Black moms needed to sign up for the Army of Women

If you follow me on Facebook or Twitter you may have heard that I am working with Dr. Kathleen Arcaro of the University of Massachusetts, Amherst on her groundbreaking breastmilk and breast cancer study. Along with Tanya Lierberman, IBCLC of the Motherwear Breastfeeding Blog and Kathi Barber, CLC and author of The Black Woman's Guide to Breastfeeding. We are specifically recruiting black moms to give a breastmilk sample to be analyzed in Dr. Arcaro's lab. The response from you all has been amazing and the milk samples are um, pouring in. Because of you, we are on our way to ensuring that this important breast cancer research represents ALL women. We will eventually need more of you to send in milk samples, but today I am asking you for a different, but just as important, favor.

I want all of my African American women readers, whether you're breastfeeding or not, to sign up for the Love/Avon Army of Women.

What's the Army of Women? It's an effort backed by Dr. Suan Love and the Avon Foundation to focus on breast cancer prevention. Great strides have been made in the treatment of breast cancer, but little progress has been made in preventing women from developing breast cancer in the first place. The Army of Women connects women with researchers so that they can participate in research (if they choose) to help us understand how to prevent breast cancer.

How does it work? You register and provide very basic information such as your name, email, age, city, and state of residence. You will then receive email updates from us announcing new research studies looking for volunteers with or without breast cancer, just like you. If you fit the criteria and you’d like to participate, all you need to do is “RSVP.” You will be asked to go through an online screening process to confirm you fit the criteria for the study. Throughout the process, you remain in complete control and you self select what you want to do! You will never be pressured to take part in any study. The decision to take part is yours—and yours alone.

The most important part is that when you fill out the registration form you check "breast milk study" when asked how you learned about the Army of Women.

Why are we looking for African American women? Researchers want to ensure that their findings apply to all women, and to do that they need a diverse pool of particpants for their studies. A good example is the current call for African American moms to participate in the Jewels in our Genes study, which is recruiting African American breast cancer survivors now.

What can you do? Please go to the Army of Women registration page and please select "breast milk study" when asked how you learned about the Army of Women. We thank you!




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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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Breastmilk Stunts

Have you heard about the latest breastmilk stunt? No, it's not making breastmilk ice cream or cheese. Nor is it a man trying to induce lactation. This week we've got the husband of a mom who pumps a ton of milk trying to see how long he can survive on breastmilk alone.

Meet Curtis and Katie. Katie is a doula, childbirth educator and CLE. She is the mom of three preemies (the youngest is 9 months old) and has become a pumping powerhouse. Because of this, she has a ton of milk stored in her freezer but no one to give it to. According to their new blog, Katie seems to have a philosophical issue with both non-profit milk banks (HMBANA) as well as the for-profit Prolacta banks. She says she tried to informally share her milk but couldn't find a family to accept the milk (she has donated over 10,000 ounces to another mom in the past). So instead her husband Curtis is going to attempt to live on breastmilk alone.

Apparently Curtis has some "digestive issues" and has consumed her breastmilk before, but now he is going to see how long he can maintain his weight of 185 pounds on nothing but Katie's milk. They claim they are not doing this for attention, but that they mentioned the idea to a friend who encouraged them to blog about the experience.

I honestly don't know how I feel about this. I know this couple feels like they are not "wasting" the milk by consuming it themselves, but it sure feels that way to me. I can understand having an issue with a Prolacta milk bank cashing in on your milk while you get nothing but the satisfaction of helping a baby in return, but why not donate to a HMBANA milk bank?

And what about the stunt factor? Do you think this helps to normalize breastfeeding or bring awareness to the issues surrounding milk donation? Or are most people just thinking "gross" and rolling their eyes when they hear about grown folks consuming breastmilk? And really, do we need anyone to tell us that even an adult can survive on breastmilk alone, at least for a time? Last year, Esquire magazine posed the question, "If a human being could only eat one food for an entire month, what should it be?" to a group of nutritionists (including my friend's dad!) and the overwhelming response was "Breastmilk."

So what do you think? Just the latest stupid stunt surrounding breastmilk or a way to educate the public on just how amazing breastmilk really is?


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Breast Milk Popsicles

It is a cool 90 degrees here in Florida today, and with summer right around the corner, I was thinking about my baby's first summer, when he was about 7 months old. My son was highly distractible at that age and I would sometimes have trouble getting him to settle down and nurse. It was also ridiculously hot outside and he was teething for the first time. In my search for the perfect safe teether, I came across the idea of making your baby a breast milk popsicle!

© BrenFaithGraceHope

Also known as "Momsicles," breast milk popsicles are a great soothing treat for teething babies. They make wonderful snacks on hot days and when your baby is sick or too into the world around him to nurse, they are a way to sneak in some extra calories. Everyone in your life pushing you to start your baby on solids? Breast milk popsicles are a great way to gauge your baby's interest in "real" food.

The best thing about them is they are easy to make. I got directions on how to make Momsicles online. All you need is a popsicle mold, which I was able to find at my local Dollar Tree and some expressed milk (and no, you don't have to make them as huge as they are in this photograph....that mama must have a lot of milk!)
If you don't have a lot of breast milk to spare, you can wash and sterilize a regular ice cube tray, fill some of the cubes up with milk and store it in the freezer in one of those thick, heavy duty freezer bags.

