Amazing Breast Milk

This New York Times article is a great way to close out World Breastfeeding Week -

Breast Milk Sugars Give Infants a Protective Coat

I love to hear all the marvelous ways natural foods are perfect for our bodies, with all sorts of benefits that can't be made in a laboratory. This article is great in showing that even the indigestible parts of human breast milk have a purpose and benefit a baby. Fascinating. Here's a teaser:

“We were astonished that milk had so much material that the infant couldn’t digest,” Dr. German said. “Finding that it selectively stimulates the growth of specific bacteria, which are in turn protective of the infant, let us see the genius of the strategy — mothers are recruiting another life-form to baby-sit their baby.”

Who knew?

milkmakers donates 10% of August profits to Open Arms!

Exciting news - milkmakers, makers of premium, all-natural and nutritious lactation cookies, has announced that in support of World Breastfeeding Week (August 1-7), milkmakers is donating 10% of August profits to Open Arms! Read all about it in their August newsletter.

milkmakers has had a lot of great press, and a Seattle lactation consultant, Renee Beebe tested cookies with her clients and found 100% had increased milk production in under a week.

But lacation cookies? I bet you're wondering what they're like. These are not cookies which are meant to be healthy but taste terrible - these are yummy yummy yummy on their own, with the added benefits of supporting nursing -- a great way to nurture your taste buds and take care of mama while also feeding your baby healthy breastmilk. Emily Kane, founder of milkmakers, brought some samples to a board meeting one day and let me tell you, they rival cookies I get at bakeries. Soft, sweet but not too sweet, yummy oatmeal-chocolate chip cookies ... oh so good. I ate more than a few (and no, didn't start lactating again after seven years, haha!).

Anyway - we're honored to receive this donation from milkmakers and I'd love to encourage you to try these in August and support Open Arms: order them for yourself, give them for baby showers, or if you work in the birth and parenting field, recommend them to your clients. She'll ship for you - just put them in the freezer to enjoy one at a time and do something good for body and soul.

Thanks again milkmakers for supporting Open Arms!

A few community organizations of interest

I was at the Within Reach luncheon last week and was inspired by their work. If you haven't heard about this organization, they are right there on the front lines connecting families to the programs and services they need: health care, nutrition and food resources, childcare, and immunizations. Many of their families have been hit hard by the downturn in the economy, and are needing support for the very first time and have no idea where to turn. Within Reach is doing great, necessary work to promote maternal, child and family health - check them out.

While I was at the luncheon, I sat next to Michele McGraw from the Breastfeeding Coalition of Washington. We had a wonderful talk about breastfeeding in the workplace. There's no denying the benefits of breastfeeding, but there are many obstacles to it, and one of the top obstacles is when mom goes back to work. Many workplaces are not set up for pumping breastmilk at work or if a process is in place, it is often for one or two specific mothers who have asked for it. Then when those moms are no longer pumping at work, the policy and procedures go away. There's no organizational support for it, and it seems to be too much work for employers.

To respond to this, the Breastfeeding Coalition of Washington is creating information packets for employers to not only accomodate breastfeeding moms, but to see the benefits to themselves for supporting it. A baby who is fed breastmilk is less likely to be sick, which means that mother will be at work rather than at home caring for a sick baby. Also women who are committed to breastfeeding but find that the workplace doesn't accommodate that might find that it's easier to take a different job or quit altogether, requiring that employer to hire and train a new employee. By presenting the benefits to employers as well as tried-and-true methods for making it work and sample policies to adopt with minimal expense or disruption to the workplace, the Breastfeeding Coalition is supporting more employers to make the transition to breastfeeding-friendly workplaces, and in the end, that benefits everyone.

I was so excited about the work of both of these terrific organizations and wanted to share them with you!

On another note, Michele works at Birth and Beyond in Seattle, and she told me about their Sunday Socials gatherings for birth professionals to meet and greet on a bimonthly basis. Any of you birth professionals who are interested in meeting others of like mind, we hope to see you there at the next Sunday Social on Sunday, June 13 from 3-5pm. Open Arms will be a "featured business" on that day, and our board treasurer Sarah Pulliam will do a brief introduction about Open Arms. Hope to see you there.

Reducing Infant Mortality - watch this video!

This is, hands-down, the best video I have ever seen on the topic of maternal and neonatal health. Settle in - it's about 17 minutes long. If you are interested in these issues, you will love this.

If you are unsure of the critical importance of having full term babies and avoiding prematurity, you will get your answers. If you wonder why we keep talking about lowering the birth intervention rate (epidurals, c-sections, inductions etc.), supporting women in receiving their perinatal care and promoting breastfeeding, you will have to ask no longer.

If you wonder why we as a society need to support all mothers in having healthy pregnancies, births and babies, just listen to the cost of NOT supporting them.

In the end, the video talks about the midwifery model of care - it mentions doulas once or twice in passing, but it is not a doula promotion. It is a HEALTH promotion.

I think I'm going to revisit this topic again later. But for now - put away anything else you're doing - watch. And pass it on.

Reducing Infant Mortality from Debby Takikawa on Vimeo.

If you want to share this video, go to the Reducing Infant Mortality website for instructions to link, share, embed, download or order CDs.

Breastfeeding video

I saw this video on breastfeeding today on MSNBC.

I liked hearing how mothers aren't at fault if they don't breastfeed because so much is stacked against them, from work not permitting time to pump to hospitals that give formula even when the mother intends to breastfeed - but we as a society have to help new mothers in the beginning and give them the support they need. I'd like to say that this statement is true in general, not just regarding breastfeeding!

Breast-feeding could save lives, money

This MSNBC article from today shows the increased attention that breastfeeding is getting in the news.

Breast-feeding could save lives, money

The article says:

The lives of nearly 900 babies would be saved each year, along with billions of dollars, if 90 percent of U.S. women breast-fed their babies for the first six months of life, a cost analysis says(....)

The findings suggest that there are hundreds of deaths and many more costly illnesses each year from health problems that breast-feeding may help prevent. These include stomach viruses, ear infections, asthma, juvenile diabetes, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome and even childhood leukemia(...)

The methods were similar to a widely cited 2001 government report that said $3.6 billion could be saved each year if 50 percent of mothers breast-fed their babies for six months. Medical costs have climbed since then and breast-feeding rates have increased only slightly.

The article ended by saying that women shouldn't be blamed if they don't breastfeed, and that hospitals often give formula to babies even if the mothers intend to breastfeed. It's good for everyone to realize that supporting mothers in breastfeeding is something that is good for mothers, babies and society in general.

To see how Washington state compares to the rest of the country (pretty well), take a look at the CDC's Breastfeeding Report Card for 2009.

In 2009, Open Arms had a 94% breastfeeding initiation rate among our clients. There are so many benefits to breastfeeding - benefits to mother and baby. I am glad to see national attention continue to focus on supporting breastfeeding.

Oh, and if we're talking about breastfeeding, I have to include this pitch for Milkmakers, a company started by Open Arms Board Member Emily Kane. Milkmakers was featured on The Doctors TV show today. Milkmakers provides cookies that support lactation. Go check them out. (And I can vouch for them - they are absolutely delicious).