People often ask me what are the differences between breastmilk and formula? The short answer: a million. The long answer: are you ready for a whole lot of science? Often I will write about the benefits of breastfeeding but often people will say, "but I was formula fed (or I formula fed my child) and I (they) are fine!" But are they really? For one thing, I think we have to turn this whole …
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Hand Expression: Must have for breastfeeding families!
What is hand expression? Great question! Basically it means getting breastmilk out of a lactation breast without a baby or a breast pump. At The Breastfeeding Center of Ann Arbor, hand expression is a typical tool we review with most of our families because you never know when you might get caught with no baby, no pump, and a full breast! Literally a life saver. Practice does make perfect with …
Were you ready for breastfeeding? Our breastfeeding check list could have helped!
How do you know you are ready for breastfeeding? Would a breastfeeding check list have helped? What do we mean by "breastfeeding check list"? While we don't have a lot of research on many aspects of breastfeeding one thing that has been studied is what factors seem to lead to families to being able to meet their breastfeeding goals. Here are some things on our breastfeeding check list that …
Bed Sharing: The Secrets to Help Make It Safer
Bed sharing Bed sharing and having young babies seem to go hand in hand. Little human mammals expect to sleep close to their parents and often won't settle if this doesn't happen. Up until the last 100-200 years babies commonly slept with their parent and around the world this is still common. It is more common for families who are breastfeeding to bed share but many families who formula feed …
Lies and the Liars Telling Them? Fed is Best
My dear friend Glenda sent me this today. Glenda and I met back in the day at a La Leche League meeting and have been friends ever since. Well, let me tell you, boy are my panties in a bunch! Fed is Best has been working on destroying the positive trend toward normal human feeding for over three years. I have been trying to ignore Fed is Best because I find them to be so hateful and filled with …
Nursing Bras: Are You Comfortable?
Nursing bras that fit!!! I am so excited because I just received my first order from Cake. These are nursing bras in sizes that are hard to find! I have made it part of my mission to have nursing bras that fit almost any mother that walks through our door. Why am I so passionate about this? Let me tell you about how this came to be. My story (FYI TMI, don't read if you are interested!): When I …
Nipple Shield Survey: For Parents, For Professionals
Nipple Shields The history of using nipple shields goes back in modern history for quite a long time. The debate about if they should be used, how they should be used, and why they should be used has caused many disagreements in our field. The research on nipple shields is limited. The purpose of these surveys is to get a sense of how and why nipple shields are actually be used by families and …
Important Update! Changes to the IBCLC Credential
My dear colleagues Liz Brooks has a great summary of the new changes to the IBCLC credentialing process . I agree with Liz that most of these are a move in the right direction! I wanted to let people know about these changes and how they relate to my 90 hour course, the CCLS certificate. Proposed changes: The first change is to have specific required education credits for communication skills. …
Quality in a Lactation Course?
Quality in a lactation course? What does that mean? First of all we have to look at what is the purpose of education in the first place. Then ask how can an instructor structure the educational content to make the time spent on it as valuable as possible. What is the purpose of education? Why do we bother with learning? In general, the purpose is to help facilitate positive behavior change. If …
Want More Breastmilk Later? Tell Your Body You Want It From the Beginning
Want more breastmilk later? Tell your body you want it from the beginning? What do I mean by this? Biologically, it makes no sense that women who get pregnant and give birth struggle with breastmilk production. Literally this would be a bad design from nature and nature is an amazing architect. The normal progression is you get pregnant, you give birth, you make milk. It is the mammal thing to …
How to become an IBCLC
How to Become an IBCLC Note: These are Barbara’s interpretations of the IBLCE website to attempts to try and clarify this process. Fall 2020 dates for 90 hour professional lactation course, the CCLC, announced! September 25-27 and November 6-8! Want to know more about becoming an IBCLC? Contact us or email barbara@bfcaa.com for more information or join us for a live Zoom meeting on Tuesday, …
New 90 hour lactation course! CCLS- Clinical and Communication Lactation Specialist
What? A new 90 hour lactation course? Yes, a new 90 hour lactation course! Let me tell you about how this came to be. The thing I love most about my work is teaching. Whether I am helping one on one with a family, offering a prenatal course, or working with a group, I am a teacher at heart. When I was twenty-one years old, I literally had an epiphany out in a field in the upper peninsula of …
Could my lactation services or breast pump be covered by insurance?
