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 in the study at no cost to you, your milk sample could help in the development of a non-invasive means of determining breast cancer risk through breast milk.

~ The Health and Wellness Channel here at b5media features its own blog dedicated to breast cancer awareness written by Karen Lynch. To celebrate BCAM, Karen is running a prize giveaway every day this month! Check out Pink Ribbon Review for your chance to win!

~ Boob Maternity and Nursing sells a “Boob Think Pink” nursing top for CDN $65 at Milkface.com. Three Euros from the sale of each tee goes toward breast cancer research.

~ Breastfeeding 1-2-3 features several articles on breastfeeding and breast cancer:

~ Leaking Breast Milk after Surgery for Breast Abscess or Lumpectomy
~ Breast Self-Exams in Lactating Women
~ Video Demonstration of Breast Self-Exam
~ Promising Anti-Cancer Powers of Breast Milk
~ Breast Cancer Testing: X-rays, Mammograms, Ultrasounds, Cat Scans
~ Breastfeeding after Chemotherapy, Radiation and Lumpectomy
~ Breastfeeding Reduces Cancer Risk
~ One-Sided Nursing with Full Supply

Yet another study recently showed that breastfeeding helps fight breast cancer by reducing a breastfeeding woman’s risk of developing certain types of breast cancer. Still, it remains critical to fight breast cancer through the funding of breast cancer research, education, screening, and treatment. I am proud to say my sister Jill McNabb has committed to the cause by agreeing to participate in the Breast Cancer 3-Day — a 60-mile walk over the course of three days — and raising at least $2,200 in donations in the process (her goal is actually $3,000 and she’s raised $1,800 so far!) Jill will be part of the Washington, D.C. event starting on October 3, 2008. She explains why she feels so passionate about supporting breast cancer awareness:

I am walking in support of every woman I know, and in memory of a friend who was younger than I am now when she was first diagnosed with breast cancer. She found her second recurrence herself (which her doctors first told her was just scar tissue) when she was pregnant with her second son. They waited until 6 weeks before his due date so the baby was healthy enough to induce labor so she could start chemotherapy again. I watched her endure another battle with chemo with a toddler and a newborn baby, always with strength and dignity, providing as “normal” an environment as possible for her family. We lost her at age 38, brilliant, beautiful and strong until the very end. Stacey was my mentor and friend, and I miss her terribly.

You can help fight breast cancer too by making a donation to benefit the Susan G. Komen for the Cure and National Philanthropic Trust. Click here to donate. I’ll be sure to let you know how much Jill raises and how the walk goes!

Once you make your donation, you might be interested in reading these articles on breastfeeding and breast cancer:

Leaking Breast Milk after Surgery for Lumpectomy
Breast Self-Exams in Lactating Women
Video Demonstration of Breast Self-Exam
Promising Anti-Cancer Powers of Breast Milk
Breast Cancer Testing: X-rays, Mammograms, Ultrasounds, Cat Scans
Breastfeeding after Chemotherapy, Radiation and Lumpectomy
Breastfeeding Reduces Cancer Risk
One-Sided Nursing with Full Supply

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 after surgery, it is much more difficult to find anything on healing from a lumpectomy or surgery for a breast abscess on a lactating breast. Consultation of several sources of information revealed that there are many options — good ones — for the breastfeeding mother. Armed with information, a mother in this situation can talk to her medical providers for advice and make the best decision for her. 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 breast milk.

Jonathan is a two-and-a-half year old nursling with leukemia. You can read his story here. Start with the “my story” page then follow his current progress in the family’s “journal.” Before you go, make sure to leave a supportive comment in “guestbook.”

Can you imagine if a nursing toddler were denied the comfort of breastfeeding during treatment? Remember the controversy over the Ronald McDonald House policy on breastfeeding in public?

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 breast-fed for a total of six years or more (all children combined) over the course of their lives had as much as a 63% decrease in breast cancer incidence compared to women who never breast-fed.”

For more information on breast health and breast cancer, see these articles:

Breast Self-Exams in Lactating Women
Video Demonstration of Breast Self-Exam
Promising Anti-Cancer Powers of Breast Milk
Breast Cancer Testing: X-rays, Mammograms, Ultrasounds, Cat Scans
Breastfeeding after Chemotherapy, Radiation and Lumpectomy
Breastfeeding Reduces Cancer Risk
One-Sided Nursing with Full Supply

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 29 systematic reviews of another 400 studies. That meta-analysis resulted in a report that is chock-full of fascinating statistics. The following blurbs were provided by Dr. David Meyers from the AHRQ.

Advantages of Breastfeeding for the Baby:

There is good evidence that breastfeeding reduced infants’ risk of ear infections by up to 50 percent, serious lower respiratory tract infections by 72 percent, and a skin rash similar to eczema by 42 percent. Children with a family history of asthma who had been breastfed were 40 percent less likely to have asthma, and children who were not prone to asthma had a percent reduced risk compared to those children who were not breastfed. The risk of developing type 1 diabetes was reduced by about 20 percent. These benefits were seen in infants who were breastfed for three or more months. Breastfeeding also reduced the risk of type 2 diabetes by 39 percent compared to those who were not breastfed.

The report also found that breastfeeding was associated with fewer episodes of diarrhea during infancy, decreased incidence of childhood leukemia, and decreased deaths from sudden infant death syndrome. The report found no clear relationship between breastfeeding and improvement in IQ. In premature infants, breastfeeding decreased the occurrence of necrotizing enterocolitis, a serious gastrointestinal infection that often results in death.

