Category: Boobs!

Breastfeeding, politics of breastfeeding, research, news, health, promotion and information.

Helpline

Late Thursday afternoon I got the email I’ve been waiting for – I have been accepted as a volunteer Breastfeeding Counsellor for the Australian Breastfeeding Association. I spoke to the roster co-ordinator last night, and have been assigned my first helpline shift (2nd Friday of the month, starting in April). And this morning I logged in successfully – and logged out again quickly before I had to take a call. There is not enough caffeine in the world to make that first call easy.

So wish me luck, between now and the 9th of April I have to take lots of calls to get myself ready and comfortable enough to tackle an entire 4 hour shift on my own.

There is other (huge) news around the corner too, but I don’t want to say anything until it has been confirmed and I have more information. But needless to say, there are exciting times ahead!

Eeeeeeeeeee!

Sad, but true.

The Lactation Resource Centre put on a conference/seminar every year for health professionals working in lactation, and every year there are exciting international guest speakers. Last year I saw the speakers as a webcast, but I really wanted to attend this year. Of course, registration fees were beyond the meager budget, so I was really excited when an opportunity came up to volunteer (and possibly sneak into the sessions).

And then a week passed, and another week, and I hadn’t heard from the organisers, so I figured I’d missed out. No friends Nigel once again.

But yesterday I was emailed a registration confirmation, and I’M IN!

I used to get excited about going to concerts and parties. Look what I am reduced to.

Protecting Breastfeeding in Haiti

Link here.

It is common for women to believe that there will be a problem with their milk after a natural disaster, that the stress, or lack of adequate nutrition will make their milk “bad” or somehow unsuitable for their babies. In fact, the human body will provide milk for an infant even when the mother is malnourished.

And with the influx of foreign aid comes powdered infant formula (PIF, sometimes referred to as artificial baby milk or ABM), with the inference that this is better for the baby than what the mother is already providing.

And in a disaster, where there is a lack of clean water, giving a mother powdered infant formula often means she has to make it up with dirty water, leading not only to introducing infections to the infant, but by depriving her of breastmilk, she is also deprived of a natural defence against life threatening diseases.

In normal circumstances, breastfeeding needs to be protected. In a disaster, it is vital.

A few thoughts

  • Vanilla vodka makes a surprisingly good Gimlet (though my favoured version has equal parts vodka and lime juice – half cordial and half fresh
  • Cooking with a child that hasn’t had a nap is quite like going to a teppanyaki restaurant. But much less fun
  • When said child that says “I’m not going to sleep”, and I reply with “yes you are, you’re so tired that you’re almost dead”, and he picks up the chant “almost dead, almost dead”, it’s not exactly funny, it’s hysterical
  • Parents and children have different needs, sometimes they intersect, sometimes they collide
  • The bunny is now unofficially named Carrot. Inigo insists that his name is neither Vizzini or Tiberius, but it is most definitely Carrot. I have been told, but I am a recalcitrant type
  • I am loving TransUrban beyond words. Yes, I know it’s unusual to profess undying love for a company that builds toll roads, but if it means that my husband is home BEFORE 5pm to deal with the feral offspring, then build me another M5
  • According to Head Office, I have completed my last unit, and have now applied for a volunteer position with the Australian Breastfeeding Association. I now have a Certificate IV, I did it in under 12 months, and I have proved to myself that I have a small ability at this study thing. Now I just need to apply myself a bit more and do other interesting things. What next? Is there a diploma in World Domination?

While we are on the subject of booze

The ABA has just released a new information leaflet about alcohol and breastmilk. Contrary to most of the information that is available to mothers (and often funded by formula companies that want to scare women into artificial feeding), this leaflet acknowledges that Australian women do like a drink, and gives guidelines for how to do it without harming your baby. For example, if you are a 75 Kg woman (I wish!), it takes 3hrs and 16 mins for two standard drinks to leave your bloodstream.

Not that I would ever encourage a woman to drink and feed – but you’re often better off doing that than drinking and giving artificail milk, and this information has been hidden for so long, this publication is a bit of a victory for common sense.

Cheers!*

*That is a virtual cheers from me – self imposed booze ban will be lifted over Christmas and New Year. Then we’ll check in with the liver and see how it’s coping!

Government Breastfeeding Strategy – My response

There has been quite a bit of negative feedback in the media about the new breastfeeding strategy in the past few days. Many “opinion pieces” have attacked the strategy for “making mums feel guilty” for not breastfeeding.

This is a complete crock of shit.

