Visions of Breastfeeding

I wrote this post back in August during World Breastfeeding Week and am finally getting a chance to post it.



Some reminders to the pediatricians, perinatologists, and other care providers who may have forgotten (or never learned otherwise):

• Breastmilk DOES have everything all of the vitamins and nutrients that babies need. Really, they don't need vitamin drops made by a huge artificial baby milk company given to them daily. (Since Vitamin D is the 'hot button' on this topic, read this page if you want more info.)
  
• The amount that you express, by hand or with a pump, is NOT reflective of how much your baby gets when nursing, nor of your milk supply as a whole.
• Babies don't know how to read a clock. Please follow babies' signs and signals for as to when and how often to breastfeed. (Imagine someone telling you that you may not eat as it hasn't been X number of hours yet, even though your body is telling you that you are hungry.)
• Co-sleeping is SAFE and one of the best ways to promote breastfeeding in the early weeks. Please don't tell parents to simply not co-sleep, telling them they will kill their baby. Instead, please teach parents how to co-sleep safely. Sleeping snuggled in bed with baby happily nursing at the breast is far safer than an exhausted mother sitting in her arm chair nursing her baby, trying desperately to not drift off to sleep.)
• Nipple shields can be a useful tool when used judiciously. They are not a band-aid fix for sore nipples, baby not latching or not latching well, or every breastfeeding mother. Yes, nipple shields can save the breastfeeding relationship, but 99% of the times when I encounter them, they were unnecessary and cause problems.
  
• Babies do not all gain at the same rate. Read this, please! An excerpt:
  

  Many rules about weight gain are taken from observations of growth of formula feeding babies. They do not necessarily apply to breastfeeding babies. A slow start may be compensated for later by fixing the breastfeeding. Growth charts are guidelines only.

• Six months of age isn't a magic number. Babies don't suddenly begin needing solids at six months old. Many babies aren't interested in solids until they are 8-9 months old, and sometimes not until they are 12 months old. That is ok. Breastmilk is enough to meet the nutritional needs of a healthy baby for the first 12 months (and sometimes beyond).
• Rice cereal is not necessary. In fact, 'baby food' (the sort you buy in cans) is not necessary. Please, tell parents to skip the processed food (mainly, boxed rice cereal) and offer their baby real food when they are ready for solids. Fruit, vegetables, beans, meat, whole grains. The sort of iron that is in frortified baby cereals is nasty junk, nothing near as effective or good for your baby as the iron that is in breastmilk.
  
• Please visit Dr. Jack Newman's site. He is an amazing resource, and you can even email him directly with clinical questions.
  

I leave you with a quote from Dr. Grantly Dick-Read

A newborn baby has only three demands. They are warmth in the arms of its mother, food from her breasts, and security in the knowledge of her presence. Breastfeeding satisfies all three.

Unscrupulous

I am currently pumping milk once a day for donation for a sick adopted baby girl. I was nearly out of breastmilk freezer bags, so when I was at the grocery store yesterday, I picked some up. The grocery store is a large chain store, with one of those coupon machines that spit out coupons for you when you check out based upon what you purchased.

Imagine my surprise when I glanced at the coupons the cashier handed me, and one was for infant formula. Great, I thought. I suppose it must have been because they can tell I have a baby, since I was buying breastmilk freezer bags.

When I looked closer at the coupon, though, I couldn't suppress a disgusted laugh at what was written upon the coupon. It has a picture of a cute baby along with a picture of the formula which they were advertising (which I will not name, so as to not give them free advertising). The words read:

"Thinking of supplementing your breastfed baby? Consider X brand, our closest formula to breastmilk. Clinically proven to benefit infants in all three areas: growth, brain and eye, and immune system development."

So, not only were they targeting me because I had purchased a baby item, but they were banking on me, as a breastfeeding mother. You know, because I might not have enough milk, or maybe I don't like nursing in public or want to have a break from the task of nursing my beautiful boy..... right. And, you know, it is pretty close to breastmilk....its almost the same thing! Right???

Oh, it all just makes my blood boil.

It really makes me feel ill. I don't know how those who work in marketing for the formula industry sleep at night.

Public Perceptions of Breastfeeding

I did not write this, but it was too fabulous to not pass on. (I'm not sure of the original author, but whomever you are, thank you!!!)

Society is so sexualized that they have forgotten what God created
our breasts for in the first place. They throw hissy fits over
breastfeeding in public and expect us to feed our babies in dirty,
stinky bathrooms. So I ask you to judge for yourself, which breasts are
truly offensive here? And I understand some of you won't think ANY of
them are offensive. But I am making a point by showing how ridiculous
it is that society looks upon scantily clad women in sexy ads as ok,
even GREAT, but providing important nourishment and nutrients to your
child in public by breastfeeding is offensive, distasteful, disgusting,
whatever. Give me your feedback. :)


Wait... well, this is a bad example. Let's try again...

Hmmm... just a minute. Surely i can find better ones than these...

Eh... still not racy enough. I'll check one more time.

That's better. LOOK AT THAT! I see about an inch of boob! Totally disgusting.

Ugh! Look at that indecency!! She must be from some third-world country to be exposed like that!!

