AAP REAFFIRMS BREASTFEEDING GUIDELINES

Breastfeeding is a natural and beneficial source of nutrition and provides the healthiest start for an infant. In addition to the nutritional benefits, breastfeeding promotes a unique and emotional connection between mother and baby. In the policy statement, “Breastfeeding and the Use of Human Milk,” published in the March 2012 issue of Pediatrics (published online Feb. 27), the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) reaffirms its recommendation of exclusive breastfeeding for about the first six months of a baby’s life, followed by breastfeeding in combination with the introduction of complementary foods until at least 12 months of age, and continuation of breastfeeding for as long as mutually desired by mother and baby. This recommendation is supported by the health outcomes of exclusively breastfed infants and infants who never or only partially breastfed. Breastfeeding provides a protective effect against respiratory illnesses, ear infections, gastrointestinal diseases, and allergies including asthma, eczema and atopic dermatitis. The rate of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) is reduced by over a third in breastfed babies, and there is a 15 percent to 30 percent reduction in adolescent and adult obesity in breastfed vs. non-breastfed infants. Approximately 75 percent of newborn infants initiate breastfeeding. Hospital routines more and more attempt to accommodate the breastfeeding mother. Pediatricians promote the advantages of breastfeeding to mothers and infants, as well as the health risks of not breastfeeding. As such, choosing to breastfeed should be considered an investment in the short- and long-term health of the infant, rather than a lifestyle choice.

[Embargoed until Monday, February 27, 2012, at 12:01 a.m. ET. For an embargoed copy of the policy statement, contact the AAP Department of Communications. For an interview with one of the authors, contact Richard J. Schanler, MD, FAAP, FABM, at schanler@nshs.edu or 718-470-3440 or Arthur I. Eidelman, MD, FAAP, FABM, at Arthur.eidelman@gmail.com or +972-544-819-853 (in Israel).]

Editor’s Note: Updated parent information on breastfeeding will be available Feb. 27 on the AAP parenting website at www.healthychildren.org/breastfeeding. Beginning March 8, www.HealthyChildren.org will be giving away free copies of the AAP book “New Mother's Guide to Breastfeeding,” to people who register on the website while supplies last.

Staples co-founder Tom Stemberg is speaking out against a serious threat to economic recovery and job creation: breastfeeding moms.

Stemberg, a longtime supporter of Republican policies and candidates like Mitt Romney, complained recently that President Obama’s health care reform law hurts businesses by requiring them to provide what he dubbed “lactation chambers” for new moms who need to breastfeed at work:

Tom Stemberg, co-founder of mega-office supply chain Staples is questioning an Obamacare provision that discourages job creation by dictating employers funnel their capital into lactation chambers.

“Do you want [farming retailer] Tractor Supply to open stores or would you rather they take their capital and do what Obamacare and its 2,700 pages dictates – which is to open a lactation chamber at every single store that they have?” he asked.

“I’m big on breastfeeding; my wife breastfed,” Stenberg added. “I’m all for that. I don’t think every retail store in America should have to go to lactation chambers, which is what Obamacare foresees.

The WABA Research Task Force (RTF) is pleased to announce the December issue of the RTF e-newsletter is now available on the WABA website. Please click on this link http://www.waba.org.my/whatwedo/research/pdf/rtfnl-dec11.pdf to download the RTF e-newsletter. We welcome any feedback or suggestion for new topics from you and hope that you will enjoy reading this newsletter. Amal Omer-Salim and Khaliq Iqbal are the Co-Cooordinators of the RTF.

If you (or others) wish to subscribe to the newsletter, please complete the form at http://www.waba.org.my/whatwedo/research/rtfnl-form.htm   and we will put you on our distribution list.

Regards,
Pei Ching
Health and Information Officer
WABA

There was a real buzz at the second annual Breastfeeding Summit with ideas and commitment to bring WIC and breastfeeding advocates together with hospitals and medical providers to improve breastfeeding support in our communities. You’ll find summit information and presentations at the California Breastfeeding Coalition.

Reuters) - Febby Kemala Dewi returned to work at a Jakarta accounting firm after three months of maternity leave but struggled, like many new mums, to balance her home and work lives -- especially keeping her infant daughter fed.

Unwilling to stop breastfeeding, unable to pump enough for a whole day in the morning before work and leery of giving her baby anything but the freshest milk, she finally turned to a unique Jakarta service -- a breast milk motorbike courier.

"I have to work, but at the same time I can still feed my baby," said Dewi, the wall by her desk plastered with pictures of her smiling daughter, eight-month-old Ashalina Putri.

