This may seem like a dry, legalistic-sounding (maybe even boring) document but it says something that I find really exciting: Resolve that the Academy advise pediatricians not to provide formula company gift bags, coupons, and industry-authored handouts to the parents of newborns and infants in office and clinic settings Until we have donor milk readily…
Category: Breastfeeding
Good news/bad news or environmental contamination of breastmilk
You may have heard in the news that mothers’ milk is contaminated with toxic chemicals. It is true. It is also true that everyone agrees that breastmilk is the first choice food for babies. All major public health organizations promote breastfeeding. Even though we live in a world where harmful chemicals are in our environment…
Breastfeeding and the law – where to get information?
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…
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…
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:…
Why an IBCLC?
New video from the organization that certifies International Board Certified Lactation Consultants about how IBCLC’s are trained and what they do to help families: The video is a little bit dry but has useful information about what to expect. Also some really cute footage of babies in good positions with good latch. The video is…
Madison Breastfeeding Help 