Now that's just... There's no words to describe how inappropriate that is. Something needs to be done!!



Now
this takes the cake!! How dare they actually put such a disgusting
image on the cover of a magazine where teenage boys might see it. This
simply must be disposed of ASAP via a shredder, before teenage boys
learn what boobs are really for!!


This just makes me want to vomit!

...but why stop at breastfeeding women? There are boobs
everywhere. Beware! If you thought the above photos were offensive, you
WILL DEFINITELY be offended by the photos below.




Not this one though. This was in plain view on newsstands and in mailboxes in 19 countries worldwide!

Not this one either. This one actually won an award!

Oh, and i guess this ones fine too, since everyone knows you can't sell jeans without someone being topless.

or beer, for that matter!

or sunglasses...

or movie tickets...

or CDs...

...you
know what? Maybe I'm crazy, but i think that someone mixed up some
photos here. The first batch are offensive, but the second batch are
just fine and dandy???

people who live in glass bras:


shouldn't throw stones:








Which message is healthier?

Breastfeeding which is medically approved to give HUMANS the best start in life. . . or


Images that promote STD's, unattainable beauty standards, sexual promiscuity, plastic surgery, and just plain TRUE indecency?

Which would you rather your daughter live up to?

Ifyou think women have the right to breastfeed their children no matter
where they are, please re-post this. The least you can do is help some
children get the best nutrition they can get. Breastfed babies have
lower instances of obesity, asthma, allergies, certain childhood
diseases, learning disabilities, and other health problems. For each
woman who feels like she shouldn't be breastfeeding right where she is,
there is an innocent baby who is losing out. Don't be responsible for
any child's health problems. support breastfed babies and their right
to eat in public like the rest of us.

A totally rockin' breastfeeding article!!

Dr. Jack Newman and Edith Kernerman talk about breastfeeding and answer mothers' questions here.

A little long, but well worth the read. There were some really choice quotes from Dr. Newman in here!

Elephant Suckling

"Elephant milk looks rather thin and watery but it is very nourishing and babies put on weight at a rate of 22-44 lb per month. They tend to suckle little and often."

From Eyewitness Books: Elepahant

Our mammal sisters have so much to teach us.

breastfeeding again

I am just blown away. Seriously! What is up with the pervasive amount of mis-information about breastfeeding???? Even from alternative health care practitioners......

In the last few days, I have talked with 2 different moms.

First mom's baby is about a month old. At 2 weeks old, she took her baby to the 'breastfeeding clinic' class that takes place twice a week at our local hospital. The lactation consultants there (called lactation specialists on their website, so probably not IBCLCs) determined that because she didn't gain much after nursing (leisurely) for 20 minutes, that the mother's supply was inadequate. Baby was fine otherwise, good output (wet/poopy diapers) thriving in all other aspects, not loosing weight, etc. They sent her home with formula (!!), a nipple shield (not surprising) and a SNS (which they didn't show her how to use at all). When I hear crap like this, I just want to throw up. Oh my. :( She had never tried the SNS because she had no idea how to use it. Of course, she could have gone back and asked for help, but why the hell would you give a mom (who you believe to have a low supply) a SNS without showing her HOW to use it????

This breastfeeding clinic consists of stripping baby down, weighing baby, nursing baby, then weighing baby. Then being told that you either have enough milk or don't. Total nonsense. That coupled with their love of handing out nipple shields like there is no tomorrow, and, I admit it, I have a very strong dislike of the class.

The second mom has a week old baby, and was having horrible sore nipples. Her midwife suggested giving her nipples a rest for a few days, and just pump or hand express milk and gave her a syringe feeder to feed her baby. Then, at a week, when it was apparent that the baby wasn't gaining, and was still loosing weight, she suggested she supplement with goat's milk. :( I can't be the only one who sees problems with this advice. It's the latch! It's the latch!! A poor latch will of course cause sore nipples. It will also lead to the baby not getting as much milk, and, because the breasts aren't being effectively drained, to a low milk supply. Which is where the mom is at now. Her supply is low, her baby is still losing weight. :( While I understand that you want to give mom a break from the horrible pain of sore nipples, stopping nursing is a very poor solution. It too will more often than not lead to low supply. Fixing the latch is the best solution for both mom and baby.

She took her baby in to see a naturopath doctor (who also happens to attend homebirths) and he told her that because she never experienced any physical breast changes (tenderness, growth, etc.) during pregnancy, she would never make enough milk. He suggested that it was perhaps because she had a lot of stress going on in her life during her pregnancy. What the....???? There have been studies that have shown that prenatal breast changes are NOT associated with milk supply at all. And, the bit about stress? In my opinion, a large number of women have a lot of stress during pregnancy. It seems that so much transitions and life changes suddenly occur when a woman is pregnant: moving, job changes, financial worries, and so on. If stress caused us to not make milk that easily, low milk supply would be a true problem for numerous women. Well, I guess low milk supply IS a common breastfeeding problem, but that is because of a whole other set of reasons (scheduled feedings, supplementing, poor latch, etc.).

It feels like there are so many factors that really undermine breastfeeding in our culture. Can I at least have hope that it won't last forever? Because I do, I really do.