Now, the 29-year-old IT consultant pumps breast milk at her office in central Jakarta and a courier comes to pick up the bottles around lunchtime.

Placing them in a padded cooler box whose strap he then slings over his shoulder, the courier rides 45 minutes to an hour on a motorbike through choked Jakarta streets to deliver the milk to Dewi's mother, who cares for the baby.

Dear Breastfeeding Advocates,

Please join us on a conference call on Wednesday, January 18,to prepare for the release of the California Hospital Breastfeeding Report on January 26, at the 2^nd Annual California Hospital Breastfeeding Summit in Sacramento, Catch the Wave! Cutting Edge Practices to Improve Mother-Baby Outcomes.

The report will include a state report on the status of hospital breastfeeding practices and breastfeeding outcomes, and the county fact sheets. New this year is the inclusion in the report of new information on maternity care practices, and a Statewide Fact Sheet on breastfeeding rates and hospital and maternity care practices.

The report will be posted on the California WIC Association website, on a password-protected webpage. Reporters, and advocates working with reporters, will be provided a passcode to access the report and fact sheets in order to write their story. Dr. Heinig will release the report in the opening plenary of the California Hospital Breastfeeding Summit.

In the phone call we will discuss the report, and review talking points for working with the media and interested parties.

Phone Call Info: 866-795-8396

Passcode: 5584473#

Time: 10am-11am

Questions? Contact Karen Farley at kfarley@calwic.org

Karen Farley RD, IBCLC | California WIC Association | 1490 Drew Avenue, Suite 175 | Davis, CA 95618 | Phone:530-750-2280 | Cell: 530-400-5842 | Fax: 530-758-7780 | www.calwic.org

La Leche League, Pacific Horizons Area

and

Children's Hospital of Orange County

sponsor

"Challenges to exclusive breastfeeding:

How to assess and manage for a positive outcome"

Monday, February 27, 2012

9:00 AM to 4:00 PM

Children's Hospital of Orange County

Harold Wade Educational Center

West Clinic Building, 2nd floor

455 S. Main Street

Orange, CA 92868

AGENDA:

Breastfeeding friendly jaundice management

Basia Tcheng, MD

Overcoming breastfeeding challenges of infants of diabetic mothers

Susan Wu, MD

Initiating supplementation in the hospital: Who is at risk?

Karen Peters, MBA, RD, IBCLC

Assessing feeding adequacy in newborns: What can be done?

Susan Aldana, IBCLC

Registered Nurses: Children's Hospital of Orange County is an approved provider by the California Board of Registered Nursing.

Provider approved by the CA Board of Registered Nurses, Provider # CPE 11530 for 6 contact hours.

IBCLCs: La Leche League,Pacific Horizons Area will submit a CERP application for 5 L CERPs.

Registered Dietitians: Maintain a copy of the agenda and certificate for CPEs for their Professional Development Portfolio.

Researchers at the Child Study Center at Yale University performed functional MRIs (fMRIs) on nine breast-feeding moms and eight formula feeders about a month after their babies were born. Participants listened to clips of their own baby and an unknown child crying, as researchers analyzed which areas of their brains lit up. Breast-feeding mothers registered greater activity in the relevant brain regions than formula-feeding moms, although all mothers' brains reacted more in response to their own infant's cries than to an unknown's.

Although the sample was tiny, researchers say the study was the first to make a connection between brain activity and maternal behavior. Hormones may also play a role. Oxytocin, which is involved in breast-milk letdown, helps foster emotional bonding between infants and mothers; its levels are higher in breast-feeding moms.

Psychological factors can't be discounted either. "Moms who decide to breast-feed might be reflecting a general tendency of mothers to be more empathetic to their infants, or perhaps they were more able to bond easily with their fetus when they were making the decision about wanting to breast-feed," says lead researcher Pilyoung Kim, a developmental psychologist at the National Institutes of Mental Health who worked at Yale when the research was conducted.

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2101344_2101158_2101155,00.html#ixzz1fziZCauQ

We are pleased to announce that we have awarded the scholarship for the UCSD Extension Certified Lactation Educator/Counselor course to Ms. Janette Wolski, RN, BSN, BHN.  This scholarship is co-sponsored by UCSD Extension and the San Diego County Breastfeeding Coalition. 

Congratulations, Janette!

More adoptive moms learn to breast-feed their babies

By Kristin Kalning

After years of hoping, planning and waiting, Anne Schaeffer finally held her adopted son in her arms – and breast-fed him.

Courtesy Anne Schaeffer

Anne Schaeffer with her son Robbie, who she adopted, and breast-fed, as an infant.

