Breastfeeding Makes Strong Babies

Although the city of Milwaukee has been villified (and rightly so) for their anti-bedsharing campaign that used images of babies in bed with dangerous items like butcher knives, I have to give props to this breastfeeding video put together by the city's newspaper.

Featuring the awesome Dalvery Blackwell, co-founder of the African-American Breastfeeding Network, this video highlights a program in Milkwaukee aimed at encouraging young African-American moms to initiate breastfeeding.

The video was put together as part of the Journal Sentinel Online's Empty Cradles feature, which covers the city's abysmal infant mortality rates. It's a huge problem for the city that has definitely reached epidemic proportions. From unsafe sleep sleep deaths and lack of breastfeeding to social problems like alcoholism and smoking, black babies in Milwaukee are definitely at an increased risk for death in the first year of life.

Hats off to Dalvery and the great work she is doing. I'm glad she is being recognized as she fights the good fight.

To watch the video, click here.


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New Breastfeeding Policy from the AAP

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has updated its breastfeeding policy statement, and the changes are quite significant. It now begings by stating that infant feeding is not a personal choice and should be considered a public health issue. The new statement reaffirms that babies should be breastfed exclusively for the first 6 months and to 1 year minimum with complementary foods.

The statement abstract, posted below, even takes note of the importance of Baby Friendly hospital practices in increasing breastfeeding initiation and duration rates. This is a giant step in the right direction and a real game changer. What do you think of the new, more strongly worded statement?

Breastfeeding and human milk are the normative standards for infant feeding and nutrition. Given the documented short- and long-term medical and neurodevelopmental advantages of breastfeeding, infant nutrition should be considered a public health issue and not only a lifestyle choice. The American Academy of Pediatrics reaffirms its recommendation of exclusive breastfeeding for about 6 months, followed by continued breastfeeding as complementary foods are introduced, with continuation of breastfeeding for 1 year or longer as mutually desired by mother and infant. Medical contraindications to breastfeeding are rare. Infant growth should be monitored with the World Health Organization (WHO) Growth Curve Standards to avoid mislabeling infants as underweight or failing to thrive. Hospital routines to encourage and support the initiation and sustaining of exclusive breastfeeding should be based on the American Academy of Pediatrics-endorsed WHO/UNICEF “Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding.” National strategies supported by the US Surgeon General’s Call to Action, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and The Joint Commission are involved to facilitate breastfeeding practices in US hospitals and communities. Pediatricians play a critical role in their practices and communities as advocates of breastfeeding and thus should be knowledgeable about the health risks of not breastfeeding, the economic benefits to society of breastfeeding, and the techniques for managing and supporting the breastfeeding dyad. The “Business Case for Breastfeeding” details how mothers can maintain lactation in the workplace and the benefits to employers who facilitate this practice.

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Nurture-Elle Review & Giveaway

Boy, the Canadians seem to really knock it out of the park when it comes to breastfeeding accessories, huh? From the Pump Ease to Bravado to Momzelle, Canadians seem to be creating some of the best products for nursing moms.

Another Candian company, Nurture-Elle, recently sent me one of their nursing tops to review and they are also offering a $25 credit to one Blacktating reader to use at their store.

The top I was sent the Cowl Neck Nursing Top in a gorgeous burgundy shade.

This top is really beautiful and doesn't even look like a nursing top! The great thing about the Nurture-Elle top is that it has a side access opening. Instead of a traditional opening right above the breast, this opening is off to the side in an attached under layer.

This is an excellent top for moms who are at all nervous about breastfeeding in public. When I nurse in this top, absolutely nothing shows and you can even use the layers in the cowl neck for extra coverage.

The fabric is 90% viscose, 10% spandex which means that it's nice and loose and stretchy and very flattering. The color of the top is also super vibrant! I wear this top all the time and have washed it again and again and it still looks as good as the day that I got it.

Price for you? $45
Price for me? Free.

Want to win a $25 gift card to Nurture-Elle? Simply leave me a comment letting me know what your favorite product is on the Nurture-Elle site. For additional entries, please use the Rafflecopter widget below.
Even if you don't win, everyone can get $7 off their puchase with coupon code BLACKTATING.

My Ad Rates Just Went Up

Blacktating was mentioned on TMZ on TV the other night as a resource for information on breastfeeding. They were obviously on my Breast Milk: Breakfast of Champions post, where I discussed various famous athletes who were breastfed and who breastfed their own kids. They had a good natured laugh at the name of my blog and even said Blacktating three times! This is so cool and might be the highlight of my blogging career. Check out the (edited) clip below!







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Does Your Pump Talk to You?

I had heard women say before that their pumps talked to them. I never noticed it with Miles but this time around the pump has a lot to say.

I'm traveling for work today and pumping in one of my employees' offices. My pump keeps saying, "Stay home! Stay home! Stay home!" Last week as I watched the drips barely coat the bottom of the bottle it kept saying, "You suck! You suck! You suck!"

Does your pump talk to you? And is she as much of a bitch as mine is?

Blame it on the b-b-b-b-breastfeeding

I took a picture of the giant ball of hair that I combed out of my head in the shower but it's too disgusting to post. I knew that postpartum hair loss was a "thing" but it didn't really happen to me with Miles. Or at least I never really noticed anything beyond my normal shedding. But this time it's pretty bad. I mean, even my edges look crazy. Like, my baby hair got thinner. It's awful but normal in that it happens to many of us and "this too shall pass," blah blah blah.

So imagine my surprise when I complained about this and someone told me, "Oh it's because of the breastfeeding." Of course that's not true, it happens to many women whether they breastfeed or formula feed from day one but I found it interesting that breastfeeding was deemed the culprit. Maybe it's because the hair loss generally abates around 3 months and that's when many women stop breastfeeding. Or maybe it's just one of the long litany of ills that gets blamed on breastfeeding.

I recently read an advice column written by a popular blogger where she called postpartum night sweats "the breastfeeding sweats." I've heard from a lot of women who say that because milk ducts are modified sweat glands that nursing is to blame for waking up soaking wet for weeks after giving birth. The problem is that that's not true. Hormones are to blame for postpartum night sweats and again, many of us suffer through them. Your body has to get rid of those extra pregnancy fluids somehow and no, moms who choose not to breastfeed don't get a pass here either.

But isn't it funny how breastfeeding always gets the blame for these things?

Problems in your marriage after the birth of your baby? It's because you're breastfeeding.
Run down and exhausted from caring for a little one? It's because you're breastfeeding.
Baby allergic to any foods? It's because you're breastfeeding.
Baby wants to be held all the time? It's because you're breastfeeding.
Kid has cavities? It's because you're breastfeeding.
Suffering from PPD? It's because you're breastfeeding.
Baby not sleeping through the night? Yup.....It's because you're breastfeeding.

I've heard almost everything get blamed on breastfeeding, including body aches and pains for mom, fat babies, skinny babies, cranky babies, even medical diagnoses for everything from autism to diabetes. Heck, according to some, breastfeeding your boy child can even make him gay.

I'd love to hear your stories if you have them. What does breastfeeding get the blame for in your life?