World Breastfeeding Week

Happy World Breastfeeding Week!!!

to everyone except those of us in Canada who celebrate WBW in the first week of October, because the first week of August is all about the long weekend, camping, ferry line-ups, cottages, and the big B's in our lives now are b&bs, bbq's, and beer. Not boobs & babies. So this will be coming at you again in October but for the rest of the world - -

The theme this year is "Breastfeeding: The First Hour - Save a Million Lives!"

Important new public health studies indicate that initiating breastfeeding during the first hour of life can save a million children's lives worldwide.

Just think about that.

One little intervention, one message. Initiate breastfeeding within one hour of birth. Delay is deadly. Initiation breastfeeding after Day 3 is associated with a six times greater risk of death.

Neonatal mortality could be reduced by 24% if 99% of infants initiated breastfeeding on day 1 of life and by 31% if 99% of initiation was within the first hour.
Numbers of lives saved were estimated to be 867,000 and 1,117,000 in these two cases.

(Dr. Arun Gupta, Gold '07 conference)

And the best part? Babies know how to do it. All by themselves.

One of the things I do IRL, is sit on the BC Baby Friendly Network where I'm the webfrau of the website.

Check out my 'baby' (newly revamped this spring!) and if you click over the World Breastfeeding Week resources page, you can see the amazing Breast Crawl video & see how clever babies are.

Reducing neonatal and U5 (that's "under 5 years of age) mortality rates is part of the millenium goals - here's one small intervention that packs a punch.

Remember that you in the industrialized world have a role to play.

- set a good example and breastfeed your babies. Some women in the developing countries feel bottle feeding is 'Western' and 'modern'. Let women around the world know the importance of breastfeeding by demonstrating your commitment to it.

- if you support charitable organizations or missions in the developing world, make sure everyone is aware of the importance of promoting breastfeeding to those populations. Make sure the organizations are aware of the ethical issues surrounding donations of baby formula. Ideally, there should be a policy on breastfeeding promotion and all ground workers and volunteers should be made aware of the public health importance of promoting breastfeeding.

- become aware of corporations who engage in agressive and misleading advertising campaigns in the developing world, luring women to use breast milk subsitutes which compromise their children's health. Check out IBFAN, especially the documents under Codewatch. Also read about the Nestle boycott at Baby Milk Action. (Now you'll know why there's never Haagen Daz at my house.)

- if you're currently lactating, or will be on September 29, join the Quintessence Breastfeeding Challenge & be part of a large group of women, all 'latching on' at the same time to bring attention to the importance of breastfeeding. You can register on your own, invite a few friends over for a small event, get a large group together with your local hospital or public health unit, or join an event already planned in your area. Every breastfeeding baby counts.

Food Banks & Infant Formula

I am so glad INFACT put out this statement.

INFACT Canada would like to remind all our members to donate generously to food banks this holiday season. We would also like to warn against the dangers of donating infant formula to such institutions, however. Free infant formula should only be given out to mothers on the advice of health professionals, and free samples must be given for the entire duration that the infant is formula-fed in order to ensure that he or she receives adequate nutrition. Because breastmilk is always free and provides optimal nutrition, low-income mothers and babies have the most to gain from breastfeeding. Free samples of formula deter breastfeeding and are therefore not in the best interest of mothers and babies in need. Instead, we encourage our members to work with food banks to develop breastfeeding support.

Source

boob lady is still here

Some of you may know already that I'm an IBCLC. That's an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (really rolls off your tongue, eh?). I am also a retired La Leche League Leader. I still work a bit in the industry, in the health professional continuing education end of things. For years, our home has been littered with books about breastfeeding, anatomical pictures of breasts, and knitted breasts. Each of my kids was breastfed for a LONG, LONG time. Years, and years. I am still convinced in my heart and soul that breastfeeding is the best thing for babies and moms, and that it is a critical part of preventive healthcare.

I retired from LLL for a number of reasons, but one of them was that I just didn't want to talk with whingy moms anymore. My cup of compassion had been drained. (yes, now is when you make the B cup jokes, and ask whether I shouldn't have used the word 'sucked' instead). I kept picking up the phone, talking the mom through the problem - and frankly it was often not a problem at all, just her perception that there is something wrong with the normal - and I wanted to scream 'Look, just wean & get off the damned phone!!!', which is when I knew it was time to hang-up my LLL bra because if there's one thing new moms don't need, it's another person saying, it's ok, you tried, and it's your body, and your decision and you need to do what's right for you (in syrupy voice). There are enough of those nay-sayers in the world and nobody is going to get my permission (because yes, that's often what they're seeking) to quit.

If I had been reading M-mv back then, I probably would have said:
It's. Not. That. Hard.

Oh, I know it can be hard. Believe me, IBCLC's learn about the hardest conditions. No breasts, no nipples, nipples with no openings, babies with deformed palates, babies with no muscle tone. We know how hard it can be. But the bread and butter of our business is moms with just a few small problems and an abysmal lack of confidence and support.

But I digress. The point was, sometime, quite a while ago for me, the spark went out. I scaled back my boob activities, I just couldn't get excited about the newest artificial breast milk advertising scandal, about the harassment breastfeeding women were experiencing etc etc. I stopped writing letters to the ed, to the health minister, to the CEO's of hospitals.....

But on Saturday, I was reading a story on the BBC news website about breastfeeding's protective effects against developing coeliac disease. The story ended with the statement that the WHO recommends breastfeeding for 6 months.

Like hell it does.

