iPod Shuffle by H. Rotgers

Post from: Breastfeeding 1-2-3

Alyson Hannigan and Alexis Denisof with baby Satyana in July; Image: Flynet

The secret to her post-partum weight loss?

Breastfeeding, definitely breastfeeding!

While not everyone loses weight so easily with breastfeeding, many women do and it is wonderful to hear Alyson talk about that benefit of breastfeeding!

Post from: Breastfeeding 1-2-3

Whose responsibility is it to control the advertising, marketing and promotional activities which may create a market in spite of public health considerations?

In the hearing itself, Senator Kennedy put a Nestlé executive through a very pointed line of questioning on the company’s social responsibility in countries where poverty and the lack of a sanitary water supply make f*ormula-feeding particularly dangerous. Watch this fascinating clip:

Patti Rundall, Policy Director for Baby Milk Action and Co-coordinator of the WABA Advocacy Task Force, highlighted Kennedy’s contribution:

Senator Edward Kennedy cared not only for US citizens but also for international health. It was his vision, as Chairman of the US Senate Subcommittee on Health and Scientific Research, which instigated the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes, which was adopted by the World Health Assembly in 1981. This Code is a benchmark for good practice and is used by governments all over the world to protect infant and young child health from unethical marketing.

The question in my mind is, who will take up the torch now? Who in the United States will hold f*ormula companies to the standards of the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes?

Post from: Breastfeeding 1-2-3

We are willing to give Liebig’s artificial milk when we cannot do better, but we watch the child anxiously whose wet-nurse is a chemist’s pipkin. A pair of substantial mammary glands has the advantage over the two hemispheres of the most learned Professor’s brain, in the art of compounding a nutritious fluid for infants.

– Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (1809-1894), p. 276 of Medical Essays

A “pipkin” is a small earthenware boiler, so Holmes was expressing concern about the feeding of babies from a chemist’s cooking pot.

Post from: Breastfeeding 1-2-3

Quote graphic by boroda003

To reduce breastfeeding to milk is like reducing sex to semen.

– Rachel Myr, Lactnet list facilitator, named “Midwife of the Year 2008″ in Norway, as quoted in Lactnet

Post from: Breastfeeding 1-2-3

“Swear words are almost always about sex or religion in every language,” says Jay. “It depends on what the [cultural] taboos are. In countries where religion is more powerful, phrases such as “Sacred mother” or “Holy mother’s milk” are typical.”

Photo by Julia F.

Now “Holy mother’s milk” was not what I said this morning when I accidentally sat on my peanut butter toast. I’m not proud of myself, but I said, “Oh crap!” Unfortunately, my four-year-old heard — sort of — and asked, “Mama, why did you say ‘Oh tramp?’” Feeling no need to correct her, I explained that I had sat on my peanut butter toast and had gotten peanut butter on my new blue jeans. “Oh,” she nodded wisely. “That is so trampy.” Yes, my dear, I suppose it is.

Post from: Breastfeeding 1-2-3

It’s a complex and somewhat disturbing book that is more like four books in one. The thing that keeps me reading though is the relationship of the women. In the red tent each month they celebrate their femininity and their abilities to create and sustain life. Take this passage describing the birth of the narrator Dinah:

After Rachel wiped me clean, she handed me to Zilpah, who embraced me, and then to Bilhah, who kissed me as well. I took my mother’s breast with an eager mouth, and all the women of the camp clapped their hands for my mother and for me. Bilhah fed my mother honeyed milk and cake. She washed Leah’s hair with perfumed water, and she massaged her feet.

Now that is how we were meant to give birth, to be initiated into parenthood, to receive the support necessary to care for ourselves and our children. Imagine how wonderful it would be if each new mother were attended to by some combination of her mother, grandmother, sisters, aunties, and midwives! Imagine if each breastfeeding mother had the on-going support of other mothers experienced in nursing! The La Leche League model of mother-to-mother support has filled in some of the gaps, but I still wish such support were passed from generation to generation within each family as well.

Post from: Breastfeeding 1-2-3

I don’t know why I’m getting nervous saying this — I’m not saying anything dirty, it’s natural but [Rebecca] does what we call the double football – which is just incredible, because it’s like three beings attached. It’s like something out of Cirque du Soleil. It’s crazy.

He talks about Rebecca using the breast pump:

My wife also … I’m sure I can say this on television, it’s a natural thing. My wife pumps, which is the machine you hook up [and] you have to put quarters in it … I’m kidding. My wife is doing it and not complaining. My wife is the best. I love you, baby.

It’s great to see a husband like that who is supportive of breastfeeding! I am also happy to hear that Rebecca is breastfeeding the twins. It’s not easy to master that double football hold — good for her!

Post from: Breastfeeding 1-2-3

“I do yoga and Pilates, but the body itself knows what to do,” she said. “When you’re breastfeeding, the body has its own way to shrink.”

Post from: Breastfeeding 1-2-3

Counseling the Nursing Mother: A Lactation Consultant’s Guide mentions this supplemental feeding technique:

The paladai — a cup feeding device — has been used to feed babies in India for many years. It is gaining recognition in the Western world as a helpful lactation device (Sideman, 1999). If you are unsure about a cultural practice, do not hesitate to ask your client. Most families are receptive to explaining cultural practices to people who are sincerely interested.

p. 31.

Post from: Breastfeeding 1-2-3