Think you have to have a restricted diet while breastfeeding? Think again! Lactation Consultant Anne Smith has some interesting news about nutrition as well as postpartum weight loss for breastfeeding moms.
Don't be too restrictive
Most mothers are highly motivated to eat a nutritious diet during their pregnancies. Assuming that you ate an adequate diet while you were pregnant, you can produce plenty of milk for your baby by keeping up this motivation and making sure you continue your healthy eating patterns during lactation.
While you should attempt to eat a "good diet" while you are nursing, you need to be aware that your diet doesn't have to be perfect to support lactation. You can still breastfeed even if your diet is less than ideal. You may be surprised to learn that studies have shown that maternal nutrition has only a minor effect on the composition and quantity of breastmilk produced. Usually, unless a mother is severely malnourished, her milk is fine.
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Saturday, June 11, 2005
Partnership's goal is to fight obesity in South Carolina
A new fight against obesity - a rising challenge here in the Palmetto State and across the United States - is being spearheaded through a public-private partnership designed to help South Carolinians lead a healthier lifestyle.
The plan, Moving South Carolina Toward a Healthy Weight: Promoting Lifestyles and Healthy Communities, was developed by the South Carolina Coalition for Obesity and Prevention Efforts and is being promoted by the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control.
click to read more....
The plan, Moving South Carolina Toward a Healthy Weight: Promoting Lifestyles and Healthy Communities, was developed by the South Carolina Coalition for Obesity and Prevention Efforts and is being promoted by the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control.
click to read more....
Friday, June 10, 2005
Grandparenting: Public breast-feeding has come out of the closet
Our column on the pros and cons of public breast-feeding aroused a massive response. It had been set off by a Marietta, Ohio, "Granny" who complained that her granddaughter, a "ravishingly beautiful 21," loves to "show off" her first child, and her bosom, while breast-feeding in public. Instead, we suggested it should be done "discreetly," and possibly with a special blouse.
click to read more....
click to read more....
Breast feeding moms back bill
Mary Kniaz, a mother of five from Hopkinton, breast-fed all her children no matter where she was. Whether riding public transportation or traveling in faraway places like London or San Francisco, she was neither deterred nor encouraged to tuck her breast away from her baby's mouth.
"I learned how to do it discreetly, but confidently," Kniaz recalls.
Today Kniaz is a volunteer leader for the Ashland, Hopkinton and Holliston branch of La Leche League, an international organization dedicated to the promotion of breast-feeding.
Women like Kniaz say they welcome Natick state Rep. David Linsky's third try to get public breast-feeding legalized in Massachusetts.
If the measure passes, no woman could be charged with indecent exposure for breast-feeding in public. A $300 fine would also be levied to anyone who denied mothers this right. So far, 26 states have passed similar laws.
click to read more...
"I learned how to do it discreetly, but confidently," Kniaz recalls.
Today Kniaz is a volunteer leader for the Ashland, Hopkinton and Holliston branch of La Leche League, an international organization dedicated to the promotion of breast-feeding.
Women like Kniaz say they welcome Natick state Rep. David Linsky's third try to get public breast-feeding legalized in Massachusetts.
If the measure passes, no woman could be charged with indecent exposure for breast-feeding in public. A $300 fine would also be levied to anyone who denied mothers this right. So far, 26 states have passed similar laws.
click to read more...
Thursday, June 09, 2005
Women protest breastfeeding rights during "nurse-in" in Grand Rapids
(Grand Rapids, June 9, 2005, 1:02 p.m.) A group of Grand Rapids women wants to raise awareness about breastfeeding rights. These women say mothers who nurse in public are often times harassed and discriminated against. So they are holding in a "nurse-in" at Calder Plaza
on Thursday.
click to read more....
on Thursday.
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CBC New Brunswick - Breastfeeding numbers low in N.B.
FREDERICTON – A new study by the Canadian Institute for Health Information says mothers in New Brunswick are the least likely in the country to breastfeed.
The institute found that only one out of four new mothers in the province chose to breastfeed their babies for the first four months. The national average is one out of two.
The information was contained in the institute's annual report on health indicators, released Wednesday.
click to read more....
The institute found that only one out of four new mothers in the province chose to breastfeed their babies for the first four months. The national average is one out of two.
The information was contained in the institute's annual report on health indicators, released Wednesday.
click to read more....
Going public with breast-feeding
They call themselves "lactivists," and from New York City to Louisville, activist women are speaking out in favor of breast-feeding -- and in opposition to a series of what they see as negative comments about the practice on ABC's daytime talk show "The View."
The issue first came up last month, when co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck returned from maternity leave, announced that her month-old baby had switched from breast milk to formula -- and was applauded and praised by her "View" sisters and the studio audience.