Once upon a time, adoptive breast-feeding, or induced lactation, was rare. And while it’s still not the norm, a growing number of adoptive mothers are nursing their young babies. They do it for the health benefits of breast milk for babies, but also for the emotional benefits for both mother and child.

“It’s impossible for me to know what our bond would be like if I hadn’t done it, but I could not feel closer to my son,” said Schaeffer, whose son is now 11 months. “He’s got a really wonderful, very secure attachment to me. I don’t know how much (breast-feeding) played into it, but it sure didn’t hurt.”

INTRODUCTION

There is no substance that can come close to human milk. Infant formula, a synthetic human milk substitute, is not a healthy alternative to mother's milk. Formula is missing over 400 ingredients present in human milk, which cannot be duplicated by scientists in a laboratory. Every species produces milk designed specifically for its offspring. In addition to living white blood cells, human milk contains immunoglobulins (antibodies) which protect infants against illness. The protein in human milk is easily digestible, unlike the protein in cow's milk, the base of most infant formulas, which forms tough rubbery curds in a baby's tummy. A mother's milk contains all of the nutrients her baby needs to grow and develop properly, and changes from minute to minute, hour to hour, and month to month to meet a baby's changing needs. Human milk substitutes are static. They do not change in nutritional content to suit a baby's needs at each particular stage in his life, nor do they contain protective antibodies or living white blood cells to help infants fight infectious disease (La Leche League International, 1991).

By Molly M. Ginty

WeNews correspondent

Monday, November 7, 2011

November 7, 2011

Scholarship Opportunity

Lactation Educator Counselor Course

UC San Diego Extension

Department of Healthcare, Behavioral Sciences and Safety

San Diego County Breastfeeding Coalition and UC San Diego lactation programs taught by Gini Baker, RN, MPH, IBCLC are pleased to offer a scholarship for the Lactation Educator CounselorCourse.

This scholarship will provide $530 of the registration fee. The student receiving the scholarship will pay $265. The successful candidate may choose either the onsite or the online course.  Applicants must be a member of the San Diego County Breastfeeding Coalition (www.breastfeeding.org) to apply.

Please go to www.breastfeeding-education.com/classes  for details and registration deadline for the next LEC course.

Please complete application form and submit by December 1, 2011 if registering for next onsite class, which starts January 17, 2012.

Application may be emailed to Kim Elkins at kim.elkins@sdarc.org  or faxed to 858 309-1286 to the attention of Kim Elkins.           

The Surgeon General's Call to Action to Support Breastfeeding

In the United States, most mothers want – and try – to breastfeed. Unfortunately, one mother's interest alone is not always enough to make breastfeeding possible. Rates of breastfeeding in the United States vary widely because of the multiple and complex barriers mothers face when starting and continuing to breastfeed. 

With this Call to Action, the Surgeon General seeks to make it possible for every mother who wishes to breastfeed to be able to do so by shifting how we as a nation think and talk about breastfeeding.

The information below summarizes some of the key findings and action steps from the Surgeon General's Call to Action to Support Breastfeeding.

Governor Brown Acts to Protect Pregnant Women and New Mothers

10-6-2011

SACRAMENTO – Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today signed four bills to protect pregnant women and new mothers. The bills ensure maternity services are covered by health insurers and new mothers can no longer lose their health insurance as a result of taking maternity leave.

“Healthy mothers mean healthy babies. I want the next generation of Californians to get the best possible start in life. The bills I signed today require that insurance companies cover maternity services for pregnant women,” said Governor Brown, “and ensures that mothers who take maternity leave no longer have to fear losing their medical coverage.”

The following bills have been signed by Governor Brown:

SB 222 by Senator Noreen Evans (D-Santa Rosa) and AB 210 by Assemblymember Roger Hernandez (D-Baldwin Park) – Together, these bills require that every individual and group health insurance policy must provide coverage for maternity services.

SB 299 by Senator Noreen Evans (D-Santa Rosa) – This bill prohibits employers from refusing to maintain and pay for coverage under group health plans for women who take maternity leave.

Governor Brown also signed SB 502 by Senator Fran Pavley (D-Agoura Hills), the Hospital Infant Feeding Act. This bill will help hospitals promote breast feeding.

As the nation celebrates Labor Day, the United States Lactation Consultant Association (USLCA) salutes breastfeeding mothers in the workplace as well as the employers who support them. 

The California Milk Processor Board, the creator and owner of the popular “GOT MILK?” tag line has signed a licensing agreement with La Leche League International.