click to read more...
Breast-Fed Babies Aren't Smarter (CBS News)
Despite Study, Researchers Still List Lots Of Reasons For Breastfeeding
(WebMD) Do breast-fed babies become brainier kids? Some studies say yes, but new research shows no direct link between breastfeeding and intelligence later in life.
In the largest study ever to address the issue, researchers found a positive impact for breastfeeding on intelligence only when other potential contributors — such as the mother's IQ and the parents' educational and economic status — were not taken into consideration.
When these variables were considered, breastfeeding was found to have little impact on a child's IQ.
The study included 5,475 children and mothers in the United States who participated in an ongoing youth development survey. The findings were published today in BMJ Online First.
click to read more...
(WebMD) Do breast-fed babies become brainier kids? Some studies say yes, but new research shows no direct link between breastfeeding and intelligence later in life.
In the largest study ever to address the issue, researchers found a positive impact for breastfeeding on intelligence only when other potential contributors — such as the mother's IQ and the parents' educational and economic status — were not taken into consideration.
When these variables were considered, breastfeeding was found to have little impact on a child's IQ.
The study included 5,475 children and mothers in the United States who participated in an ongoing youth development survey. The findings were published today in BMJ Online First.
click to read more...
Children Inherit Higher IQ from Mom's Brains, Not Her Milk (Med Page Today)
GLASGOW, Scotland, Oct. 4 -- If smarter women are more likely to breast feed their babies, it only stands to reason that their children would inherit higher IQs, reported researchers here. It's nature, not nurture. Action Points
The study, which is five times larger than any previous study on the issue, used data from the U.S. national longitudinal survey of youth that began in 1979, reported Geoff Der, M.A., M.Sc., of the Medical Research Council Social and Public Health Sciences Unit here, and colleagues, online in BMJ.
click to read more...
The study, which is five times larger than any previous study on the issue, used data from the U.S. national longitudinal survey of youth that began in 1979, reported Geoff Der, M.A., M.Sc., of the Medical Research Council Social and Public Health Sciences Unit here, and colleagues, online in BMJ.
click to read more...
Prolacta Bioscience Closes on over $5 Million in Private Funding (Genetic Engineering News)
Prolacta Bioscience, a privately held company that provides specialty formulations of human milk for the immunological and nutritional needs of premature and critically ill infants, announced today that it has raised over $5 million in private venture funding for its series B prime financing round from a combination of existing investors, new investors, and several high profile angel investors.
New investors included Arcturus Capital, DFJ Mercury, Philip Capital, Funk Ventures Capital, and the Gideon Hixon Fund. Existing investors include DFJ Frontier, Draper Richards, and Draper Associates.
click to read more...
New investors included Arcturus Capital, DFJ Mercury, Philip Capital, Funk Ventures Capital, and the Gideon Hixon Fund. Existing investors include DFJ Frontier, Draper Richards, and Draper Associates.
click to read more...
Take up the breastfeeding challenge (Merritt Herald)
Saturday morning really sucked for five Merritt mothers.
Luckily that was the whole idea, as they were taking part in the annual Quintessence Breastfeeding Challenge. Every year World Breastfeeding Week is held in for the first week of October. To jump start the week the challenge is held on Sept. 30 to increase awareness of the advantages of breast feeding. At 11 a.m., mothers around the world “latch on” to set the record for the most children breastfeeding at one time.
Amy Woods is one of the mothers who took part in the challenge at the Family Place in Merritt. She says there are so many reasons to breastfeed that she didn’t consider not doing it.
“I did it to make sure he is happy and healthy,” she says. “It’s got all the nutrients he needs, and it is much more convenient. No bottles in the middle of the night – I love it.”
click to read more...
Luckily that was the whole idea, as they were taking part in the annual Quintessence Breastfeeding Challenge. Every year World Breastfeeding Week is held in for the first week of October. To jump start the week the challenge is held on Sept. 30 to increase awareness of the advantages of breast feeding. At 11 a.m., mothers around the world “latch on” to set the record for the most children breastfeeding at one time.
Amy Woods is one of the mothers who took part in the challenge at the Family Place in Merritt. She says there are so many reasons to breastfeed that she didn’t consider not doing it.
“I did it to make sure he is happy and healthy,” she says. “It’s got all the nutrients he needs, and it is much more convenient. No bottles in the middle of the night – I love it.”
click to read more...
Tuesday, October 03, 2006
ALL REALLY CARED ABOUT WAS FEEDING MY BABY (The Daily Record)
At just 36 and pregnant, Ruth Cave was diagnosed with breast cancer - but dying wasn't her biggest fear
MUM Ruth Cave was eight months pregnant when she was diagnosed with breast cancer in May 2004.
On hearing the bombshell the then 36-year-old just wanted to know one thing - would she be able to breastfeed her baby?
She said: "It was a huge shock to be told I had cancer, especially as I was a heavily pregnant 36-year-old woman.
"But I never thought at that point that I might die, it was just so important to me that I would be able to feed my baby."
Ruth had noticed a lump in her breast about halfway through her pregnancy, but put it down to hormones.
click to read more...
MUM Ruth Cave was eight months pregnant when she was diagnosed with breast cancer in May 2004.
On hearing the bombshell the then 36-year-old just wanted to know one thing - would she be able to breastfeed her baby?
She said: "It was a huge shock to be told I had cancer, especially as I was a heavily pregnant 36-year-old woman.
"But I never thought at that point that I might die, it was just so important to me that I would be able to feed my baby."
Ruth had noticed a lump in her breast about halfway through her pregnancy, but put it down to hormones.
click to read more...
Mothers share breastfeeding tales (The Daily News)
HEALTH - Shauna O'Brien of Upper Tantallon and five other mothers hope what they know will help others raise healthy children.
They'll take part in The Lived Experience of Breastfeeding Mothers, a discussion put on by Capital Health this morning at the Cobequid Multi-Service Centre in Lower Sackville as part of World Breastfeeding Week in Canada.
The women will talk with health-care providers about why they chose to breastfeed, the lessons they learned while nursing and what resources were available to them.
click to read more...
They'll take part in The Lived Experience of Breastfeeding Mothers, a discussion put on by Capital Health this morning at the Cobequid Multi-Service Centre in Lower Sackville as part of World Breastfeeding Week in Canada.
The women will talk with health-care providers about why they chose to breastfeed, the lessons they learned while nursing and what resources were available to them.
click to read more...
Bottle or breast for babies? (Times Online)
Sir, Breast-feeding (times 2, Sept 29) is honed by evolution to be the healthiest way to nurture the human baby, and it is now more than three years since the Department of Health’s policy followed World Health Organisation research, showing that babies are healthiest fed on milk alone for the first six months of life.
The lack of breast-feeding in the face of a barrage of formula advertising is causing the deaths of 1.5 million babies worldwide.
A woman is no more likely to be physically unable to breast-feed than she is to be physically unable to see or hear. Society, however, can make her unable to breast-feed. This is done by undermining her confidence with misleading information, and treating breast-feeding as permissible only in private.
click to read more...
The lack of breast-feeding in the face of a barrage of formula advertising is causing the deaths of 1.5 million babies worldwide.
A woman is no more likely to be physically unable to breast-feed than she is to be physically unable to see or hear. Society, however, can make her unable to breast-feed. This is done by undermining her confidence with misleading information, and treating breast-feeding as permissible only in private.
click to read more...
Monday, October 02, 2006
Medical 'reps' ban begins (MercuryNews.com)
NEW STANFORD PLAN SAYS 'NO' TO INDUSTRY GIFTS, GRATUITIES
The halls of Stanford University Hospital and Clinics will be just a little bit quieter today, the first day of a new ban on drug and device sales people bearing gifts, gratuities and unsolicited advice.