Star Jones Reynolds, also one of the show's regulars, proceeded to voice her disgust over the practice.
And then, in late May, the show's co-executive producer, Barbara Walters, talked about public breast-feeding making her uncomfortable.
click to read more...
The issue first came up last month, when co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck returned from maternity leave, announced that her month-old baby had switched from breast milk to formula -- and was applauded and praised by her "View" sisters and the studio audience.
Star Jones Reynolds, also one of the show's regulars, proceeded to voice her disgust over the practice.
And then, in late May, the show's co-executive producer, Barbara Walters, talked about public breast-feeding making her uncomfortable.
click to read more...
Mom saves breast milk as she goes off to war
A story you won’t hear on the front lines of Operating Iraqi Freedom. An Oklahoma mom has 10 gallons of breast milk frozen for her baby boy. Every mom, who is called to serve our country, spends hours preparing to leave her children. Here is the story of one mom that will leave her son with the most precious gift she has to give.
click to read more...
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komo news | I'm All For This 'Cover Up'
SEATTLE - It was called a "nurse-in."
150 breastfeeding moms showed up outside ABC studios in Manhattan to protest something said by Barbara Walters.
And just what did she say?
Only that sitting next to a woman breastfeeding her baby on an airplane - no cover, no nothing! - made her uncomfortable.
click to read more....
Be sure to watch the video clip of this opinion piece - the anchor has something to say at the very end which made me cheer.
150 breastfeeding moms showed up outside ABC studios in Manhattan to protest something said by Barbara Walters.
And just what did she say?
Only that sitting next to a woman breastfeeding her baby on an airplane - no cover, no nothing! - made her uncomfortable.
click to read more....
Be sure to watch the video clip of this opinion piece - the anchor has something to say at the very end which made me cheer.
Wednesday, June 08, 2005
Breastfeeding OK when mom is on lithium
But doctor recommends infants get regular blood, kidney and thyroid hormone tests
Babies can safely breastfeed when their mother is taking the psychiatric drug lithium, a recent study shows.
click to read more...
Babies can safely breastfeed when their mother is taking the psychiatric drug lithium, a recent study shows.
click to read more...
Lawmaker files public breast-feeding bill again
BOSTON -- Mothers would be allowed to breast feed in public without fear of reprisals under a bill backed by MetroWest lawmakers.
State Rep. David Linsky, D-Natick, is pushing the legislation, which he has filed twice before, that strengthens women's right to breast feed in public places. It ensures breast-feeding women cannot be charged with crimes such as indecent exposure and calls for imposing fines of up to $300 against anyone who deprives them of the right to breast feed.
"When you have to feed the crying infant, you have to feed the crying infant, you can't wait," Linsky said yesterday before touting the bill to the Legislature's joint Judiciary Committee. "We just have to make it clear that it's not against the law."
While Linsky said no one incident prompted him to file the legislation, he said he knows of numerous times when women have been asked to stop breast-feeding by mall security guards and restaurant owners who did not know the women were not breaking the law.
click to read more....
State Rep. David Linsky, D-Natick, is pushing the legislation, which he has filed twice before, that strengthens women's right to breast feed in public places. It ensures breast-feeding women cannot be charged with crimes such as indecent exposure and calls for imposing fines of up to $300 against anyone who deprives them of the right to breast feed.
"When you have to feed the crying infant, you have to feed the crying infant, you can't wait," Linsky said yesterday before touting the bill to the Legislature's joint Judiciary Committee. "We just have to make it clear that it's not against the law."
While Linsky said no one incident prompted him to file the legislation, he said he knows of numerous times when women have been asked to stop breast-feeding by mall security guards and restaurant owners who did not know the women were not breaking the law.
click to read more....
Tuesday, June 07, 2005
Artist goes back to drawing board over breastfeeding boob
AN artist boobed after his painting of a breastfeeding mum attracted a number of complaints from staff on a maternity ward.
Jason Elliott, a 40-year-old father-of-two, from Bradshaw, Halifax, had painted the black and white picture using a photograph from an old medical journal.
But when it went on show at Calderdale Royal Hospital earlier this month some staff complained.
The acrylic painting shows a close up image of a woman's breast with a child suckling but infant feeding adviser Marilyn Rogers said it was important that examples of breastfeeding were accurate and this particular painting was not technically correct.
She said it should have showed the child's chin being supported.
click to read more...
Jason Elliott, a 40-year-old father-of-two, from Bradshaw, Halifax, had painted the black and white picture using a photograph from an old medical journal.
But when it went on show at Calderdale Royal Hospital earlier this month some staff complained.
The acrylic painting shows a close up image of a woman's breast with a child suckling but infant feeding adviser Marilyn Rogers said it was important that examples of breastfeeding were accurate and this particular painting was not technically correct.
