Posts Tagged Under breastfeeding
Breast-Feeding After Surgery
After reading Leanne’s fantastic post about Milk donation, it got me thinking about my own experiences with breast-feeding and so thought I would follow it up by putting fingers to the keyboard…
During pregnancy I knew that I wanted to breast-feed my baby, but I also knew that having had breast-surgery five years previously, that I may find this more difficult than most. Read on…
Posted in General, Real NappiesBy Holly
Milk donation and the plight of Haitian babies.
Milk donation is something I feel very passionately about. After my gorgeous daughter was born she spent the first 24 hours of her life in neonatal intensive care for observations, while traumatic for any new mother to see her tiny baby in an incubator I soon learned that, compared to some mothers, I had it easy. I spent the vast majority of those 24 hours in NICU with my baby and couldn’t help looking around at the other incubators in which lay some of the tiniest babies I have ever seen. It was heartbreaking to behold and I feel a great deal of compassion and respect for the mothers of premature and poorly babies. Read on….
Posted in General, Real NappiesBy Leanne
La Leche Leagues Response to GMTV Survey
Letter to GMTV re Breastfeeding Survey from Anna Burbidge Chair, Council of Directors, La Leche League GB
If you haven’t seen it already, you can take a look the survey here: http://www.gmtvsurveys.com/se.ashx?s=7C7FC32D3C863642
Having already completed the survey and left my opinions of it at the end, I was very pleased to read the GB LLL’s formal response. Read on…
Posted in Real NappiesBy Laura
New Breastfeeding Cafe in Leicester
Each Wednesday morning from 10-12 women are able to get help and support from other mums, along with trained experts, at the Leicester based venue organised by the La Leche League.
The aim of the venture is to encourage more women to breastfeeding their babies, and to do so for as long as possible.
Posted in GeneralBy Laura
Breastfeeding Improves Lung Function
Researchers from the University of Southampton and the College of Veterinary Medicine in Michigan State University have found that the physical effort of sucking milk during nursing may leave babies with stronger lungs as they grow up.
In a 10 year study of 1,456 babies they found that children who had been breastfed for at least 4 months had stronger lung function in later childhood. A third of the children were breastfed for at least 4 months, and on average, these children could blow out more air after taking a deep breath, and could blo it out faster.
This was the case regardless of whether their mother was asthmatic or suffered from allegies.
Yet one more reason to breastfeed!
Posted in GeneralBy Laura
”Breastfeeding is Cool!”
”Breastfeeding is Cool!” Says Atomic Kitten Star, Jenni Frost
Atomic Kitten Star and celebrity mum, Jenni Frost, has been showing her support for breastfeeding by fronting the initiative Breast Buddy. As part of her tour of the UK, she has been in Leicester encouraging more young mothers to breastfeed. She spoke to mums and mums-to-be at Beaumont Leys and Stocking Farm Childrens Centre about her breastfeeding experiences, and to inform them that breastfeeding is ‘not just something that Old Maids do!’
‘Breastfeeding is Cool’ says Jenni- and of course she is right!
Mums to be can register for the Breast Buddy initiative by texting BUDDY to 60022, and you will recieve an information pack which includes the NHS breastfeeding guide, and information about the Breastfeeding Helpline (0844 209 0920). You will also receive messages of encouragement to help you through the first few months, and have a dedicated Breastfeeding Buddy! 
Posted in General
By Laura
Channel 4’s G-Spot Series- Other Peoples Breastmilk
Other Peoples Breastmilk
Next Tuesday see’s the airing of the latest edition of the G-Spot series on Channel 4, and one that tackles the highly emotive issue of breastfeeding. Kate Garraway visits communites in which breastfeeding other peoples infants is completely normal, and examines the root issues of why such practices are so controversial in our society.
Kate says of breastfeeding:
”It’s the most natural thing in the world, but it can still generate such a strong reaction from people. It’s still seen as something that’s dirty. Yet in other cultures, women can breastfeed each other’s babies, for example, and nobody bats an eyelid.”
We are really excited to watch the show, and are interested in the public reactions to it. Particularly when the mothers raise the fact that most people have no issue drinking the milk of a cow, but are squemish at the thought of drinking another humans milk- which is of course a very topsy-turvy way of thinking!
”Many people might think it is weird, but they argue it is much weirder to drink cow’s milk, which is, after all, from the breast of another species, than it is to drink it from a woman. I’m not saying that I would have been able to have my daughter fed by someone else if I’d been unable to breastfeed, but it certainly makes a degree of sense.”
Be sure to mark it in your diary- Tuesday 9th September, 10pm Channel 4
Do pop back and share your thoughts on the show!
Posted in GeneralBy Laura
Breastfeeding Releases ‘Trust’ Hormone
Scientists report that when a baby breastfeeds, a ‘trust’ hormone is released in the mother. Oxytocin has long been known to cause milk to be let down from the mammory glands, however scientists at Warwick University have now become aware that it is also involved in the enhancement of trust and love in both human, and non-human animals.