The recommendation is exclusive breastfeeding for 6 months. Thereafter breastfeeding should continue, with the addition of suitable complementary foods for 2 years or beyond.

And from somewhere I got the energy to write the editor, explain the difference, and ask her to make the change. And she did.

And I also got the energy to tell you about it.

Come on, you know why.

Yup, it's because of the boxes.

the AAP is crazy

I'm putting on my professional IBCLC hat on. The AAP has put out new recommendations for the use of pacifiers to prevent SIDS. The AAP also reiterated its opposition to co-bedding, but has come out in favour of having the baby in the same room as the parents.

What do you need to know about this?

The AAP has a Section on Breastfeeding which requested to review this recommendation and give its input. The request was denied.

Numerous studies have shown pacifiers reduce breastfeeding duration. For those that haven't been listening in the last few years, you're supposed to breastfeed your baby for AT LEAST 1 year, with the the first 6 months being exclusive. Study after study shows that when you introduce a pacifier, it's harder to continue breastfeeding. Why? It's simple, IMO. You start to find it awfully convenient to plug a baby up for 'just a few minutes' instead of taking the time to meet their needs by breastfeeding. And the baby starts to prefer a piece of plastic to you.

Pacifier use is also associated with higher rates of ear infections and dental problems.

Breasts are all the pacifiers a baby needs. Nature designed them to pacify, soothe, and nourish.

Breastfed babies have lower rates of SIDS. These recommendations are lumping together babies who are breastfed and babies who are artificially fed. These are two different populations, with differing needs.

Some researchers theorize that SIDS is caused by the babies falling into a very deep sleep and having a hard time arousing themselves. Breastfed babies arouse more easily than babies fed the artificial stuff.

When mothers and babies sleep together in a safe environment, the mother is very attuned to the baby. The slight noise of the mother being nearby may be protective in stopping the baby from falling too deeply asleep. And an attuned mother who is physically close to her baby is more likely to sense a problem.

The Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine will be releasing a statement on this subject. Watch for it here. In the meantime, read their statement on co-sleeping.

And see the brilliant work of James McKenna, who researches how cultural biases shift supposedly 'objective medical research'. His Mother Baby Sleep Laboratory at the University of Notre Dame is doing groundbreaking work on this subject.

The other thing you need to know is that the AAP has in the past demonstrated that it is not immune to pressure and lobbying from formula manufacturers. See details here. Science is perverted not only by cultural bias, but by money.

Oh wait, there is one more thing you need to know. For thousands of years breastfeeding and co-sleeping were the norm. If our ancestors had decided to leave the babies in the cave next door, with perhaps a little piece of bone as a soother, we would not have survived as a species because the predators would have eaten us. Indeed, for most of the people living now on this earth, breastfeeding and co-sleeping are still the norm. When you live in a mud shack with your 12 relatives, you are not going to be placing your baby in a crib down the hall, with a piece of silicone in their mouth.

Breastfeeding in times of crisis - AAP statement

Did you know I'm an IBCLC (International Board Certified Lactation Consultant)? I am. And so I was watching with jaded eye, waiting for the formula companies to move in with donations of free formula. Didn't have to wait long. The companies are profiting from the disaster in violation of international guidelines for infant feeding in emergencies.

In emergency relief operations, breastfeeding for infants should be protected, promoted and supported. Any donated supplies of breastmilk substitutes (or other products covered by the Code) may be given only under strict conditions (if infant has to be fed with breastmilk substitute); the supply is continued for as long as the infants concerned need it; and the supply is not used as a sales inducement.

The American Academy of Paediatrics issued an open letter on the subject. Here is the complete text:

An Open Letter to Health Care Providers Attending to Families Affected
by Hurricane Katrina: The Role of Human Milk and Breastfeeding

September 7, 2005

You are caring for children and adults under the most stressful and distressing situations during this post-Hurricane Katrina period. We all thank you and honor you for this heroic effort.

Please consider the value of human milk and breastfeeding as an important component of this care of both young children and their mothers. Human milk is a valuable resource that can not only protect the vulnerable infant from disease, but can also promote psychological health and comfort during stressful times. Human milk reduces pain and promotes more rapid healing after injuries and infections. While maternal health is of great importance, it should be recognized that even the malnourished mother will produce milk of good quality for her infant.

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) states that "breastfeeding ensures the best possible health as well as the best developmental and psychosocial outcomes for infants." Under situations of displacement, poor sanitation, inadequate food resources, threats of infection, and severe anxiety, human milk and breastfeeding have a particularly important role to play in protecting the vulnerable infant from infection and psychological trauma. One example of this protection is the remarkable reduction in diarrhea in breastfed infants who are exposed to shigella, a common cause of dysentery.

During this post-Hurricane Katrina time, health care workers should make every effort to promote breastfeeding by:

1) urging pregnant women to breastfeed immediately after delivery of their infant,

2) urging new mothers to start breastfeeding at any time during the early weeks after birth

3) urging breastfeeding mothers to continue exclusive breastfeeding for six months

4) urging breastfeeding mothers to continue breastfeeding for at least one year and longer, even after starting other foods.

La Leche League International and the Section on Breastfeeding of the American Academy of Pediatrics, as well as many other experts on breastfeeding, stand ready to assist you in your efforts to promote, protect and support breastfeeding and the use of human milk.

Lawrence M. Gartner, M.D.
Member, Professional Advisory Board of LLLI
Chair, Section on Breastfeeding of the AAP
Professor Emeritus, The University of Chicago

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