She said it should have showed the child's chin being supported.
click to read more...
Lactose intolerant!
Nearly 150 angry moms - babies at their breasts - staged a peaceful "nurse-in" yesterday outside ABC's Manhattan studios in defense of mother's milk.
The women - self-named "lactivists" - took to the streets after Barbara Walters, interview queen and host of "The View," made what they consider disparaging comments about breast-feeding on the talk show.
Walters said she felt awkward sitting with her hairdresser next to a woman who was breast-feeding on an airplane.
"It made me very nervous," Walters said on the May 17 show. "She didn't cover the baby with a blanket. It made us uncomfortable."
Co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck, who is nursing her daughter, Grace, said she was "uncomfortable breast-feeding in general."
The show's hosts also seemed to celebrate the news that Hasselbeck's daughter had her first bottle of formula - spurring women in four cities to lift children to their breasts in a synchronized milk-in yesterday.
click to read more...
The women - self-named "lactivists" - took to the streets after Barbara Walters, interview queen and host of "The View," made what they consider disparaging comments about breast-feeding on the talk show.
Walters said she felt awkward sitting with her hairdresser next to a woman who was breast-feeding on an airplane.
"It made me very nervous," Walters said on the May 17 show. "She didn't cover the baby with a blanket. It made us uncomfortable."
Co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck, who is nursing her daughter, Grace, said she was "uncomfortable breast-feeding in general."
The show's hosts also seemed to celebrate the news that Hasselbeck's daughter had her first bottle of formula - spurring women in four cities to lift children to their breasts in a synchronized milk-in yesterday.
click to read more...
'Lactivists' Taking Their Cause, and Their Babies, to the Streets - New York Times
The calls for a "nurse-in" began on the Internet mere moments after Barbara Walters uttered a negative remark about public breast-feeding on her ABC talk show, "The View."
The protest, inspired by similar events organized by a growing group of unlikely activists nationwide in the last year, brought about 200 women to ABC's headquarters yesterday. They stood nursing their babies in the unmistakably public venue of Columbus Avenue and West 67th Street. They held signs reading, "Shame on View," and "Babies are born to be breastfed." Ms. Walters, who remarked a few weeks ago on the show that the sight of a woman breast-feeding on an airplane next to her had made her uncomfortable, said through a spokesman that "it was a particular circumstance and we are surprised that it warrants a protest."
But the rally at ABC is only the most visible example of a recent wave of "lactivism." Prodded by mothers who say they are tired of being asked to adjourn to the bathroom while nursing in a public space, six states have recently passed laws giving a woman the right to breast-feed wherever she "is otherwise authorized to be."
click to read more....
The protest, inspired by similar events organized by a growing group of unlikely activists nationwide in the last year, brought about 200 women to ABC's headquarters yesterday. They stood nursing their babies in the unmistakably public venue of Columbus Avenue and West 67th Street. They held signs reading, "Shame on View," and "Babies are born to be breastfed." Ms. Walters, who remarked a few weeks ago on the show that the sight of a woman breast-feeding on an airplane next to her had made her uncomfortable, said through a spokesman that "it was a particular circumstance and we are surprised that it warrants a protest."
But the rally at ABC is only the most visible example of a recent wave of "lactivism." Prodded by mothers who say they are tired of being asked to adjourn to the bathroom while nursing in a public space, six states have recently passed laws giving a woman the right to breast-feed wherever she "is otherwise authorized to be."
click to read more....
Mother nature gets a helping hand to nurse
FOR TENS of thousands of years, it was what women did naturally. Yet since breastfeeding fell out of fashion in the 1960s, the health service has faced an uphill struggle to get babies off the bottle. Public health campaigns have long extolled the benefits of breast milk for mother and baby. Infants who are breastfed are protected against a long list of conditions, including diarrhoeal illness, lower respiratory tract infection, middle ear infection, urinary tract infection, and juvenile onset diabetes.
Women who have breastfed experience long-term health benefits, reducing their risk of premenopausal breast cancer, ovarian cancer, and hip fractures in later life.
Despite the mounting evidence in favour of breastfeeding, rates in Scotland have remained stubbornly low. The latest statistics show that the average breastfeeding rate for babies aged six to eight weeks is only 35.9 per cent - well short of the Executive's target of having 50 per cent of mothers breastfeeding by 2005. In Lanarkshire, the rate is as low as 25 per cent.
click to read more....
Women who have breastfed experience long-term health benefits, reducing their risk of premenopausal breast cancer, ovarian cancer, and hip fractures in later life.
Despite the mounting evidence in favour of breastfeeding, rates in Scotland have remained stubbornly low. The latest statistics show that the average breastfeeding rate for babies aged six to eight weeks is only 35.9 per cent - well short of the Executive's target of having 50 per cent of mothers breastfeeding by 2005. In Lanarkshire, the rate is as low as 25 per cent.
click to read more....
