Showing posts with label breastfeeding. Show all posts
Showing posts with label breastfeeding. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
More protection found in breastmilk!
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/03/science/03milk.html?ref=health
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Just because it says it's organic . . .
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704464704575208752164666686.html?mod=dist_smartbrief#printMode
doesn't mean you still don't have to pay attention. The big thing is the baby formula. If you end up having to supplement breastfeeding then you should know what you're putting in your baby. I didn't check it out, giving him Similac Organic. Anyway, the way they manufacture DHA is in vats of mold. Yep, mold. I haven't done much research beyond that, but I don't really like the idea of mold being used to synthesize part of my baby's diet. Unfortunately, there aren't many options, but at least you should be an informed consumer.
doesn't mean you still don't have to pay attention. The big thing is the baby formula. If you end up having to supplement breastfeeding then you should know what you're putting in your baby. I didn't check it out, giving him Similac Organic. Anyway, the way they manufacture DHA is in vats of mold. Yep, mold. I haven't done much research beyond that, but I don't really like the idea of mold being used to synthesize part of my baby's diet. Unfortunately, there aren't many options, but at least you should be an informed consumer.
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Breastfeeding support at work
SEC. 4207. REASONABLE BREAK TIME FOR NURSING MOTH2
ERS.
3 Section 7 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938
4 (29 U.S.C. 207) is amended by adding at the end the fol5
lowing:
6 ‘‘(r)(1) An employer shall provide—
7 ‘‘(A) a reasonable break time for an employee to
8 express breast milk for her nursing child for 1 year
9 after the child’s birth each time such employee has
10 need to express the milk; and
11 ‘‘(B) a place, other than a bathroom, that is
12 shielded from view and free from intrusion from co13
workers and the public, which may be used by an em14
ployee to express breast milk.
15 ‘‘(2) An employer shall not be required to compensate
16 an employee receiving reasonable break time under para17
graph (1) for any work time spent for such purpose.
18 ‘‘(3) An employer that employs less than 50 employees
19 shall not be subject to the requirements of this subsection,
20 if such requirements would impose an undue hardship by
21 causing the employer significant difficulty or expense when
22 considered in relation to the size, financial resources, na23
ture, or structure of the employer’s business.
24 ‘‘(4) Nothing in this subsection shall preempt a State
25 law that provides greater protections to employees than the
26 protections provided for under this subsection.’’.
Yes, I went through the healthcare omnibus to find this for you, my loyal readers. If you work for a company employing at least 50 people, you are now given the right to pump at work in a private area, not a bathroom, as is necessary to you, for a year after giving birth. Now they just to extend that to all employers. And add some paid maternity leave. If I ever run for public office I am so making this part of my platform!
ERS.
3 Section 7 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938
4 (29 U.S.C. 207) is amended by adding at the end the fol5
lowing:
6 ‘‘(r)(1) An employer shall provide—
7 ‘‘(A) a reasonable break time for an employee to
8 express breast milk for her nursing child for 1 year
9 after the child’s birth each time such employee has
10 need to express the milk; and
11 ‘‘(B) a place, other than a bathroom, that is
12 shielded from view and free from intrusion from co13
workers and the public, which may be used by an em14
ployee to express breast milk.
15 ‘‘(2) An employer shall not be required to compensate
16 an employee receiving reasonable break time under para17
graph (1) for any work time spent for such purpose.
18 ‘‘(3) An employer that employs less than 50 employees
19 shall not be subject to the requirements of this subsection,
20 if such requirements would impose an undue hardship by
21 causing the employer significant difficulty or expense when
22 considered in relation to the size, financial resources, na23
ture, or structure of the employer’s business.
24 ‘‘(4) Nothing in this subsection shall preempt a State
25 law that provides greater protections to employees than the
26 protections provided for under this subsection.’’.
Yes, I went through the healthcare omnibus to find this for you, my loyal readers. If you work for a company employing at least 50 people, you are now given the right to pump at work in a private area, not a bathroom, as is necessary to you, for a year after giving birth. Now they just to extend that to all employers. And add some paid maternity leave. If I ever run for public office I am so making this part of my platform!
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Breast health
As you get closer to the end of your pregnancy, and closer to breastfeeding there are a few things to remember to make life a little easier on you and Baby. First of all, get rid of the underwire bras (unless it's impossible due to your size). Underwires can cut into your milk ducts funny impeding supply and even causing plugged ducts. Plus, so much more comfortable for sore breasts to be in soft cups. If you have larger breasts it will be more difficult to find them (last time around my department stores had about three styles, combined, and that was only for a C cup), but worth it.
Secondly, quit using soap on your breasts. Or lotion, or powder or anything except for nipple cream, if necessary. How would you like it if your food tasted like Chanel #5? Right now your nipples and the vicinity are producing oils (you may have broken out, or at least noticed the increase) that serve to clean and lubricate the area. Let your body take care of itself and just use water in the last month or so of pregnancy and after birth.
Speaking of wet, once you start breastfeeding, allow your breasts to air dry as much as possible. You can get yeast infections on your nipples (and in Baby's mouth) which are really hard to clear up. Proper drying can help prevent this. My midwives recommend going around topless as much as possible. I kept a burp cloth around for leakage, but tried to keep them bare (just ask the neighbors!). Obviously, this only works around the home, or at the beaches in Europe, but certainly in the evenings you can at least go braless. Also make sure to change the bra pads frequently. I bought reusable cotton ones, which worked great and I could just wash out in the sink in the evening (I bought a dozen pairs, so eventually they just went in the wash whenever I did a load). At night I slept on my back or side with a burp cloth over my breasts, which worked really well and was so much more comfortable than sleeping in a nursing bra. And I leaked a lot, until about a month after I stopped breastfeeding.