Breastfeeding triggers a surge of Oxytocin to be released, and large regular pulses of the hormone are needed to create the wave released when a mother breastfeeds, strengthening the bond between mother and child.
Yet further proof that breastfeeding promotes the maternal bond via biochemical processes.
Posted in GeneralBy Laura
New Pro-Breastfeeding T-shirts In Stock
Organic, Pro-Breastfeeding T-shirts for Your Baby!
To celebrate the clarification of the laws surrounding public breastfeeding in the UK we have added to the store some fabulously funky pro-breastfeeding gear for your little ones!
Made from Super Soft 100% Organic Cotton from the ‘Lactivist’ we have:
‘I Love Mummy Milk’ Long-Sleeved T-shirt, in Sizes 3-6, 6-12 and 12-18 Months. £14.99
‘I Like Milk from My Mum, Not Just from any Old Cow’ Organic Long-Sleeved t-shirt in sizes 3-6 and 6-12 Months. £14.99
Posted in General
By Laura
Breastfeeding in Public- The Laws Made Clear
Press Release from The Art of Change - Confusion lifted over breastfeeding
20th July 2008 01:00
UK mothers who breastfeed their children, are celebrating after the government clarified today that mothers are, and always have been, free to breastfeed in public places. Breastfeeding mothers are also protected in law under the provision of goods, services and facilities section of the Sexual Discrimination Act when breastfeeding, whatever the age of the baby, in places such as cafes, restaurants, libraries, surgeries etc.
When Harriet Harman announced plans for the new Equality Bill three weeks ago, she could not have known that people around the country - and around the world - would respond so strongly to her proposal to include the word ‘breastfeeding’ in the definition of maternity.
Under the new proposals, the government was stating that a mother, breastfeeding a child of six months or less, would now be more rigorously protected by law from discrimination. It was this six month cut off point that started panic amongst breastfeeding mothers who, in accord with WHO and Government Health guidelines, seek to breastfeed well beyond six months. They were concerned that they could now be discriminated against, for feeding a child older than six months when in public.
As Barbara Follett, Deputy Minister for Women and Equality, stated: “The law is not as clear as it could be. People are unsure of their rights and their responsibilities in this area. Some people also think that women can be charged with indecency for breastfeeding in a public place. This is utter nonsense and completely wrong”.
Barry Durdant-Hollamby, a communications specialist for The Art of Change, became concerned that mixed messages were being given out to the public, when he was alerted to a newspaper story suggesting that it was an offence to breastfeed in public. ‘I found it hard to believe that there could be a law suggesting that breastfeeding in public was an offence. And yet there was this story suggesting it was. And then I thought of all the young, vulnerable mothers - and of all the service providers such as the managers of food chains - reading that same article and acting according to what they had read in the article. I had to get to the bottom of it. It has been a challenge, but I feel we can spread some positive light on all this now.’
As a result of Durdant-Hollamby’s investigations, the Government Equalities Office has confirmed that:
1) There is not, and never has been, any law that prohibits a woman from breastfeeding a child of any age in public, for example in a cafe.
2) The 1975 Sexual Discrimination Act created legal protection for a woman under the provision of goods, facilities and services section. This protection covered a woman breastfeeding a child, of any age, by implication, and meant that she could not be discriminated against for breastfeeding in places such as restaurants, cafes, surgeries, libraries etc.
3) The 2008 amendment to the SDA brought in more specific cover under the wording of ‘maternity’ - this also brought in the first mention of a six-month period, as it is tied to broader maternity rights covering 6 months before and after birth - whereby a mother could also challenge the owner under the grounds of maternity
4) The Equality Bill seeks to make it even more explicit that this maternity protection includes breastfeeding, by including the word breastfeeding in the statute.
So, for example, if a mother who is breastfeeding a 27 week old baby on a bus or in a café is asked to leave or to stop breastfeeding, she can take legal action on the grounds of sexual discrimination. If that same mother was feeding a child under 26 weeks, she could take action under the grounds of maternity or sexual discrimination.
Mike Brady, Campaigns and Networking Coordinator at Baby Milk Action, said: “We, and our colleagues in the Baby Feeding Law Group, are pleased to see the Government making it clear that women are free to breastfeed in public and stating that these women are already protected under the Sexual Discrimination Act. During the consultation phase for the Single Equality Bill, we have also asked for there to be no age limit specified on the additional protection (provided under ‘maternity’) for breastfeeding in public. In many countries I visit, mothers do not give a thought to breastfeeding wherever they may be, which is quick and convenient and nobody sees it at odd.”
Only this week, the need for clarity was demonstrated when the junior manager of a McDonald’s asked a breastfeeding woman to leave the premises. Fortunately Head Office understood the law and offered an apology to the woman involved. It is this type of confusion that Durdant-Hollamby was determined to lift.
Deputy Minister for Women Barbara Follett concluded: “Mothers have to be confident that they can breastfeed their infants in a café, restaurant or shop without the embarrassment of having the owner ask them to stop. This type of discrimination has in fact been unlawful for more than thirty years, and the mother - with a baby of any age - could challenge the owner under the Sex Discrimination Act.”
Posted in GeneralBy Laura