Monday, June 06, 2005
Breastfeeding toddler elicits meddling from others
Never have I encountered so much meddling as when people discover I'm still nursing a child who's got eight teeth, a head full of hair and the ability to string sentences.
By their appalled reactions, one might assume I was putting a teenager to breast, not a 20-month-old toddler.
A couple of months ago, I was in a department store restroom, discreetly nursing so that shopping could continue in relative peace. A woman walked in and stared with disdain.
"How old is that child?" she snapped as she placed her parcels on the counter.
"She's in middle school," I lied, kissing the top of my tot's head. The woman made some muffled comment just as the water came rushing from the faucet.
click to read more....
By their appalled reactions, one might assume I was putting a teenager to breast, not a 20-month-old toddler.
A couple of months ago, I was in a department store restroom, discreetly nursing so that shopping could continue in relative peace. A woman walked in and stared with disdain.
"How old is that child?" she snapped as she placed her parcels on the counter.
"She's in middle school," I lied, kissing the top of my tot's head. The woman made some muffled comment just as the water came rushing from the faucet.
click to read more....
Sunday, June 05, 2005
Model turns supermum in one Elle of a campaign
Supermodel Elle Macpherson is calling on Chase Farm Hospital to get behind a campaign to boost support for breastfeeding mothers as part of her work with children's charity UNICEF.
Ms Macpherson, special ambassador for the United Nations Children's Fund, has written to ask hospital chiefs in The Ridgeway to introduce a series of measures to earn baby friendly' accreditation.
The mum-of-one writes: "Babies who are breast fed are less likely to suffer a wide range of illnesses, including gastroenteritis in infancy, childhood allergies and heart disease in adulthood."
She said that baby friendly hospitals had reported significant increases in the number of mothers who chose to breast feed.
click to read more...
Ms Macpherson, special ambassador for the United Nations Children's Fund, has written to ask hospital chiefs in The Ridgeway to introduce a series of measures to earn baby friendly' accreditation.
The mum-of-one writes: "Babies who are breast fed are less likely to suffer a wide range of illnesses, including gastroenteritis in infancy, childhood allergies and heart disease in adulthood."
She said that baby friendly hospitals had reported significant increases in the number of mothers who chose to breast feed.
click to read more...
Friday, June 03, 2005
dailypennsylvanian.com - Nursing class plugs benefits of breastfeeding
The effects of the community-based breastfeeding class that started at the School of Nursing 10 years ago are spreading not just throughout Philadelphia, but across the entire field of nursing.
Diane Spatz, a Nursing professor, started teaching "Case Study in Breastfeeding and Human Lactation" in 1995.
This seminar of between 15 and 23 students is offered every fall and consists of two hours of instruction and 14 hours of related work at community sites per week, in addition to an individual community-advocacy project.
The course "focuses on the community service that the students do [for] the advocacy of breastfeeding," Spatz said.
click to read more...
Diane Spatz, a Nursing professor, started teaching "Case Study in Breastfeeding and Human Lactation" in 1995.
This seminar of between 15 and 23 students is offered every fall and consists of two hours of instruction and 14 hours of related work at community sites per week, in addition to an individual community-advocacy project.
The course "focuses on the community service that the students do [for] the advocacy of breastfeeding," Spatz said.
click to read more...
Wednesday, June 01, 2005
Weaning Part 1 - Breastfeeding
Out of the blue one day, your husband or significant other, whom you love very much, informs you that he no longer wants to hug or kiss or be intimate with you. You are stunned, shocked and bewildered because you had no idea there was anything wrong. He explains that there really isn’t anything wrong; it’s just time for the two of you to stop clinging to one another. He really loves you more now than ever, but it’s time for you to find another source of comfort because he’s decided that the hugs and kisses aren’t working for him any more. Dumbfounded, you also learn that when you try to hug him anyway, he quickly pushes you away. In fact, he has decided that every time you do hug him, you will get a quick “zap” similar to a dog who wears a bark collar. You think to yourself, “This is crazy. After years of marriage, this makes no sense. What is wrong with my husband? What is wrong with me?”
click to read more...
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Diabetes drug levels in breast milk insignificant
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - New findings show that women who are breastfeeding can be reassured that if they take metformin for diabetes it won't harm their baby.
Metformin is excreted into breast milk, but the levels are not enough to adversely affect blood sugar levels of nursing infants, according to the findings of a small study reported in the medical journal Obstetrics & Gynecology.
click to read more...
Metformin is excreted into breast milk, but the levels are not enough to adversely affect blood sugar levels of nursing infants, according to the findings of a small study reported in the medical journal Obstetrics & Gynecology.
click to read more...
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