Stanford's tough policy, similar to one adopted by Kaiser Medical Group in late 2004, is designed to ease pressure on doctors to prescribe certain medicines or implant certain prostheses.
Gone are free pens, pencils, coffee mugs and bags decorated with company logos, donated by visiting drug reps. Stanford no longer welcomes lunches, dinners and refreshments that are funded by drug or device companies.
There are new expectations of doctors, as well. Industry-sponsored vacations are off-limits. And whether writing a journal article or buying supplies, doctors have to disclose any financial ties that they may have to a related company.
``We need to be aboveboard,'' said Dr. Lawrence Shuer, chief of staff at Stanford Medical Hospital and Clinics. As a teaching hospital, ``we have the ability to influence the future physicians of America.''
click to read more...
The halls of Stanford University Hospital and Clinics will be just a little bit quieter today, the first day of a new ban on drug and device sales people bearing gifts, gratuities and unsolicited advice.
Stanford's tough policy, similar to one adopted by Kaiser Medical Group in late 2004, is designed to ease pressure on doctors to prescribe certain medicines or implant certain prostheses.
Gone are free pens, pencils, coffee mugs and bags decorated with company logos, donated by visiting drug reps. Stanford no longer welcomes lunches, dinners and refreshments that are funded by drug or device companies.
There are new expectations of doctors, as well. Industry-sponsored vacations are off-limits. And whether writing a journal article or buying supplies, doctors have to disclose any financial ties that they may have to a related company.
``We need to be aboveboard,'' said Dr. Lawrence Shuer, chief of staff at Stanford Medical Hospital and Clinics. As a teaching hospital, ``we have the ability to influence the future physicians of America.''
click to read more...
Everyone wins when breastfeeding is promoted (The Charleston Gazette)
I WAS quite surprised this summer after reading a New York Times editorial of July 2, “About Breast-Feeding...”. I thought I might be in a time warp, recalling the April Fools Day prank by the Harvard Lampoon in 1968, when in isolated parts of the country the front page of the Times was replaced by an exquisite reproduction. If memory serves me, one of the most prominent articles on that page reported the finding of a talking walrus in the Central Park Zoo.
The recent editorial was written in response to a hard-hitting June article in the Times on a new government-sponsored advertising initiative advocating breastfeeding. Although the tone of the article created considerable controversy, the content was factual and attempted to articulate clearly the risks of exclusive formula feeding and the sad statistic that the United States has the lowest prevalence of breastfeeding in the industrialized world. West Virginia, not surprisingly, ranks near the bottom of all states.
The premise of the July piece was to look for middle ground amidst the increasing emotionalism and contentiousness of this debate. Now, I have always been a proponent of the “middle ground.” Unfortunately, although much of the editorial seemed reasoned and helpful in dealing with a complex issue, there were some comments and oversights that struck me as uncharacteristically out of touch for this media giant.
click to read more...
The recent editorial was written in response to a hard-hitting June article in the Times on a new government-sponsored advertising initiative advocating breastfeeding. Although the tone of the article created considerable controversy, the content was factual and attempted to articulate clearly the risks of exclusive formula feeding and the sad statistic that the United States has the lowest prevalence of breastfeeding in the industrialized world. West Virginia, not surprisingly, ranks near the bottom of all states.
The premise of the July piece was to look for middle ground amidst the increasing emotionalism and contentiousness of this debate. Now, I have always been a proponent of the “middle ground.” Unfortunately, although much of the editorial seemed reasoned and helpful in dealing with a complex issue, there were some comments and oversights that struck me as uncharacteristically out of touch for this media giant.
click to read more...
Unequal opprtunities for new moms (Star-Gazette.COM)
It's time to give new mothers a break.
About breastfeeding, that is.
It is well-known that breast milk provides newborn babies with better nutrition and better long-term health benefits than formula. Without a doubt, this information needs to be supplied to pregnant women and reinforced by their doctors.
However, the increased pressure -- especially by the federal government -- for women to breastfeed has become unfair and pejorative.
click to read more...
About breastfeeding, that is.
It is well-known that breast milk provides newborn babies with better nutrition and better long-term health benefits than formula. Without a doubt, this information needs to be supplied to pregnant women and reinforced by their doctors.
However, the increased pressure -- especially by the federal government -- for women to breastfeed has become unfair and pejorative.
click to read more...
Sunday, October 01, 2006
Breastfeeding bravely at WEM (Edmonton News)
Dozens of women bravely breast-fed their babies in the middle of the country’s largest mall Saturday in a bid to show other moms they don’t have to hide at home if they want to feed their children.
As part of the Breastfeeding Challenge 2006 campaign, there were similar displays throughout Canada.
“Breastfeeding is very natural, but we don’t actually provide a lot of support for moms who do it,” said Kirsten Goa, as she held four-week old twins Patrick and Nikolas.
click to read more...
As part of the Breastfeeding Challenge 2006 campaign, there were similar displays throughout Canada.
“Breastfeeding is very natural, but we don’t actually provide a lot of support for moms who do it,” said Kirsten Goa, as she held four-week old twins Patrick and Nikolas.
click to read more...
This really sucks (winnipegsun.com)
Lactating moms lined up at the Legislature to try to make Manitoba the breast, er, best region in yesterday's 2006 Breastfeeding Challenge.
Provinces, territories and U.S. states were competing to see who could set the record for the most babies being breastfed at one time.
Ultimately, the goal of the event is to promote breastfeeding as a healthy option and an acceptable practice in public.
click to read more...
Provinces, territories and U.S. states were competing to see who could set the record for the most babies being breastfed at one time.
Ultimately, the goal of the event is to promote breastfeeding as a healthy option and an acceptable practice in public.
click to read more...
Breastfeeding babes (TorontoSun.com)
Ready, set, breastfeed!
As the clock struck 11 a.m. yesterday, 100 moms at the North York Civic Centre attached 103 little mouths to their nipples to raise awareness of the health and wellness benefits of breastfeeding.
"It's terrific ... especially as a newborn, in terms of the emotional bonding between mother and child and brain development," said Olga Jovkovic, manager of reproductive and infant health for Toronto Public Health.
The event, in its second year in Toronto, featured speakers extolling the benefits of breastfeeding. The event marked World Breastfeeding Week, with gatherings slated for several locations across the continent.
click to read more...
As the clock struck 11 a.m. yesterday, 100 moms at the North York Civic Centre attached 103 little mouths to their nipples to raise awareness of the health and wellness benefits of breastfeeding.
"It's terrific ... especially as a newborn, in terms of the emotional bonding between mother and child and brain development," said Olga Jovkovic, manager of reproductive and infant health for Toronto Public Health.
The event, in its second year in Toronto, featured speakers extolling the benefits of breastfeeding. The event marked World Breastfeeding Week, with gatherings slated for several locations across the continent.
click to read more...
Best thing for baby (The Daily News)
Judy Dubois has her work cut out for her. For the mother of four-month-old twins Sadie and Nate, breastfeeding is literally a balancing act.
"Yes, I feed them both at once," said the mother of four from Bedford. "If I didn't, it would take too long and they'd be feeding all day."
Dubois was one of 42 mothers who breastfed on the grass at Sullivans Pond in Dartmouth yesterday to show support for the practice at the fifth annual Quintessence Challenge in celebration of World Breastfeeding Week.
click to read more...
"Yes, I feed them both at once," said the mother of four from Bedford. "If I didn't, it would take too long and they'd be feeding all day."
Dubois was one of 42 mothers who breastfed on the grass at Sullivans Pond in Dartmouth yesterday to show support for the practice at the fifth annual Quintessence Challenge in celebration of World Breastfeeding Week.
click to read more...
New bid to boost breastfeeding (Irish Examiner)
Family members were today urged to help create a supportive environment to aid breastfeeding mothers.
