It has been a very busy winter this year for The Breastfeeding Center of Ann Arbor. Good thing right? We haven't had much time to think about all of the freezing cold days! As April approaches we are reaching the conclusion of our sixth year in business! I have been launched as a national speaker! I have been hired to speak at a national WIC conference, ICEA, and Lamaze/DONA! Check out my …
General Breastfeeding
Bursting Out of the Closet, into Spring, Breastfeeding in Public
March is the time for new beginnings. Shaking off the blah of winter. Let's come out of our houses and apartments and breastfeed whereever we want, with confidence knowing that we are doing the best thing possible for our babies and our communities. Be bold! We all need some fresh air and a new attitude about breastfeeding in public! I live in a town where breastfeeding in public is pretty well …
Top Five Reasons Mothers Stop Breastfeeding- Don’t Become a Statistic!
1. It hurts! I know people say that pain is normal at the beginning of breastfeeding. I disagree. While it is common for there to be pain in the beginning, it is not normal. It may be sensitive, a bit tender, but not out right pain. If you have pain that is not getting better or getting worse, if you have visible damage, blood, scabbing, blistering, get help! This is not normal. 2. You …
The Secret to Helping Bottle Feed Your Baby
Listen, most mothers go back to work and so most babies need to have a bottle to get through the day while mom is away. Also, once breastfeeding is well established, I find that as long as parents bottle feed in a way that is like breastfeeding there isn't a problem going back and forth between breast and bottle. That is what I am talking about, bottle feeding in a way that helps sustain and …
Is Breastfeeding Bad for Our Babies and Ourselves?
There was just a book published, Your Breasts Are Trying to Kill You, by author Florence Williams. It seems as though she is taking a serious, yet humorous look at what our breasts do and don't do for us. I think there is much truth in this book. I haven't read it yet, just the review, but have ordered it and will read it. More to come on that. That is not what I want to talk about. I want …
Are We Breastfeeding Friendly?
We need to be questioning our baby feeding norm in this country. We are a formula feeding culture right now in the US whether we like it or not. This means that more people feed their babies artificial baby milk then breastmilk. We are also a bottle, not breastfeeding culture. Even if we are interested in the negative health consequences of formula feeding, we want our babies to have …
Being A Parent is Hard!
Parenting is hard! I just read an article on parenting research and had to respond. The article is about a study which found that parenting basically sucks and we are lying to ourselves if we say otherwise. This research paper was published in Psychological Science. Research proves parenting is costing us $193,000 and change per child to raise them, and this doesn't take into account the …
Trying to become more Technologically Savvy!
What do I love about technology? Not a whole lot! I have been dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st century by necessity. My friends make fun of me because I am such techno phobe. However, it spite of this, I have a website, a blog, a face book page, read the daily posts from my listserve (which I love!), host webinars, and can use word and power point with the best of them. Oh, the …
Diabetes Prevention and Breastfeeding
Why are diabetes cost are going through the roof? According to an article in the New York Times, it is costing us $174 billion dollars a year to cover the health costs of people who have developed diabetes in their life time. More and more of our population is developing diabetes. "“Diabetes is the noninfectious epidemic of our time,” said Dr. Ronald Loeppke, vice chairman of U.S. Preventive …
What One Doctor Says About Breastfeeding Training in the United States
So, why are mothers and babies having such a hard time with breastfeeding? I just received a link to this blog which I thought was very interesting. In the blog, this doctor admits she really knew nothing about breastfeeding until she took a special course on breastfeeding. Is she unusual? I don’t think so. When I think about all of the things a doctor would need to know about a baby, about …
Breastfeeding Rates in the US
What has gone so wrong with breastfeeding in our country? The United States lags behind most nations around the world in our breastfeeding initiation rates. However, more importantly perhaps, is how short our breastfeeding duration rates are. The majority of US mothers are all for giving breastfeeding a shot. The percentage of mothers who “ever breastfeed” after birth is between 48.3% in …
Why do I have a job?
One of the things I think about a lot is why do I have a job? If breastfeeding is so natural, why do people need me to help them get started with breastfeeding or continue when their babies are older. There are many reasons for this in my opinion. (Remember, this is where I get to just say what I think! I may be right or wrong. If there is research to back things up, I'll share that too when …