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, …
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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 …
Overcoming the odds
This is the title of our latest podcast. However, it could be the title of so many people's breastfeeding stories. But why does it take "overcoming the odds" to achieve something that is the essence of being a mammal? One of the biggest obstacles to breastfeeding, IMO, is the birth. I know it was for me and my first baby. You can listen to my 1st breastfeeding story to hear all about that …
Trusting your gut
I have always believed that breastmilk is the healthiest choice for most babies. Human milk is not just food, it has healing power. Recently, I have heard some new information that has taken belief to the next level. The first talk I heard back in the spring was about epigenetics. It turns out that we are what we eat. I have written a blog about this if you want more info about that. The most …
Summer secrets: whole foods vs. processed
Summer is the time when our food choices here in Ann Arbor explode. We have at least six weekly, local farm markets in the area that offer a great variety of local produce and products. It is a time when eating healthy is easy. But do we always choose to? How important is this? Healthy eating? One of my dear Aunts was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes last winter. We were really thrown for a loop! …
Who is the real enemy?
I just read a blog by Alison Stuebe about the World Health Organization and formula companies. She makes an important point about who, we as breastfeeding advocates, are fighting. We are not fighting formula or families who use formula. We are trying to fight formula manufacturers. They are the enemy. Why? Because there are huge profits to be made and where there is money to be made, there are …
A magic pill?
A substance that is so powerful that it is truly life changing, life saving. And we can make it ourselves for free? If the benefits from breastfeeding were packaged in a pill, remember breastfeeding is good for both mothers and babies, we would all be buying it. We would be giving it to our babies. Right? I just got back from a conference where I heard a woman speak about breastfeeding and …
3rd Annual Miracle Stroll in Ann Arbor!
To all of my readers, Thank you so much for being part of The Breastfeeding Center of Ann Arbor! Even if all you have ever done is read one of our posts, we are glad we have been able to be part of your life. I am now asking for something from you. This annual event, the Miracle Milk Stroll is very near and dear to my heart. I have always been a huge advocate for Banked Human Milk. We were …
What do Mothers really need for breastfeeding success?
I have been thinking about this question a lot. Not only am I an IBCLC (International Board Certified Lactation Consultant), but I do professional training in lactation skills, and I mentor interns who want to become IBCLCs. Jamie Oliver has gotten in a lot of hot water for supporting breastfeeding recently. Because of his personal experiences with his wife, he thought it was pretty easy to …
Breastfeeding: Baby’s First Milestone? Food for Thought
I have a master's degree in education and have always been fascinated with child development. When young children are growing, they move from the concrete thinking to the abstract. Piaget's ideas of brain development were always a favorite of mine. His theories propose that children move through a set of cognitive development stages. As a teacher and a parent, I loved watching children learn …
Children, the gift that keeps on giving
My children have changed my life. For the better. I know when they are little, having children can be relentless. It is exhausting. They need things all the time. They don't sleep well. Not enough personal time or space for you. But, but... They grow and become their own beings. They make your heart swell with pride and break with their pain. Years ago I read parts of Buddhist book for mothers …
Travel, Work, and Breastfeeding
Traveling for work has special challenges when you are breastfeeding. Before Your Trip You will need to calculate about how much pumped breastmilk you will need to leave with your baby and their care giver. Do this in advance if at all possible. Estimate about 28 oz of pumped breastmilk per 24 hours for each day you will be separated. You will probably want to leave a bit more than …
Who’s making you feel guilty?
I am tired of hearing about people feeling guilty, others trying to make you feel guilty, guilt trips, I am sick of guilt! How many of us feel guilty about decisions that we have made, or actions that we have committed on a daily basis? Little things like, I should have really recycled this, I shouldn't throw out this leftover food, or my dog could have really used another walk today. There are …
Is Similac stereotyping? Or just all about judging us?
As you can imagine, I have not been thrilled with Similac's new ad campaign, "the Sisterhood of Motherhood". They say we should not judge one another, all parents need support, not criticism. Who can argue with that sentiment? I am not bashing any mothers here! This about us being manipulated, not about mothers or ethnic groups. There first commercial, and please, don't forget for one moment …
Is breastfeeding in public dangerous?
Dangerous? Nursing in public? Give me a moment to explain. In the USA, many people strongly disapprove of breastfeeding in public. And they feel very free to share their opinions to these mothers. No wonder we are worried about doing it! Why does breastfeeding is public bring up such intense emotions? Make people feel so uncomfortable that they feel they need to act? When it comes down to it, …
Filling a pail or lighting a fire?
When the days start to get cool, leaves start to fall, my bones tell me it is time to go back to school. Personally, I spent 26 years going to school every fall from the time I was 5 until I was 31. I took a break when my babies were little, but now we are up to another 15 years of returning to school once again, when September rolls around. As I have gotten older, the way school happens has …
Dangers of milk sharing?
In The Dangers of the Milk Sharing Economy, the author points out that sometimes another mother's breastmilk might not be safe for our babies based upon her 2013 study. Informal milk sharing has exploded in the past 5 years or so. This has opened the door to many problems. We use to share our breastmilk all the time. But it was family member to family member, friend to friend, or friend of a …
Size matters! In breastfeeding?
Does it really? Get your mind out of the gutter! We are talking about breastfeeding. And yes! Surprisingly, size does matter in many ways for breastfeeding. Here are five examples. 1. Birth weight. A little baby makes a big difference! One of my girlfriends had a 6 pound baby the first time and an almost 9 pound baby the second time. She was astonished at the difference in her two, baby …
Help for Bottle Feeding Babies!
I just told my husband this morning, "I feel a blog coming on..." Checking through my google alerts this morning, I found a link to this article about adoptive breast feeding and pressure from breast feeding "crazies" (me?). I went to check it out because I have a lovely friend, Alyssa Schnell, who specializes in adoptive breast feeding and I wanted to see if the article might be interesting. I …
Working and Breastfeeding Solutions
The Business Case for Breastfeeding tells us that 80 percent of mothers stop breastfeeding within the first month of returning to work (Cardenas & Major, 2005). Unfortunately, research on returning to work and breastfeeding is limited. There are several critical factors for supporting breastfeeding in employed mothers that I have identified in the literature and my clinical practice. Despite …
The War on Breastfeeding
The March 2015 issue of National Geographic's cover caught my eye. "The War on Science". It was by Joel Achenbach. I immediately knew I wanted to read that article and I did as soon as I had a chance. Wow. What an eye opener. This article explained so much to me. The author, of course, did not mention breastfeeding, people rarely do. However, the points they made about how humans create their …
Cost of Formula Feeding
As much as we are not fans of artificial baby milk, ie formula, it was created to help keep babies alive when breastmilk was not available. The first rule of lactation is feed the baby. The second rule is protect the mother’s breastmilk supply. If we do not have breastmilk available, then we use formula if it is medically necessary. The issue is that most of the time, it is not medically …
Breaking news: Formula companies want your money!
There was just an ad (FYI, yes, this is an ad for formula feeding!) put out by Similac, one of the world's leaders of formula production. I will not link to it out of protest, but, you have probably seen it anyway. My intern Barb showed it to me the other day and said although everyone was loving it (I believe it went viral), but she was uneasy because at the end of the ad it clearly states that …
Twins: Twice the Fun for Breastfeeding!
Congratulations! Twins! Twice the fun! We all know that human breastmilk is best for human babies. This holds especially true for twins. Breastfeeding one baby can be challenging. Having twins offers even more possibilities of potential problems so being prepared is important. What you can do before your babies are born? Take a breastfeeding class or meet with an experienced IBCLC …