As part of National Breastfeeding Week, both fathers and grandparents were given more information on breastfeeding as part of a campaign to encourage women to choose the option.
Maureen Fallon, National Breastfeeding Co-ordinator in the Department of Health, said breastfeeding was what nature had intended for newborn babies but the numbers breastfeeding among Irish mothers was low.
Ireland’s breastfeeding rate of 43% at discharge from maternity care is one of the lowest in Europe – compared with 99% in Norway.
click to read more...
As part of National Breastfeeding Week, both fathers and grandparents were given more information on breastfeeding as part of a campaign to encourage women to choose the option.
Maureen Fallon, National Breastfeeding Co-ordinator in the Department of Health, said breastfeeding was what nature had intended for newborn babies but the numbers breastfeeding among Irish mothers was low.
Ireland’s breastfeeding rate of 43% at discharge from maternity care is one of the lowest in Europe – compared with 99% in Norway.
click to read more...
Power in numbers as 800 moms join breast-in (The Gazette)
The triplets taking turns on their mother's breast seemed blissfully unaware of the thousand other babies and boobies surrounding them at Complexe Desjardins yesterday.
But the meaning, the joy and the power of yesterday's nurse-in at the mall was not lost on the other participants, who at the stroke of 11 a.m. began feeding their babies to launch world breastfeeding week.
"It's important to encourage other women to do so," said Genevieve Farah-Lajoie, mother of the happy 2-month old triplets as she performed her juggling act.
"Everyone tried to discourage me. They said I should go with formula. But breastfeeding is the best way to keep them healthy and strong."
click to read more...
But the meaning, the joy and the power of yesterday's nurse-in at the mall was not lost on the other participants, who at the stroke of 11 a.m. began feeding their babies to launch world breastfeeding week.
"It's important to encourage other women to do so," said Genevieve Farah-Lajoie, mother of the happy 2-month old triplets as she performed her juggling act.
"Everyone tried to discourage me. They said I should go with formula. But breastfeeding is the best way to keep them healthy and strong."
click to read more...
Saturday, September 30, 2006
Tri-County Health Dept. honors breastfeeding moms (YourHub.com)
Tri-County Health Department celebrated World Breastfeeding Month with a special day to honor their 370 clients who have exclusively breastfed their babies within the past year. As a reward, the women received a spa day that included a facial, massage, healthy snacks and prizes donated by local merchants.
"Breastfeeding has numerous health benefits for babies and moms, so encouraging mothers to nurse is a win-win situation from a public health standpoint," states Anne Bennett, Director or Nutrition at Tri-County Health Department. " Exclusively breastfed babies are less likely to have food allergies and related problems such as diarrhea, vomiting, stomach infections and respiratory infections."
"Breastfeeding also helps new moms lose their pregnancy weight. Breastfeeding burns over 500 calories a day for the women who don't supplement with formula. It takes the average woman two hours of aerobic activity, such as moderate walking, to burn 500 calories," Bennett added. "Scientific research also suggests that breastfeeding might reduce the mother's risk of breast cancer, ovarian cancer and osteoporosis."
click to read more...
"Breastfeeding has numerous health benefits for babies and moms, so encouraging mothers to nurse is a win-win situation from a public health standpoint," states Anne Bennett, Director or Nutrition at Tri-County Health Department. " Exclusively breastfed babies are less likely to have food allergies and related problems such as diarrhea, vomiting, stomach infections and respiratory infections."
"Breastfeeding also helps new moms lose their pregnancy weight. Breastfeeding burns over 500 calories a day for the women who don't supplement with formula. It takes the average woman two hours of aerobic activity, such as moderate walking, to burn 500 calories," Bennett added. "Scientific research also suggests that breastfeeding might reduce the mother's risk of breast cancer, ovarian cancer and osteoporosis."
click to read more...
Breast-feeding ABCs (Exeter News-Letter )
Catrina Lavoie never gave a second thought to her decision to breast-feed when she became pregnant with twins.
She successfully nursed her daughter, so she had no qualms about going the same route with the twin boys. But the young mother often got comments from people, including her pediatrician, who couldn't believe she would attempt to feed two babies at the same time. You'll never make enough milk, her doctor said during one visit, before suggesting Lavoie use formula.
But for Lavoie, the choice to breast-feed felt like the right thing to do for her baby boys, and she did not want to give up, despite her doctor's suggestion. She remembered the Women Infants and Children office had a lactation consultant and gave them a phone call. The woman she spoke with told her it was definitely possible to nurse twins as long as they were healthy, and had Wendy Jordan, the lactation coordinator, call her back.
click to read more...
She successfully nursed her daughter, so she had no qualms about going the same route with the twin boys. But the young mother often got comments from people, including her pediatrician, who couldn't believe she would attempt to feed two babies at the same time. You'll never make enough milk, her doctor said during one visit, before suggesting Lavoie use formula.
But for Lavoie, the choice to breast-feed felt like the right thing to do for her baby boys, and she did not want to give up, despite her doctor's suggestion. She remembered the Women Infants and Children office had a lactation consultant and gave them a phone call. The woman she spoke with told her it was definitely possible to nurse twins as long as they were healthy, and had Wendy Jordan, the lactation coordinator, call her back.
click to read more...
Forget those labor horror stories, breast-feeding is the scary part (CHICAGO SUN-TIMES)
Our mothers think we're crazy. Though few of them had full-time careers while they were pregnant and raising infants, they did all have lives, they tell us now. They went places. Did things. Drank coffee. Had cocktails. They were not, in other words, breast-feeding their babies every two hours.
And somehow, they kindly point out, those babies survived. Nurtured on powdered formula and instant cereal, we grew into healthy, successful adults.
In response, we just smile our smug, how-little-they-knew-then smiles. Because we'd sooner buy a flammable cradle with its razor-sharp edges coated in lead paint than give our own precious babies food from a can.
Every generation finds its own way to make peace with the bone-grinding hard work that is new motherhood. For the women of the late '60s-early '70s Lamaze era, grueling labor stories were the key to establishing one's status as a martyr. So even if you stashed your little one in a plastic playpen while having a cigarette and a nice, long gossip with your neighbor, you could still claim the moral high ground of motherhood by invoking the 36-hour-long labor you endured with only deep breathing and a reluctantly enlightened husband to dull the pain.
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And somehow, they kindly point out, those babies survived. Nurtured on powdered formula and instant cereal, we grew into healthy, successful adults.
In response, we just smile our smug, how-little-they-knew-then smiles. Because we'd sooner buy a flammable cradle with its razor-sharp edges coated in lead paint than give our own precious babies food from a can.
Every generation finds its own way to make peace with the bone-grinding hard work that is new motherhood. For the women of the late '60s-early '70s Lamaze era, grueling labor stories were the key to establishing one's status as a martyr. So even if you stashed your little one in a plastic playpen while having a cigarette and a nice, long gossip with your neighbor, you could still claim the moral high ground of motherhood by invoking the 36-hour-long labor you endured with only deep breathing and a reluctantly enlightened husband to dull the pain.
click to read more...
Breast-feeding discrimination protested (KVBC Channel 3)
local woman says her rights were violated when she tried to breast-feed in a public place. Nevada law clearly states that a woman can breast-feed and she doesn't have to be covered up.
Two weeks ago a woman was breast-feeding her baby in the lobby of a North Las Vegas recreation center when city employees told her she had to do it in the bathroom. Now she's back to tell them why they're wrong.
Most of us don't know what NRS 201.232 is, but the women who were out protesting Thursday know this section of Nevada law by heart. "The law allows any woman who's breast-feeding her child to nurse her baby anywhere she's legally permitted to be, whether or not her breast shows."
Beth Wishengrad says while she was breast-feeding in the Silver Mesa Recreation Center, one North Las Vegas city employee told her to cover it up. Another suggested a designated breast-feeding area, and a third said she should have been escorted to the bathroom.
click to read more...