Breastfeeding books, of course, also have a ton of information, but here's the basics to start thinking about.
Secondly, quit using soap on your breasts. Or lotion, or powder or anything except for nipple cream, if necessary. How would you like it if your food tasted like Chanel #5? Right now your nipples and the vicinity are producing oils (you may have broken out, or at least noticed the increase) that serve to clean and lubricate the area. Let your body take care of itself and just use water in the last month or so of pregnancy and after birth.
Speaking of wet, once you start breastfeeding, allow your breasts to air dry as much as possible. You can get yeast infections on your nipples (and in Baby's mouth) which are really hard to clear up. Proper drying can help prevent this. My midwives recommend going around topless as much as possible. I kept a burp cloth around for leakage, but tried to keep them bare (just ask the neighbors!). Obviously, this only works around the home, or at the beaches in Europe, but certainly in the evenings you can at least go braless. Also make sure to change the bra pads frequently. I bought reusable cotton ones, which worked great and I could just wash out in the sink in the evening (I bought a dozen pairs, so eventually they just went in the wash whenever I did a load). At night I slept on my back or side with a burp cloth over my breasts, which worked really well and was so much more comfortable than sleeping in a nursing bra. And I leaked a lot, until about a month after I stopped breastfeeding.
Breastfeeding books, of course, also have a ton of information, but here's the basics to start thinking about.
Monday, April 5, 2010
Breastfeeding article
Morning bonus: http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/04/05/breastfeeding.costs/index.html?hpt=Sbin
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Breastfeeding: my dirty little secret
Still in pain, but it's time to move on, blog-wise.
I am a huge, huge advocate of breastfeeding. Unless you're a drug addict, it is the best thing to feed your baby. It's natural, it's usually on tap, and it's free. It contains everything nutritionally that your baby needs for the first year of life (although most babies are interested in solids before then). And it can also be incredibly difficult, painful and frustrating. Part of the problem is that we don't have a breastfeeding culture, I mean, before you have a baby, how many women do you see breastfeeding?
I couldn't do it, not exclusively, and I was horribly ashamed of it. My baby had sucking issues that took two and a half weeks to diagnose, I had an unsympathetic pediatrition and in the time it took to figure things out, my supply nearly dried up. After a month of working with a lactation consultant and the prescription drug Reglan, I was finally able to give him mainly breast milk. Then I had to go back to work. I was exhausted, overstressed, suffering from Postpartum Depression and had an extremely unsympathetic company. In the nine weeks that I attempted to be a working mom, my supply dropped precipitiously so that by the last week at work, pumping four times a day, I was getting an ounce or two of milk. Add in the fact that baby had been on the bottle for most of his waking hours at day care, and he had lost interest in my breasts. I dried up completely at seven and a half months and still mourn it (and I totally allowed the bottle before nap and bedtime for much longer than I should have because of my guilt, we finally got rid of them this weekend at seventeen and a half months).
To focus on the positive: this time around I know what I'm doing, even if my new baby still won't. I know and trust the lactation consultants at the hospital and will go in at the first sign of trouble. I swear that this time I will join La Leche League (I was too depressed to, last time). And each time you have a new baby, you have more milk ducts, and more milk production. The fact that I'm already up to a D from my little As this soon is also a good sign (last time my breasts didn't really grow until the end, which I've heard is a bad sign). So here is keeping my fingers crossed. Oh, and hopefully this time I will get over any shame of having problems much faster, too.
I am a huge, huge advocate of breastfeeding. Unless you're a drug addict, it is the best thing to feed your baby. It's natural, it's usually on tap, and it's free. It contains everything nutritionally that your baby needs for the first year of life (although most babies are interested in solids before then). And it can also be incredibly difficult, painful and frustrating. Part of the problem is that we don't have a breastfeeding culture, I mean, before you have a baby, how many women do you see breastfeeding?
I couldn't do it, not exclusively, and I was horribly ashamed of it. My baby had sucking issues that took two and a half weeks to diagnose, I had an unsympathetic pediatrition and in the time it took to figure things out, my supply nearly dried up. After a month of working with a lactation consultant and the prescription drug Reglan, I was finally able to give him mainly breast milk. Then I had to go back to work. I was exhausted, overstressed, suffering from Postpartum Depression and had an extremely unsympathetic company. In the nine weeks that I attempted to be a working mom, my supply dropped precipitiously so that by the last week at work, pumping four times a day, I was getting an ounce or two of milk. Add in the fact that baby had been on the bottle for most of his waking hours at day care, and he had lost interest in my breasts. I dried up completely at seven and a half months and still mourn it (and I totally allowed the bottle before nap and bedtime for much longer than I should have because of my guilt, we finally got rid of them this weekend at seventeen and a half months).
To focus on the positive: this time around I know what I'm doing, even if my new baby still won't. I know and trust the lactation consultants at the hospital and will go in at the first sign of trouble. I swear that this time I will join La Leche League (I was too depressed to, last time). And each time you have a new baby, you have more milk ducts, and more milk production. The fact that I'm already up to a D from my little As this soon is also a good sign (last time my breasts didn't really grow until the end, which I've heard is a bad sign). So here is keeping my fingers crossed. Oh, and hopefully this time I will get over any shame of having problems much faster, too.
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