Could my lactation services or breast pump be covered by insurance? This is such a common concern! Love it or hate it, the Affordable Care Act is great for breastfeeding! Breast pumps are a required benefit but your company could provide you with the best pump available or a simple hand pump. Covering lactation services is also a required benefit but insurance companies are still sorting out …
Why Women Really Quit Breastfeeding
Why Women Really Quit Breastfeeding When we talk about the reasons mothers quit breastfeeding in the early weeks those reasons are pain and worried about having enough breastmilk. However, after about 7 weeks or so, most of these issues have worked themselves out with time or by getting some expert help from an IBCLC. But then comes the next big challenge just as things are getting …
Hospitals Preventing Formula Feeding?
Hospitals preventing formula feeding? Are formula manufacturers just writing these articles themselves now? I have never had a hospital refuse to feed a crying newborn for 6 days. I am not saying this didn't happen, it's possible, but as I have said in the past, my families are having to beat off formula pushing in hospitals, even ones that are Baby Friendly. I have a lot of questions as well. …
Breastfeeding and Depression: Where is the balance?
Breastfeeding and depression? I just read this article about breastfeeding and depression from the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine. May 2nd is World Maternal Mental Health Day. I have actually been thinking a lot about this. Where is the line between working really hard to succeed at something and driving yourself crazy? Breastfeeding can be so hard in the beginning. It can feel like all the …
6 Ways Blogs Make It Hard to Breastfeed: Breastfeeding Miss-information and more!
I just read the blog, 6 Conditions That Can Make It Hard to Breastfeed According to Science. Of course, the word science caught my eye! I love science about breastfeeding! So, what did it say? Here are the conditions they had listed that make breastfeeding hard: 1. Flat or inverted nipples 2. Nipple piercings 3. Postpartum depression 4. Having a c-section 5. Raynard's Phenomenon of the …
Breastfeeding: Helping to level the playing field
Breastfeeding: Helping to level the playing field... What does this mean? Here is one of my favorite quotes to help explain: "Breastfeeding is a natural "safety net" against the worst effects of poverty. If the child survives the first month of life (the most dangerous period of childhood) then for the next four months or so, exclusive breastfeeding goes a long way toward canceling out the …
Why mothers “fail” at breastfeeding: Unresolved breast feeding pain
How about this for a starting point, "Scientists know more about what's in a tomato than what's in human milk, according to Katie Hinde, a lactation researcher and associate professor at Arizona State University. (And we know twice as much about erectile dysfunction.)" Are you joking? I wish. We haven't even IDENTIFIED all of the ingredients in breast milk. Let alone the nuances for the act …
Is a lip tie real?
Tongue tie, lip tie, oh my! What to do about a possible lip tie? I just finished reading Why Upper Lip-Tie Isn’t a Thing Please don't slam me for this title! I didn't write it! I am also not sure what to think. I googled the author but couldn't find much about her. Her blog seems to be well thought out, well researched, and I do agree that in many areas casing the allusive cause of poor …
Increasing breastmilk?
As an IBCLC,one of the most common reasons mothers come to see me is that they are worried about their rate of breastmilk production. Increasing breastmilk. Notice my terminology. RATE of breastmilk production. All mothers make some breastmilk. However, some definitely make more than others. First of all, if you are struggling with the rate of breastmilk production, or just worried, wondering …
Let’s place the blame where it belongs
"Let's place the blame where it belongs". What does that mean? There is a group out there that is making me pull out my hair. This group is "Fed is Best" which was formed in 2016 as far as I can tell. A mother who is also a physician, had a terrible experience with her baby. In an open letter, she claims that because her newborn did not receive adequate nutrition from exclusive breastfeeding her …
Breastfeeding support: Top 5 secrets
Breastfeeding can be really hard, especially in the beginning. According to the CDC, over 80% of mothers in the US begin breastfeeding but by 6 months we are down to only 50% of mothers doing any breastfeeding at all. What is going on? We do have many barriers that impact breastfeeding numbers here. There is family pressure not to breastfeed, poor support in the hospital, …
Baby Friendly? What are they afraid of?
I have been so surprised by the recent backlash against "Baby Friendly" hospitals. What is really shocking is the lack of any sort of fact checking that is going on in these laments. The authors are being critical of things that are not even true. For those of you who are not familiar with BFHI, the "Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative" (BFHI) was launched back in 1991 by the World Health …