Two weeks ago a woman was breast-feeding her baby in the lobby of a North Las Vegas recreation center when city employees told her she had to do it in the bathroom. Now she's back to tell them why they're wrong.
Most of us don't know what NRS 201.232 is, but the women who were out protesting Thursday know this section of Nevada law by heart. "The law allows any woman who's breast-feeding her child to nurse her baby anywhere she's legally permitted to be, whether or not her breast shows."
Beth Wishengrad says while she was breast-feeding in the Silver Mesa Recreation Center, one North Las Vegas city employee told her to cover it up. Another suggested a designated breast-feeding area, and a third said she should have been escorted to the bathroom.
click to read more...
The breast is the best (BrooklynPapers.com)
So, it’s okay for mothers to spend billions of dollars a year at Toys “R” Us, but they’re not allowed to breastfeed on the premises — it’s offensive, too sexual and not appropriate for children.
No wonder hundreds of breastfeeding women and their supporters gathered outside of the Times Square Toys “R” Us for a rally last Thursday in support of Chelsi Meyerson, a breast-feeding mother who was allegedly harassed by store employees for breastfeeding her 7-month old son.
Smartmom wanted to go out and join them: she longed to rip off her shirt, pull down her bra, and nurse right in the middle of Times Square. “Latch On. Latch On,” she’d scream, her fist held high.
Trouble is: she hasn’t lactated since 1999, when the Oh So Feisty One decided she’d had enough at the age of 2.
But Smartmom was there in spirit, recalling the relief and pleasure of giving her children the most nutritious food imaginable.
Smartmom still misses being a nursing mother, one of the most meaningful experiences a mother can have. Which isn’t to say that it was easy, painless, or always enjoyable.
click to read more...
No wonder hundreds of breastfeeding women and their supporters gathered outside of the Times Square Toys “R” Us for a rally last Thursday in support of Chelsi Meyerson, a breast-feeding mother who was allegedly harassed by store employees for breastfeeding her 7-month old son.
Smartmom wanted to go out and join them: she longed to rip off her shirt, pull down her bra, and nurse right in the middle of Times Square. “Latch On. Latch On,” she’d scream, her fist held high.
Trouble is: she hasn’t lactated since 1999, when the Oh So Feisty One decided she’d had enough at the age of 2.
But Smartmom was there in spirit, recalling the relief and pleasure of giving her children the most nutritious food imaginable.
Smartmom still misses being a nursing mother, one of the most meaningful experiences a mother can have. Which isn’t to say that it was easy, painless, or always enjoyable.
click to read more...
City gets baby-friendly award (www.tbsource.com )
The Thunder Bay District Health Unit has set the precedent for 'baby friendly' service across Canada.
Thursday the Health Unit was presented an award for achieving a 'Baby Friendly' designation.
click to read more...
Thursday the Health Unit was presented an award for achieving a 'Baby Friendly' designation.
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Got breastmilk? (Esquimalt News)
Ready, set, suck.
Mothers and babies across North America are competing this Saturday to try to set a new record for the most babies breastfeeding in one place at one time.
While it's not yet on par with the Grey Cup, the international feeding frenzy is gaining recognition.
Contenders say nursing en masse is more about raising awareness of the benefits of breastfeeding for mothers, infants and communities than it is about competing for top spot.
In Greater Victoria, the 2006 edition of the Breastfeeding Challenge kicks off at 11 a.m., Sept. 30, at Sir James Douglas School (on the corner of Moss Street and Fairfield Road) during the Moss Street Market.
BCNG Portals Page
Mothers and babies across North America are competing this Saturday to try to set a new record for the most babies breastfeeding in one place at one time.
While it's not yet on par with the Grey Cup, the international feeding frenzy is gaining recognition.
Contenders say nursing en masse is more about raising awareness of the benefits of breastfeeding for mothers, infants and communities than it is about competing for top spot.
In Greater Victoria, the 2006 edition of the Breastfeeding Challenge kicks off at 11 a.m., Sept. 30, at Sir James Douglas School (on the corner of Moss Street and Fairfield Road) during the Moss Street Market.
BCNG Portals Page
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Mama-rama: Truth is, breast-feeding is best (the HUB)
Babies were born to be breast-fed. Maybe you've seen the black-and-white billboards, the advertisements or TV commercials proclaiming that message. They're part of an ad campaign created by the Department of Health and Human Services in conjunction with the Ad Council, with the goal of raising breast-feeding rates.
Currently, 70 percent of mothers initiate breast-feeding soon after birth, but only 33 percent are still at it at six months, though the American Academy of Pediatric recommends breast-feeding exclusively for six months and continuing until a year or beyond.
Critics say the messages, some of which focus on the risks of NOT breast-feeding as opposed to the benefits of breast-feeding, are too heavy-handed. For example, some of these critics - including representatives from formula companies - say that instead of saying "formula-fed babies are more likely to develop asthma, ear infections and allergies," the advertisements should state that "breast-fed babies are less likely to develop asthma, ear infections and allergies." Both statements are true, and both say essentially the same thing - right?
click to read more...
Currently, 70 percent of mothers initiate breast-feeding soon after birth, but only 33 percent are still at it at six months, though the American Academy of Pediatric recommends breast-feeding exclusively for six months and continuing until a year or beyond.
Critics say the messages, some of which focus on the risks of NOT breast-feeding as opposed to the benefits of breast-feeding, are too heavy-handed. For example, some of these critics - including representatives from formula companies - say that instead of saying "formula-fed babies are more likely to develop asthma, ear infections and allergies," the advertisements should state that "breast-fed babies are less likely to develop asthma, ear infections and allergies." Both statements are true, and both say essentially the same thing - right?
click to read more...
Breast-feeding key to avoiding obesity, diabetes, says research (Earth Times)
ALEXANDRIA, Va.: Here are important tips for mothers-to-be: breast-feed your baby for the first 12 months, if you want the child to grow up healthy, not obese or diabetic. And if you want to avoid diabetes yourself, make sure you have sufficient fiber in your food. These tips are based on the findings of two recently completed studies that are published in the October issue of the Diabetes Care.
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click to read more...
Monday, September 25, 2006
Milking the System (The Daily Journal)
After giving birth to her daughter, Jabrea, this past January, Jahana Holloway of Kankakee was eager to experience the joys of breast-feeding.
Holloway, who spent years feeding infant formula to her other three children, chose to breast-feed her new baby after learning about its nutritional values and the chance to enhance the bond with her baby.
Unfortunately for Holloway, a full-time teller for Centrue Bank in Kankakee, she also discovered the difficulties that come with nursing a newborn after going back to work.
click to read more...
Holloway, who spent years feeding infant formula to her other three children, chose to breast-feed her new baby after learning about its nutritional values and the chance to enhance the bond with her baby.
Unfortunately for Holloway, a full-time teller for Centrue Bank in Kankakee, she also discovered the difficulties that come with nursing a newborn after going back to work.
click to read more...
Nursing moms donate to milk depot (IndyStar.com)
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- The first of a series of breast milk collection sites has opened as part of a state plan intended in part to benefit ill or premature infants.
State health commissioner Judy Monroe attended Friday's opening of Indiana's first "breast milk depot" at a Women, Infants and Children office in Bloomington. She said similar depots will open next year at three other WIC offices in Indiana.
Women visiting such depots can donate pumped breast milk that will be given to Indiana Mothers' Milk Bank in Indianapolis, one of 10 such banks in the United States.
click to read more...
State health commissioner Judy Monroe attended Friday's opening of Indiana's first "breast milk depot" at a Women, Infants and Children office in Bloomington. She said similar depots will open next year at three other WIC offices in Indiana.
Women visiting such depots can donate pumped breast milk that will be given to Indiana Mothers' Milk Bank in Indianapolis, one of 10 such banks in the United States.
click to read more...