Ask the mother of a child that was killed in a car accident before seatbelt laws if she feels guilty for not knowing about seat belts. Or a man dying of lung cancer if he feels guilty for smoking. The melanoma patient that loved the beach.

We make our decisions based on the evidence that is available at the time. Sometimes new informations has an impact on us, and we change our behavior. Sometimes we get the health message and decide to ignore it, like I did with soft cheese while I was pregnant – I did some research and found that there had been one case of listeria in pregnancy in Australia in the past two decades, and I decided to take the risk.

I would never tell another woman what to do, but I think it is fair to give them the information so that she can make up her own mind. It is my opinion that most mothers think a lot about what is best for their babies, and most mothers make conservative choices. And yet many women choose to artificially feed their babies. If I was doing a PHD in anthropology I think I would choose study this question. Since I’m not, I have to guess that most women don’t know how risky it is not to breastfeed their babies.

Of course, there are some women who can’t breastfeed. Some women have to have treatment that is incompatible with breastfeeding, or surgery, or there are other, valid reasons for not breastfeeding. Or they simply choose not to, and that is ok.

What is not OK with me is hiding the facts about the risks of artificial feeding in order to spare the feelings of a non-breastfeeding woman.

Below is what I wrote as a comment to a newspaper article that I read today – a new mum that “couldn’t” breastfeed because of poor advice, attacking the ABA, the one organisation that could have helped her if she had chosen to reach out.

—–

The new strategy is about supporting new mums, so they don’t get this stupid advice. If Rebecca had good advice and support when she was trying to get breastfeeding established (or even before the baby was born), her story might have been a lot different.

I too struggled to get breastfeeding established, and suffered for nearly three months. Before my baby was born, I attended a Breastfeeding Education Class run by the Australian Breastfeeding Association, and when things got hard, I turned to them for support and advice. My baby is just about to turn two, and he is still breastfeeding. It is my intention to follow World Health Organisation guidelines, and feed him at least until his second birthday.

This new strategy has looked at the “hard evidence”, and has come to the conclusion that formula use places an unnecessary strain on health services. Artificially fed babies do have worse health outcomes (and so do their mothers) – so of course the government wants to encourage and support women to breastfeed.

And if you’re after scientific evidence that formula feeding carries risks, read this article – www.onemillioncampaign.org/doc/RisksofFormulaFeeding.pdf The information is easy to read, but each point is referenced with the research papers so you can look up the results for yourself.

As for the ABA using emotive language, that is a no brainer. In my opinion, saying that breastmilk is a gift that a mother can give her baby is much nicer than saying giving formula to your baby increases his risk of diabetes, obesity, asthma, SIDS, hospitalisation for upper respiratory illness, childhood cancer, reduced cognitive development, allergies, infection from contaminated formula, altered occlusion, nutrient deficiency, etc, etc.

It is interesting to note that Cuba, which has strong government support for breastfeeding, has a lower infant mortality rate than the USA, where breastfeeding rates are even lower than they are in Australia. Breastfeeding saves lives, and I think that it is time we stopped pretending that artificial feeding is “just as good”. Hiding these facts from women who are making a choice to artificially feed their babies is patronising, and dangerous.

Hellooooooo

CBHH-09OOJIU BVT 09iuhgv

That was Inigo’s post for yesterday, but silly me forgot to post it.

I was at an ABA conference (training) all weekend, so I neglected to blog except for the scheduled posts. On the upside, I did get signed off on 2 and a half units, so it was a really worthwhile weekend. Not to mention catching up with a whole lot of amazing and inspiring women! I had been feeling really down about my training, and even considered giving up.

But now I am re-energised (emotionally, physically I am still a wreck), and keen to power along to the finish line 🙂

APMAIF

The World Health Organisation International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes, article 5.5 prohibits seeking direct and indirect contact with mothers of infants and young children, that is children up to 3 years of age. UNICEF has previously stated that: “any form of contact with mothers of children under 3 years is prohibited, irrespective of the motivation behind the contact.”

If you get a free sample of an artificial baby milk, or are invited to join a branded “club” (as is being widely advertised with prize giveaways at the moment), you are witnessing a violation of an international code that is designed to save lives.

The APMAIF is a regulatory body that is designed to oversee the marketing of artificial baby milks in Australia. If you see a breach of the code, you should report it to the APMAIF, and they should follow up and stop the breach, and punish the offender.

But the APMAIF is an industry body. It is made up of all the companies themselves, and they have absolutely no desire to follow up on breaches of the code. The lunatics have taken over they asylum, and are handing out happy pills.

So next time you see formula on special, or grab a parenting magazine with a formula sample in it, complain to your local member. The APMAIF won’t do anything about it.