It can be hard to know how a breastfeeding mother and family will be affected by laws. First of all it can be hard to find out what the laws say. Then knowing what they say isn’t enough – most of us that aren’t lawyers (that is, most of us) need help understanding what the…
Author: AdriaC
Doulas are awesome…
I don’t think I can say this often enough: The easiest way to get breastfeeding off to a good start is a birth that is as natural as possible. Of course a natural birth doesn’t guarantee that breastfeeding will be trouble-free and birth interventions don’t mean that breastfeeding won’t go just fine. It is just…
Working and pumping: where to find out more about the law
Last year a new law was passed that requires employers to provide a space and break time for breastfeeding mothers to pump for their babies. These links have information about what the law provides and how to file a complaint. One nice thing about the law is that it acknowledges the variation between mothers in…
Great latch article
My friend Nora just gave me a heads-up on this article by Fleur Bickford on the Best for Babes site. There are so many unhelpful things out there about latch – so many detailed instructions about specific positions that don’t actually work for all mothers and babies. Many of these detailed instructions seem to put…
Resource links for health care providers
I just added a category of links on my library page for health care providers. These are resources for people that are working with breastfeeding women and babies that need information about medications, evidence-based protocols for common situations, and donor milk. I will add more over time.
How can doulas support their breastfeeding clients?
This post is a summary of what I’m talking about at a local doula meeting this evening. Anyone that wants to suggest additional ideas please comment. References for many of the facts that I cite can be found in Linda Smith’s book, Impact of Birthing Practices on Breastfeeding. First and most important, doulas support their…
Where’s the mother?
I have been listening to a talk by Dr. Joy Noel-Weiss on how breastfeeding professionals talk about breastfeeding (GOLD11 conference). She notes that we refer to the breast instead of mother’s or your breast. She also points out that many or even most breastfeeding photos show just the baby with maybe a little bit of…
What does mama milk look like?
I just discovered this collection of photographs on the Stanford Medical School Newborn Nursery website. It has pictures of things that are common and uncommon, of concern and not. It has pictures of mature breastmilk, green expressed milk (not a problem by the way), baby poop, tongue-tie, and many other things. This looks like a…
Sleep research
Since nursing babies that wake at night usually want to breastfeed, nighttime waking concerns are often seen as a breastfeeding problem. A new study in Pediatrics presents information about how babies sleep that could lead to problems for breastfeeding families if it is seen as how babies should sleep. It says in summary: CONCLUSIONS The…
Breastpumps and flexible medical spending accounts
The exclusion of breastpumps from accepted flexible medical spending account spending made the front page of the New York Times this week. Breastfeeding advocates have been frustrated by this apparent lack of support for breastfeeding but a thoughtful post from Alison Stuebe of the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine points out how complicated this issue is:…
Madison Breastfeeding Help 