Sunday, September 24, 2006
Attendant's remarks miff nursing mom (DenverPost.com)
While traveling recently with her 10-month-old daughter on a United Airlines flight, Joany Tarud was reminded that not everyone can stomach breast-feeding in public.
The Denver mother's subsequent complaints about a flight attendant prompted an apology from the airline.
Tarud was traveling with her daughter and mother from Birmingham, Ala., to Denver. Tarud said she and her infant were hunched against a window and covered with a baby blanket. Tarud's mother was sitting in the next seat, further blocking the duo from view. No other passengers were seated next to the family.
Just before the plane took off, Tarud said a flight attendant instructed her to use a blanket provided by the airline to cover herself and the baby more fully.
click to read more...
The Denver mother's subsequent complaints about a flight attendant prompted an apology from the airline.
Tarud was traveling with her daughter and mother from Birmingham, Ala., to Denver. Tarud said she and her infant were hunched against a window and covered with a baby blanket. Tarud's mother was sitting in the next seat, further blocking the duo from view. No other passengers were seated next to the family.
Just before the plane took off, Tarud said a flight attendant instructed her to use a blanket provided by the airline to cover herself and the baby more fully.
click to read more...
Readers speak out about breastfeeding (TheNewsTribune.com)
We asked our readers to share their thoughts about breastfeeding in public. Here are their responses.
I breast-fed both of my children until they self-weaned – around a year old.
When I had my first child, I knew breastfeeding was the best start I could possibly give him, but I never thought I'd have the guts to nurse in public. I soon found out how silly and inconvenient that notion would be. Within weeks I was sitting in the middle of the Lobster Shop’s Thanksgiving buffet, happily eating my dinner as I nursed my son.
I have found Tacoma to be quite receptive to me as a nursing mother.
Never once have I been asked not to nurse my baby, and in fact I’ve often been encouraged by people who’ve seen me discreetly nursing.
Honestly, I wish even more people would take a minute to give a nursing mother some words of encouragement. I believe it’s deserved just as any other working person is given words of encouragement when they do well in the workplace.
click to read more...
I breast-fed both of my children until they self-weaned – around a year old.
When I had my first child, I knew breastfeeding was the best start I could possibly give him, but I never thought I'd have the guts to nurse in public. I soon found out how silly and inconvenient that notion would be. Within weeks I was sitting in the middle of the Lobster Shop’s Thanksgiving buffet, happily eating my dinner as I nursed my son.
I have found Tacoma to be quite receptive to me as a nursing mother.
Never once have I been asked not to nurse my baby, and in fact I’ve often been encouraged by people who’ve seen me discreetly nursing.
Honestly, I wish even more people would take a minute to give a nursing mother some words of encouragement. I believe it’s deserved just as any other working person is given words of encouragement when they do well in the workplace.
click to read more...
Lactation intolerance (TheNewsTribune.com)
For decades experts have told us that when it comes to babies, breast is best. But just try being a nursing mother in public - or at work.
Every woman remembers her first time.
The first time she had to nurse her baby in public, that is.
For Rhiannon Rubadue of Federal Way, the moment of truth happened in a Wal-Mart.
“Suddenly in the middle of our shopping, my son began to cry,” she says. “Although he was only about a week old, I knew exactly what he wanted and needed.”
Rubadue found a deserted aisle – the garbage can section – and latched him on.
click to read more...
Every woman remembers her first time.
The first time she had to nurse her baby in public, that is.
For Rhiannon Rubadue of Federal Way, the moment of truth happened in a Wal-Mart.
“Suddenly in the middle of our shopping, my son began to cry,” she says. “Although he was only about a week old, I knew exactly what he wanted and needed.”
Rubadue found a deserted aisle – the garbage can section – and latched him on.
click to read more...
Saturday, September 23, 2006
State's First Breast Milk Depot Opens (Inside Indiana Business)
The depot at the Monroe County Women, Infants and Children (WIC) office will provide a location for women to donate pumped breast milk to the Indiana Mothers' Milk Bank. Three additional milk depots are planned at WIC offices in Delaware, LaPorte and Tippecanoe counties. State health officials say Indiana could save close to $8 million per year if the number of women breastfeeding in Indiana increased from the current level of 64 percent to 75 percent.
click to read more...
click to read more...
Food for Thought: Babies Motor Better with Breast Milk (Science News Online)
Physicians have been advocating for years that breast milk is the best food for infants. Not only does it have the nutrition that babies need, but it also provides some antibodies and growth factors that speed maturation of the infant gut, thereby fending off disease. Now, a team of scientists in Britain offers strong evidence of another benefit. Mother's milk boosts early neurological development.
click to read more...
click to read more...
Friday, September 22, 2006
Breast milk is key weapon in fight to lower Africa's child mortality rate (Independent Online Edition)
The lives of a million babies could be saved every year by the simplest and most natural remedy of them all - breast-feeding.
Field workers running a research project in remote Ghanaian villages have discovered that the surest way to keep a baby alive is for the mother to start breastfeeding within an hour of the baby being born. If the first feed from the mother's breast is delayed for even one day, they found the risk of the child dying within a month more than doubles. Early introduction to animal milk or any other substitute for mother's milk pushed the child's chance of living for a month down to barely one in 10.
In the developing world, four million babies die every year before they have reached the age of one month. The research, funded by the British Government, suggested that nearly a quarter of them, or a million babies a year, could be saved if they were breastfed from the first hour of life.
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Field workers running a research project in remote Ghanaian villages have discovered that the surest way to keep a baby alive is for the mother to start breastfeeding within an hour of the baby being born. If the first feed from the mother's breast is delayed for even one day, they found the risk of the child dying within a month more than doubles. Early introduction to animal milk or any other substitute for mother's milk pushed the child's chance of living for a month down to barely one in 10.
In the developing world, four million babies die every year before they have reached the age of one month. The research, funded by the British Government, suggested that nearly a quarter of them, or a million babies a year, could be saved if they were breastfed from the first hour of life.
click to read more...
Take That, Toys R Us: Babies Get Breastfed on Broadway (Gothamist)
Toys R Us cannot live down the tempest in a nursing bra cup. Last week, breastfeeding mother Chelsi Meyerson claimed employees at the Times Square store harassed her to stop nursing her son in the store, urging her to move to a private room.
While the store said that its employees did not harrass her and only offered her "opportunity to breastfeed in a private area designated for this purpose in the Times Square store" (per a letter from the store manager, Mindy Clements), this didn't stop mothers from staging a nurse-in yesterday. While the actual number of mothers and babies are conflicting (the Post counts 40 while the Daily News says 300 showed), it was an opportunity ripe for mothers to yell at the Toys R Us employee who tried to give them water and Cheerios and to tell their own horror stories.
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While the store said that its employees did not harrass her and only offered her "opportunity to breastfeed in a private area designated for this purpose in the Times Square store" (per a letter from the store manager, Mindy Clements), this didn't stop mothers from staging a nurse-in yesterday. While the actual number of mothers and babies are conflicting (the Post counts 40 while the Daily News says 300 showed), it was an opportunity ripe for mothers to yell at the Toys R Us employee who tried to give them water and Cheerios and to tell their own horror stories.
click to read more...
Jamaica Gleaner News - LETTER OF THE DAY - Breastfeeding yes, but more maternity leave - Friday | September 22, 2006
The Editor, Sir:
I read with interest the article 'More breast milk, less psychos' published in The Gleaner of Tuesday, September 19. In this article, Dr. Eva Lewis-Fuller, director of family health services in the Ministry of Health, states, "mothers who breastfeed their babies for up to six months or more are less likely to raise children who are psychopaths."