Advantages of Breastfeeding for the Mother:

For health outcomes in mothers, there is good evidence that women who breastfed their infants had up to a 12 percent reduced risk of type 2 diabetes for each year they breastfed. Breastfeeding decreased the risk of ovarian cancer by up to 21 percent. Breastfeeding also decreased the risk of breast cancer by up to 28 percent in those whose lifetime duration of breastfeeding was 12 months or longer. Women who did not breastfeed their infants were more likely to have postpartum depression, but unmeasured factors such as depression that was undiagnosed prior to giving birth may have increased the rate of depression seen in this group. Breastfeeding did not increase the risk of fractures due to osteoporosis. The effect of breastfeeding on a woman’s weight could not be determined based on the available studies.

I didn’t need any additional reasons to breastfeed but I sure am happy to read all the findings of this report!

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 the family gathers to eat. Jessica was told that she could only nurse in their private room three floors upstairs.

Even when RMH administrators were reminded of the Texas law protecting breastfeeding in public, they refused to change their unwritten policy restricting breastfeeding to private rooms. They cited a need to respect all of the multicultural residents staying at RMH. I’m not sure what that means, given that mothers around the world breastfeed their children and Americans seem to be among the most prudish about breastfeeding in public.

Jessica felt threatened with being asked to leave (and having to find other accommodations) if she continued to breastfeed in the common area. That fear is very real as unfortunately the law in Texas has a loophole that makes it appear that mothers can be asked under the criminal trespass law to leave a private location. Can you imagine having the stress of caring for a critically ill child be compounded with having to deal with such harassment?

This story highlights the importance of proposed legislation in Texas that would close that loophole. The legislation currently remains pending in committee. If you’re from Texas, please consider writing to your local representatives about this story and your support for the current bill.

The Reluctant Lactivist has been following the story closely with updates here and here. The latest word is that after a face-to-face meeting, the family has been allowed to breastfeed in the communal area as long as Jessica first informs others in the room that she is going to breastfeed, and that the breastfeeding is done discreetly (whatever that means) and that not too many people complain. For goodness sake, what an unsatisfactory and wishy-washy resolution. It’s an okay outcome for the family for now, but it certainly doesn’t bring about the type of change that clearly is necessary. As such, the family has asked that lactivists continue to contact RMH administrators to encourage them to change their unwritten policy. The Reluctant Lactivist states:

“Please, now, write to Naomi Scott, Ronald McDonald House Houston Executive Director and insist that she call for an immediate change in policy, welcoming breastfeeding in all public areas of RMH Houston and make plans to educate all RMH employees about the importance of providing breastfeeding friendly accommodations. Please send copies of your letters to Susie Richard, RMH Houston Director of Operations and to Arlene Whatley, Hollcombe House Director of Operations. If you can, please fax a copy of your letter to Ronald McDonald House Charities headquarters, 630.623.7488, or call 630.623.7048 to register your concern about this situation in Houston. Let them know that families across North America are appalled by what’s happening to this family and demand immediate resolution.”

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 weeks postpartum from 514 milliliters per day to 406 milliliters per day. (5) (Breastfeeding counselors may wish to ask mothers with low supply whether they are smokers).

~ Mothers who smoked before, during, and after pregnancy were 2.18 times more likely not to breastfeed at 10 weeks. Women who smoked 10 or more cigarettes per day postpartum were 2.3-2.4 times more likely to wean their infants before 10 weeks than were nonsmokers. (6) (Remember, exclusive breastfeeding is recommended for 24 weeks and breastfeeding is recommended for at least 52 weeks total).

~ Women who quit smoking during pregnancy were more likely to breastfeed for six months or longer. (7)

~ The breast milk of mothers who smoked during pregnancy contained less of the healthy fats (total lipids and fatty acids) than milk produced by non-smokers. (8)

Second, if you want to see the voting results of the companion poll “Cigarette Smoking and Breastfeeding,” click here.

Third, in this article I’ll answer the questions: Should a smoker breastfeed? What are the effects of nicotine on the baby? How does secondhand smoke affect a baby? Can a nursing mother use smoking cessation medications and products? Where can I find resources on quitting smoking? 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: Your favorite mom-to-mom question was What Do I Do When One Side Produces More? This post also earns the distinction of having the most comments.

5. The “starting solids” post: Many mothers wanted more information on Starting Your Baby on Solid Foods: When, What and How. See what been-there-done-that mothers chose for their babies’ first solid food.

6. The “fertility” post: Learn about the Lactational Amenorrhea Method of birth control in Are You Willing to Risk Getting Pregnant Again So Soon?

7. The “breast cancer” post: It both breaks my heart and brings me joy that women are looking for information on Breastfeeding after Breast Cancer Treatment.

8. The “carnival” posts: Naturally the blog carnival posts got a lot of traffic. Check out Cost-Effective Gifts for the Breastfeeding Mother and Ten Tips for Breast Health (about how to prevent plugged ducts and mastitis).

9. The “how to” posts: How to Sew Your Own Baby Sling and How to Make Your Own Nursing Necklace, plus nursing necklace safety considerations and a free necklace design and step-by-step instructions.

10. The “nurse-in” posts: Lactivists enjoyed reading about Emily Gillette, the woman kicked off a Delta flight for breastfeeding her baby, and the national nurse-ins that took place in support of her. Read more about the press coverage and the final rally tally, and view some pictures from one of the nurse-ins.