Are you wondering what breastfeeding mothers should do to keep themselves and their babies healthy during the flu season? I’ve been wondering too as I read the recommendations from different health organizations as they try to figure out what makes sense with the swine flu.
General consensus: wash your hands, take care of yourself, and breastmilk is good for babies. Also, don’t lick pigs. (ok, so they don’t mention the pig-licking but I had to have an excuse to include this picture in my post)
I just want to put in a plug for the October collection of blog posts for breastfeeding mothers on the theme “What I wish I’d known then…”. Here’s a link to my own post on Happy Bambino’s blog — scroll down to link to the rest of the posts.
Sometimes feeding at the breast doesn’t work, sometimes it isn’t what a mother prefers. In any case, the numbers of mothers that exclusively pump and feed their babies their expressed milk are growing. The website ExclusivelyPumping.com looks like it has lots of useful information for mothers that are EPing.
Karen Gromada’s book and website are great resources for mothers of twins. The page that I just discovered is her collection of photos: nursing two babies in lots of positions. Ever wondered how you could nurse two babies while lying down? What about at the beach? Or while talking on the phone? Or if the babies are preemies? The ideas it reinforced for me are that 1) babies can be in just about any orientation to their mother while they nurse (reminder of Suzanne Colson’s biological nurturing thoughts) and 2) positioning usually gets a lot more flexible as babies get older. Anyway, check out her site — there’s good information there even for mothers of singletons.
This is so cool. Sometimes mothers are worried about breastfeeding their babies in public. Kathy O’Brien set out to change that with her Nursing “IS” Normal project. As part of the Madison Nursing Is Normal project, Lea Wolf took photos of Madison-area mothers nursing their babies out and about in Madison. If you’re like me and missed the gallery opening last Friday, it’s not too late. We can check it out on YouTube:
The good news: the American Academy of Pediatrics has officially endorsed the UNICEF/WHO 10 Steps to Successful Breastfeeding. You can read the letter below. The qualification: it’s not a whole-hearted endorsement. They devote a significant part of their letter saying that they don’t agree with avoiding pacifier use in breastfeeding infants.
Mothers are doing every kind of work now — including serving in the armed forces. Some of the challenges for breastfeeding mothers in the military seem to be shared by all working mothers. Others (as far as I can tell as a non-military person) are unique. I just found a website by a US navy veteran and IBCLC, Robyn Roche-Paull. It looks like she’s set up a forum, lists resources, and has a book. A taste of what she has to say:
Are you in the military? Are you pregnant and considering breastfeeding your baby but don’t think it is possible to combine military service and breastfeeding? You are not alone…. you are one of many in a long line of women that have decided to take on the challenge of combining motherhood and the military.
I’ve been meaning to post a link to Jennifer James’ breastfeeding blog (on Mothering.com) for ages. She puts up historical breastfeeding pictures, along with a little commentary and historical context. I find these such an interesting window into the breastfeeding and mothering world of women just a few generations ago. I look at them and see so much that is just like mothering today and I wonder what I can learn from them. Here’s a sample:
D-MER or “dysphoric milk ejection reflex” is the name for the brief rush of negative emotions that some women feel right before their milk lets down. It is something that mothers may be reluctant to talk about. Here’s a video.