While I endorse Dr. Eva Lewis-Fuller statements on the importance of breast milk to the emotional, mental and physical development of children, as a mother I am deeply concerned about this correlation with access to maternity leave.
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I read with interest the article 'More breast milk, less psychos' published in The Gleaner of Tuesday, September 19. In this article, Dr. Eva Lewis-Fuller, director of family health services in the Ministry of Health, states, "mothers who breastfeed their babies for up to six months or more are less likely to raise children who are psychopaths."
While I endorse Dr. Eva Lewis-Fuller statements on the importance of breast milk to the emotional, mental and physical development of children, as a mother I am deeply concerned about this correlation with access to maternity leave.
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Nursing a grievance (New York Daily News)
With babes at their bosoms, some 300 women staged a "nurse-in" at Toys "R" Us yesterday to protest the treatment of a Brooklyn mom who says she was hassled for breast-feeding at the Times Square store.
Carrying signs that read "We Shall Not Be Moved," some chanted "Apologize! Apologize!" - but very quietly, so as not to upset their nursing infants.
"The store apologized to me, but I want them to publicly acknowledge they were wrong," said Chelsi Meyerson, 29, as she burped her 7-month-old son Mason. "I want better education for their employees."
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Carrying signs that read "We Shall Not Be Moved," some chanted "Apologize! Apologize!" - but very quietly, so as not to upset their nursing infants.
"The store apologized to me, but I want them to publicly acknowledge they were wrong," said Chelsi Meyerson, 29, as she burped her 7-month-old son Mason. "I want better education for their employees."
click to read more...
Thursday, September 21, 2006
Babies’ health not in formula (Straight.com Vancouver)
The Nestlé booth was abuzz with pregnant women and new parents at the Baby and Family Fair on September 16 and 17. The attraction was free Baby Einstein and Disney DVDs, free rice-cereal samples, free infant formula samples, and a send-away card for a free diaper bag, a baby-magazine subscription, and more formula. It was one of the juiciest giveaways at the Vancouver Convention and Exhibition Centre event.
Meanwhile, Douglas College’s perinatal program manager, Kathleen Lindstrom, was trying to entice the thousands of orb-bellied women to come to her breast-feeding workshop.
“I said, ‘Come find out how to save thousands of dollars a year and feed your baby free,’” Lindstrom recounted to the Georgia Straight. “But I couldn’t tear them away from the formula booths. I felt like getting on the loudspeaker and saying, ‘Do you not care about what’s going into your baby?’”
Lindstrom said she was disgusted that at a trade show designed to “nurture the parent-child bond” she was forced to compete with formula companies. “There isn’t close to the same amount of money to market breast-feeding as there is to market formula,” she said. “If there were, we wouldn’t have a problem.”
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Meanwhile, Douglas College’s perinatal program manager, Kathleen Lindstrom, was trying to entice the thousands of orb-bellied women to come to her breast-feeding workshop.
“I said, ‘Come find out how to save thousands of dollars a year and feed your baby free,’” Lindstrom recounted to the Georgia Straight. “But I couldn’t tear them away from the formula booths. I felt like getting on the loudspeaker and saying, ‘Do you not care about what’s going into your baby?’”
Lindstrom said she was disgusted that at a trade show designed to “nurture the parent-child bond” she was forced to compete with formula companies. “There isn’t close to the same amount of money to market breast-feeding as there is to market formula,” she said. “If there were, we wouldn’t have a problem.”
click to read more...
TORONTO, Sept. 20 /CNW/ - On September 30, mothers and babies at sites (CNW Group - Press Release)
TORONTO, Sept. 20 /CNW/ - On September 30, mothers and babies at sites
across Canada and the United States will compete to set the record for the
most babies breastfeeding at one time. Breastfeeding mothers and babies are
invited to participate and help Toronto win the challenge. Last year Toronto
came in seventh in North America with 74 moms and 77 hungry babies.
click to read more...
across Canada and the United States will compete to set the record for the
most babies breastfeeding at one time. Breastfeeding mothers and babies are
invited to participate and help Toronto win the challenge. Last year Toronto
came in seventh in North America with 74 moms and 77 hungry babies.
click to read more...
The breast of times (Salon Life)
I've nursed my son through four birthdays now. I know what the critics say, but it's what he wants.
Sept. 18, 2006 | My son turned 4 a few weeks ago. His birthday wishes included the following: real binoculars, anything to do with Spider-Man and to keep on nursing.
In the past two years, like a slice of Wonder bread squeezed into a marble of dough, the breast-feeding my son so treasures has been compressed into something that only vaguely resembles its original self. For us, nursing has become a brief bedtime ritual that lasts as long as it takes me to sing the alphabet song. It involves little overt emotion; most of the time the process is as perfunctory as the tooth brushing that precedes it. It no longer offers much nutrition: My milk has dwindled to a few desultory drops.
What this ritual also became long ago is a loosely kept secret. For many women, the decision whether to breast-feed at all has become a public litmus test of maternal devotion. Recent government efforts to promote it have provoked an emotional debate that boils down to one loaded question: Are you a bad mother if you don't breast-feed? Having experienced the challenges of breast-feeding firsthand, I don't think so. But having started down this path, my personal debate has involved a different question altogether: Am I a bad mother if I haven't stopped?
Though there is a growing body of scientific knowledge about the nutritional value of breast milk, science has relatively little to say about breast-feeding's psychological value, and even less to say about continuing past the usual milestones. The World Health Organization promotes breast-feeding until age 2 and beyond. American Pediatric Association guidelines recommend breast-feeding for 12 months, and after that for as long as "mutually desirable." But what to do when the desire -- on the part of at least one party, anyway -- shows no real sign of abating? When physical nourishment is almost beside the point, and what we are talking about is mostly the emotional kind?
click to read more...
My comments are, as usual, in the comments field. ~ Ali
Sept. 18, 2006 | My son turned 4 a few weeks ago. His birthday wishes included the following: real binoculars, anything to do with Spider-Man and to keep on nursing.
In the past two years, like a slice of Wonder bread squeezed into a marble of dough, the breast-feeding my son so treasures has been compressed into something that only vaguely resembles its original self. For us, nursing has become a brief bedtime ritual that lasts as long as it takes me to sing the alphabet song. It involves little overt emotion; most of the time the process is as perfunctory as the tooth brushing that precedes it. It no longer offers much nutrition: My milk has dwindled to a few desultory drops.
What this ritual also became long ago is a loosely kept secret. For many women, the decision whether to breast-feed at all has become a public litmus test of maternal devotion. Recent government efforts to promote it have provoked an emotional debate that boils down to one loaded question: Are you a bad mother if you don't breast-feed? Having experienced the challenges of breast-feeding firsthand, I don't think so. But having started down this path, my personal debate has involved a different question altogether: Am I a bad mother if I haven't stopped?
Though there is a growing body of scientific knowledge about the nutritional value of breast milk, science has relatively little to say about breast-feeding's psychological value, and even less to say about continuing past the usual milestones. The World Health Organization promotes breast-feeding until age 2 and beyond. American Pediatric Association guidelines recommend breast-feeding for 12 months, and after that for as long as "mutually desirable." But what to do when the desire -- on the part of at least one party, anyway -- shows no real sign of abating? When physical nourishment is almost beside the point, and what we are talking about is mostly the emotional kind?
click to read more...
My comments are, as usual, in the comments field. ~ Ali
Pregnancy and Lactation May Affect Maternal Behavior and Coping Skills (Newswise)
In the October 2006 issue of the journal Endocrinology, a collaborative research study by scientists at Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University and the University of Otago Medical School in Dunedin, New Zealand, shows that pregnancy and lactation in rodents produce long-term changes in hormone receptor actions in a mother’s brain that may affect maternal behavior as well as her response to stress.
