In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month (BCAM) I bring you some important information on breast cancer:
~ If you are breastfeeding and scheduled for a breast biopsy, you could participate in a groundbreaking research study. Tanya at the Motherwear Breastfeeding Blog explains how “when you make milk, cells from your milk ducts are exfoliated off in the process. These are called epithelial cells, and they’re detectable in your milk. Past research has demonstrated that long before we notice a lump, those epithelial cells start changing in ways that are precursors to the development of breast cancer.” If you participate …read more

Recently a reader posted a comment seeking help on the question of leaking breast milk after a lumpectomy. This mother was nursing her one-month-old at the time of the surgery, and had had the incision glued and stitched several times in the month since, but breast milk continued to leak through the stitches. The delay in healing was compounding the stress of the lumpectomy. One doctor recommended weaning through the use of cabbage leaves and binding the breast tightly (please read on for a discussion of the dangers of that!)
While there are many resources online for dealing with breastfeeding initiated …read more

Cancer is the topic for this month’s theme day here at the Health and Wellness Channel at b5media. I have written a lot about how breastfeeding reduces the risk of breast cancer and ovarian cancer in the mother. This time I want to focus on cancer and the breastfed infant. The good news is that breastfeeding reduces the risk that a child will develop leukemia. Unfortunately, it can still happen. In that case, imagine what comfort a child with cancer could take from nursing at his mother’s breast, not to mention the potential benefit of the promising anti-cancer properties of …read more

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, which means it’s time for us to revisit the good news about breastfeeding and breast cancer. According to a Cornell University fact sheet:
“Although there are a few studies that report a decrease in the risk of breast cancer after only three or more months of breast-feeding, the evidence for risk reduction becomes more consistent the longer women breast-feed. The most consistent evidence of a relationship between breast-feeding and the risk of breast cancer has been reported in studies of Chinese women who breast-fed for long periods of time. In these studies, women who …read more

Breastfeeding lowers an infant’s risk of asthma, diabetes, diarrhea, ear infections, leukemia, obesity, respiratory tract infections, skin rashes, sudden infant death syndrome and more. That’s a veritable laundry list of the advantages of breastfeeding, and those are just the advantages for the baby. Breastfeeding has a tremendous positive impact on a mother’s health as well. A report entitled “Breastfeeding and Maternal and Infant Health Outcomes in Developed Countries” just got released by the U.S. government (the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) to be exact). The report reviewed 86 primary studies and …read more

Jessica Swimeley and her family have been staying at the Ronald McDonald House (RMH) in Houston, Texas, after one of her 17-month-old twins underwent brain surgery to remove a tumor. Jessica breastfeeds the twins and has found that breast milk is all her son will drink after the surgery. Naturally breast milk and nursing offer the ultimate comfort, pain relief and nutrition. Breast milk even has promising anti-cancer properties. One would think RMH of all places would be supportive of breastfeeding. Imagine Jessica’s surprise, then, when a RMH employee asked her to stop breastfeeding in the RMH common room where …read more

Breast self-examinations are an important tool for lactating women. Keep in mind the guidelines for doing an exam on lactating breasts. When you have a private moment and would like to see an example of how to perform a BSE, watch this video. The demonstration shows a live woman examining her naked breasts and thus may not be appropriate for watching at work or around children. Last time I checked, though, we’re all adults here.
VideoJug: How to Become Breast Self Aware
Should you and your doctor decide further testing is necessary, see X-Rays and Mammograms for Lactating Women.

Some women might be making new year’s resolutions to quit smoking. This article provides information (and not judgment!) about pregnancy, breastfeeding, smoking and quitting smoking.
First, some fast facts about breastfeeding and cigarette smoke:
~ It is far from ideal to smoke and breastfeed–but it is worse to smoke and not breastfeed. (1)
~ The half-life of nicotine is two hours, meaning that two hours after smoking a cigarette, half of the nicotine released into the body remains in the body. (2)
~ Nicotine decreases production of prolactin, the hormone that stimulates milk production. (3), (4)
~ Maternal smoking cuts breast milk production at two …read more

As we approach the end of the year, top 10 lists are popping up all over the place. I’m happy to jump right on that bandwagon with my own list of the posts that have been the most popular on Breastfeeding 1-2-3 in 2006:
1. The “nutrition” posts: Nursing moms want to know whether they can consume chocolate and caffeine and garlic and spicy foods.
2. The “celebrity” posts: Celebrity-watchers were interested in the Fake Photo of Elizabeth Vargas Breastfeeding and how Jennifer Garner Credits Breastfeeding for Weight Loss.
3. The “breast milk 101″ post: The Amazing Ever-Changing Breast Milk.
4. The “Mom-to-Mom” post: …read more

Science News reports that researchers have discovered potential cancer-fighting properties of breast milk:
Catharina Svanborg thought that she already knew how remarkable breast milk is. The immunologist had logged hundreds of lab hours documenting ways in which human milk helps babies fight infections. But when the group decided to use cancerous lung cells to avoid the variability shown by normal cells in laboratory tests, Svanborg and her team at Lund University in Sweden were in for a surprise. They applied breast milk to the cancerous lung cells, and all the cells died. Breast milk killed cancer cells.
Once Svanborg stumbled upon this …read more