“It appears that hormonal changes occurring in rats after they nurse their pups may bring about endocrine and neuroendocrine changes that help produce better mothering skills with each pregnancy and reduce the mother’s anxiety levels as she matures,” said Robert S. Bridges, PhD, the senior author of this paper and head of the reproductive biology section at Tufts’ Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine.
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“It appears that hormonal changes occurring in rats after they nurse their pups may bring about endocrine and neuroendocrine changes that help produce better mothering skills with each pregnancy and reduce the mother’s anxiety levels as she matures,” said Robert S. Bridges, PhD, the senior author of this paper and head of the reproductive biology section at Tufts’ Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine.
click to read more...
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
Heavy moms less apt to stick with breastfeeding (Reuters.co.uk)
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Overweight and obese women are less likely than normal-weight women to keep breastfeeding their infants for six months or longer, a study from Australia shows.
Dr. Wendy Hazel Oddy of the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research in Perth and colleagues looked at 1,803 children and their mothers participating in a large pregnancy study. Eighteen percent of the women were overweight or obese before becoming pregnant.
After the researchers adjusted for factors including socioeconomic status and years of education, they found that women who were overweight or obese were less apt to attempt breastfeeding at all and those that did were less likely to continue breastfeeding.
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Dr. Wendy Hazel Oddy of the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research in Perth and colleagues looked at 1,803 children and their mothers participating in a large pregnancy study. Eighteen percent of the women were overweight or obese before becoming pregnant.
After the researchers adjusted for factors including socioeconomic status and years of education, they found that women who were overweight or obese were less apt to attempt breastfeeding at all and those that did were less likely to continue breastfeeding.
click to read more...
Extended Breast-feeding (WKOW 27)
A local author has touched off a firestorm of emotion in an article she's written for this week's issue of Salon, an online magazine. In her article Judith Woodburn examines extended breastfeeding-or nursing beyond the age of one. She also shares that she continues to breastfeed her four-year-old son. It’s an act that’s often seen as taboo, but 27 News has learned there is a solid case for extended breastfeeding…even though those who do it are often secretive, and those who see it are often shocked.
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Sunday, September 17, 2006
Finding a Place to Breastfeed at Work (Shore Publishing, LLC)
Stonington - Some female employees steal away to an office bathroom stall to do it while others have secure access to relaxing, company-furnished rooms. For breastfeeding mothers, doing so in the workplace can depend entirely on employers.
According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, “Many women stop breastfeeding when they return to work outside the home. Because of this, not enough babies in this country are breastfed, and few are breastfed for one year. The Academy believes that more babies would receive the benefits of breast milk if more employers provided appropriate facilities and adequate time in the workplace for expression of breast milk.”
In 2001, state legislation was enacted so employers would make a “reasonable effort” to provide convenient places for working mothers to express milk or nurse their babies; specifically, a “place near the work area that is not a toilet stall,” as long as that effort doesn't place undue hardships on employers. Even with the passage of that legislation five years ago, working mothers are still experiencing wildly different workplace arrangements for breastfeeding.
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According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, “Many women stop breastfeeding when they return to work outside the home. Because of this, not enough babies in this country are breastfed, and few are breastfed for one year. The Academy believes that more babies would receive the benefits of breast milk if more employers provided appropriate facilities and adequate time in the workplace for expression of breast milk.”
In 2001, state legislation was enacted so employers would make a “reasonable effort” to provide convenient places for working mothers to express milk or nurse their babies; specifically, a “place near the work area that is not a toilet stall,” as long as that effort doesn't place undue hardships on employers. Even with the passage of that legislation five years ago, working mothers are still experiencing wildly different workplace arrangements for breastfeeding.
click to read more...
Controversial formula feeding may cause death (IOL)
London - Children who had not been breastfed were more at risk during the diarrhoea outbreak of November 2005/February 2006 after major flooding in Botswana, says the UK-based National Aids Map (NAM) organisation.
In its September 'HIV and Aids treatment in practice' newsletter, it said 470 children who were under five years old died in the 12 health districts of Botswana surveyed. Indications were that the total could have been as high as 574.
"One village we visited lost 30 percent of formula-fed babies - none other - during the outbreak," the US Centre for Disease Control's (CDC) Dr Tracey Creek said.
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In its September 'HIV and Aids treatment in practice' newsletter, it said 470 children who were under five years old died in the 12 health districts of Botswana surveyed. Indications were that the total could have been as high as 574.
"One village we visited lost 30 percent of formula-fed babies - none other - during the outbreak," the US Centre for Disease Control's (CDC) Dr Tracey Creek said.
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Most Malaysian Mothers Are Shy To Breastfeed (Malaysian National News Agency)
KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 16 (Bernama) -- Very few Malaysian mothers fully breastfeed their offspring, a senior official of the Malaysian Child Welfare Council said Saturday.
Tan Sri Zaleha Ismail, who is president of the Malaysian Child Welfare Council, said a study on national health and morbidity conducted from 1996 to 2005 showed that only 29 per cent of mothers breastfed their babies fully and continuously for four months.
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Tan Sri Zaleha Ismail, who is president of the Malaysian Child Welfare Council, said a study on national health and morbidity conducted from 1996 to 2005 showed that only 29 per cent of mothers breastfed their babies fully and continuously for four months.
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Battle for the breast (Sun.Star Davao)
IN A secluded space outside the barangay's health center is a woman trying to hush her baby with a bottle of thin milk. Emaciated, both of them, the baby's eyes had that somber expression of malnutrition very different from the curious glints in the eyes of babies that we love to play peek-a-boo with.
The health center was still closed, work hours hasn't started yet, but the surroundings are starting to fill up with women with their toddlers and children.
A better-dressed woman, dyed hair and all, arrives, a teenage girl tagging along carrying that baby kit bag -- those plastic, cushiony bags that come in pastel shades, and decorated with tiny flowers -- and shaking a freshly-made baby formula bottle. The better-dressed woman motions to the teenage girl with a wide sweep of her hand, calling the attention of those around as well, and quite loudly asks whether she alrady needs to buy another can of a certain brand of milk formula (the one that prides itself about making gifted children).
"Show off," I mumbled.
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The health center was still closed, work hours hasn't started yet, but the surroundings are starting to fill up with women with their toddlers and children.
A better-dressed woman, dyed hair and all, arrives, a teenage girl tagging along carrying that baby kit bag -- those plastic, cushiony bags that come in pastel shades, and decorated with tiny flowers -- and shaking a freshly-made baby formula bottle. The better-dressed woman motions to the teenage girl with a wide sweep of her hand, calling the attention of those around as well, and quite loudly asks whether she alrady needs to buy another can of a certain brand of milk formula (the one that prides itself about making gifted children).
"Show off," I mumbled.
click to read more...
Got milk? Popular breastfeeding organization holds walkathon this Sunday (The Hudson Reporter)
"Mother's milk is the gold standard in terms of what is needed to nourish your baby," argues Jennifer Lisimachio of Jersey City. "It is Mother Nature's perfect food."
But some mothers, particularly those who don't have the time or inclination, don't see it that way.
Lisimachio's group feels the need to educate them. She is one of several "leaders," as they call themselves, who helm a popular group called La Leche League that meets monthly in Jersey City and Hoboken.
The League is an international, nonprofit, nonsectarian organization that supports and educates mothers about breastfeeding (see sidebar).
They will commemorate World Breastfeeding Week by holding a fundraiser today (Sunday, Sept. 17) from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in Hoboken and Jersey City, seeking to raise awareness of the benefits of breastfeeding.
click to read more...
But some mothers, particularly those who don't have the time or inclination, don't see it that way.
Lisimachio's group feels the need to educate them. She is one of several "leaders," as they call themselves, who helm a popular group called La Leche League that meets monthly in Jersey City and Hoboken.
The League is an international, nonprofit, nonsectarian organization that supports and educates mothers about breastfeeding (see sidebar).
They will commemorate World Breastfeeding Week by holding a fundraiser today (Sunday, Sept. 17) from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in Hoboken and Jersey City, seeking to raise awareness of the benefits of breastfeeding.
click to read more...
Friday, September 15, 2006
Hundreds of thousands of bottles of baby formula recalled (CNN.com)
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Abbott health care company is recalling hundreds of thousands of bottles of infant formula because they might not have enough vitamin C.
The recall is for approximately 100,000 32-ounce plastic bottles of Similac Alimentum Advance liquid formula and approximately 200,000 bottles of Similac Advance with Iron, Abbott spokeswoman Tracey Noe said Friday.
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The recall is for approximately 100,000 32-ounce plastic bottles of Similac Alimentum Advance liquid formula and approximately 200,000 bottles of Similac Advance with Iron, Abbott spokeswoman Tracey Noe said Friday.
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Baby gets fed, contentedly (The Jersey Journal)
HOBOKEN - Tuesday night's school board meeting was business as usual, as board member Theresa Minutillo's breast-feeding went unremarked.
Twice during the meeting, Minutillo held her 3-month-old daughter, Gabriela Italia Gross, under a pink blanket - a discreet cover for the infant to nurse.
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Twice during the meeting, Minutillo held her 3-month-old daughter, Gabriela Italia Gross, under a pink blanket - a discreet cover for the infant to nurse.
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Uh Oh, Toys R Us Goes Up Against Breastfeeding Moms (Gothamist)
Is Toys 'R Us right to not want to be Ta-Tas 'R Us? Or should they be more forgiving of their customers who are feeding future customers? Or is everyone crying over unspilt milk? A Brooklyn mother claims she was harassed by three or four female store employees when she breast fed her 7 month old son at the Times Square Toys 'R' Us on Monday. Chelsi Meyerson says she went to an "out of the way" place to nurse son Mason, but soon after, a store employee said, "You have to go down to the basement to do that." More employees appeared to tell Meyerson she had to move because there were "children around," and then the store's security was called in. Now, Meyerson has called in the New York Civil Liberties Union, which has asked the toy retailer for an apology and "appropriate compensation," as NY State civil rights law permits women the right to breast-feed wherever they like.
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Changes At Breastfeeding Clinic Cause Concern (from Oxford Mail)
A woman campaigning against changes to a world-renowned breastfeeding clinic fears milk supplies for mums with premature babies will be hit.
That was the warning yesterday from Julia Horsnell, chairman of the John Radcliffe Hospital's maternity services liaison committee, who has been campaigning to save the clinic, which opened at Oxford's John Radcliffe Hospital in 1991.
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That was the warning yesterday from Julia Horsnell, chairman of the John Radcliffe Hospital's maternity services liaison committee, who has been campaigning to save the clinic, which opened at Oxford's John Radcliffe Hospital in 1991.
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NYCLU Threatens To Sue Toys R' Us Over Treatment of a Breastfeeding Shopper (The New York Sun)
The New York Civil Liberties Union claims that Toys "R" Us employees harassed a shopper who was breastfeeding her infant this week at the 42nd Street store.
In a letter sent to company headquarters in Wayne, N.J., yesterday, a lawyer with the NYCLU claims the company violated the state's basic civil rights law and demanded a public apology and compensation for the mother.
A lawsuit could follow if the demands are not met, the lawyer, Elisabeth Benjamin, said, in an interview yesterday.
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In a letter sent to company headquarters in Wayne, N.J., yesterday, a lawyer with the NYCLU claims the company violated the state's basic civil rights law and demanded a public apology and compensation for the mother.
A lawsuit could follow if the demands are not met, the lawyer, Elisabeth Benjamin, said, in an interview yesterday.
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Controversy over breast fedding in NYC store (7Online.com)
(Times Square - WABC, September 14, 2006) - A young mother is demanding an apology after she claims she was harassed at the Toys "R" Us store in Times Square.
The mom was breast feeding her 7-month-old son in the back of the store when she says a sales person told her it was "inappropriate" and then called security.
Seven-month-old Mason Meyerson has no clue his hunger put him in the center of a civil rights debate between a toy store giant and the New York Civil Liberties Union.
"It was harassment, it was uncomfortable, it was embarrassing, it was demeaning," Chelsi Meyerson said.
click to read more...
The mom was breast feeding her 7-month-old son in the back of the store when she says a sales person told her it was "inappropriate" and then called security.
Seven-month-old Mason Meyerson has no clue his hunger put him in the center of a civil rights debate between a toy store giant and the New York Civil Liberties Union.
"It was harassment, it was uncomfortable, it was embarrassing, it was demeaning," Chelsi Meyerson said.
click to read more...
Mom: Boobs at Toys R Us hassled me over nursing (New York Daily News)
A Brooklyn mom is threatening to stage a "nurse-in" outside Toys R Us after workers at the flagship Times Square store allegedly hassled her when she breast-fed her baby there.
Chelsi Meyerson, 29, of Ditmas Park is livid that store workers swooped down on her when she started breast-feeding her 7-month-old son, Mason, during a family trip there on Monday.
She contends they ordered her to go to a basement room and threatened to call security - a charge the store denies.
"I was harassed, hassled and embarrassed. It was very humiliating," Meyerson told the Daily News last night. "It was a big deal for me. They treated me like a criminal."
click to read more...
Chelsi Meyerson, 29, of Ditmas Park is livid that store workers swooped down on her when she started breast-feeding her 7-month-old son, Mason, during a family trip there on Monday.
She contends they ordered her to go to a basement room and threatened to call security - a charge the store denies.
"I was harassed, hassled and embarrassed. It was very humiliating," Meyerson told the Daily News last night. "It was a big deal for me. They treated me like a criminal."
click to read more...
Toys R Us violates civil law by barring breastfeeding in store, NYCLU warns
September 14, 2006 -- The NYCLU today warned the Toys R Us company that it had violated civil rights law by telling a mother that she could not breastfeed her infant in a store.
A saleswoman approached Chelsi Meyerson after she began to breastfeed her seven-month-old son in an out-of-the-way section of the Toys R Us store on 42nd Street in Manhattan, where she was shopping with her family. The saleswoman informed Meyerson that she was not "allowed" to breastfeed in the store unless she moved to the basement, and that her breastfeeding was "inappropriate" because there were "children around." When Meyerson asserted that she was in the right and refused to move, four more store employees harassed her, and the original saleswoman called security.
"Breastfeeding is not a crime, and the right to breastfeed is simply not a right that I am willing to give up," Meyerson said. "This incident was humiliating and dismaying. I'm asking Toys R Us to guarantee that it will never happen again."
click to read more...
A saleswoman approached Chelsi Meyerson after she began to breastfeed her seven-month-old son in an out-of-the-way section of the Toys R Us store on 42nd Street in Manhattan, where she was shopping with her family. The saleswoman informed Meyerson that she was not "allowed" to breastfeed in the store unless she moved to the basement, and that her breastfeeding was "inappropriate" because there were "children around." When Meyerson asserted that she was in the right and refused to move, four more store employees harassed her, and the original saleswoman called security.
"Breastfeeding is not a crime, and the right to breastfeed is simply not a right that I am willing to give up," Meyerson said. "This incident was humiliating and dismaying. I'm asking Toys R Us to guarantee that it will never happen again."
click to read more...
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
Milk bank helping new mothers (ABC Australia)
KERRY O'BRIEN: Still on motherhood - while breastfeeding isn't of course the only option to feed babies, it's acknowledged by the World Health Organisation as the ideal food for the healthy growth and development of infants but many women have trouble producing enough milk or in cases of premature birth, producing milk at all, and have had to use formula. Now Australia's first breast milk bank in Perth is providing mothers with an alternative and drawing international praise along the way. Hamish Fitzsimmons reports.
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