They are definitely a messy treat and yes, some of your breast milk will be "wasted" if you use it in this manner, but I did find that my son absolutely loved his breast milk popsicles. Have you ever made breast milk popsicles for your baby? Did he like them?

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Wordless Wednesday

I first saw this photo posted on my friend's Facebook page. I asked him what the heck this product is and he said "Cambodian breast milk." I thought he was joking (he's not Asian, so I assumed he was just making shit up to mess with me) but check out this recent article on Weird Asia News. Maybe he wasn't joking after all! 


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Lawmaker Calls for Ban on Selling Breast Milk

Last fall, Channel 3 News out of Memphis, TN ran an investigative journalism piece on women who buy and sell breast milk online. Their "investigation" uncovered what most of us already knew exists: a marketplace online, on various forums, where women post about their need to purchase breast milk and moms with a healthy supply offer up their extra for sale. It's been going on for quite a while, and will continue to go on because there are a lot of women who don't believe formula is a safe alternative to breast milk who either can't breastfeed or don't make enough to meet their baby's needs.

A local Memphis lawmaker named Joe Towns, Jr. got wind of the story and has proposed a ban on selling breast milk online. In one of the most ironic statements ever, he declared selling breast milk to be "purely profit driven," and that "we should never place profit over the health concerns of infants." Maybe he should spend a while reading about the marketing tactics the formula companies use if he wants to talk about placing profit over the health concerns of infants.

 

Despite how you may feel about buying and selling breast milk online (I personally wouldn't do it, and this practice is discouraged by La Leche League), I don't think it's "purely profit driven" for the women involved. I think moms who sell their breast milk online feel a kinship with other women who want to breastfeed and for whatever reason can't supply their babies with all of the milk they need. The sense I've always gotten is that these women feel they are doing a favor for a friend, not creating a business enterprise. Besides, no one online is selling her breast milk at the same cost as the for-profit companies like Prolacta, who charge $3 per ounce for breast milk.

I think Rep. Towns could better use his muscle to help create milk banks in Tennessee, so that women whose babies need breast milk have a safe way to obtain it. If there were more human milk banks that were fully stocked with screened milk, moms wouldn't have to risk their baby's health by buying it online from virtual strangers. He, like many people, seems to be bothered by the "ick" factor of sharing human milk, rather than considering how breast milk is the normal food for infants and is life-saving in many cases. Women who can't breastfeed should have real options and be able to make an informed choice on whether or not they want to use formula. Right now, the only thing women who've educated themselves about the potential dangers of formula can do is buy breast milk online from women they don't know. And that is a problem.





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Tom Colicchio on Breastfeeding

I am a HUGE fan of Top Chef, which is, along with Project Runway, the thinking person's reality show. I am embarrassed by the amount of time out of my life and space in my brain is dedicated to crap like Ray J of Love, but there is no shame in loving Padma, Tom and Gail. I consider myself a bit of a foodie and I have eaten at Tom's restaurant, cooked from Padma's cookbooks and have also eaten at several of the Cheftestants' restaurants across the country. So of course I was pleased to read today that Top Chef judge Tom Colicchio's four-month-old son is only getting the creme de la creme: breast milk!

According to Tom, "He's definitely a big eater and loves to eat like me. He's only on breast milk right now, and even at night time, when he wakes up, you just stick a bottle in his mouth or breastfeed him and he goes right back to sleep."

What a lucky kid. Exclusively breastfed and Tom Colicchio is going to cook him his first meal!

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Friday 5

I have skipped a few weeks of the Friday 5! My apologies, things were hectic and I was also out of town. Hopefully these 5 will make up for it.


Remember the Breastfeeding Challenge? Toronto won with 372 moms breastfeeding at the same time.

A group of Florida moms is providing breast milk for a baby whose mother passed away.

The International Breast Milk Project is providing breast milk to typhoon victims in the Philippines.

Mali has 48 "baby friendly" hospitals. The US has about 80.

Breastfeeding mothers can exercise to offset bone density lost while lactating.


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Question of the Day: Sour Milk

Here is a question I received from a reader:

My newborn is currently being breastfed. I was unable to breastfeed my baby for two days. Has my milk gone sour?

I'm not sure where this myth about breast milk "going sour" in the breast started, but it's patently false. Your breast milk in your breast is always fresh and even if you have to stop nursing for a day or two because of surgery or medication or separation from your baby, your milk is still as good as it ever was. If you cannot nurse your baby for an extended period of time, regardless of the reason, you want to make sure to pump so that your supply doesn't diminish. Ideally you would be able to pump for every missed feeding, but this is not always possible. Try to pump about every 3 hours until you can get your baby back to the breast.

Milk that is expressed from your breast and is in a bottle or breast milk storage bag, CAN go sour.

You want to be sure you follow the guidelines closely for breast milk storage which you can find on this LLLI Fact Sheet. Washing your hands, sterilizing your pump parts and bottles and immediately storing your milk will all help to keep it fresh.

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Unwrong'd

Is it wrong that I love this commercial?




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Help! My baby won't take a bottle

One of the problems breastfeeding moms seem to have most often is how to get a breastfed baby to take a bottle. If you're lucky enough to be a stay-at-home mom, your baby may never need to take a bottle. However, if you're a working mom, once your maternity leave is up you'll need to figure out a way to get the baby to drink milk from another source. So what is a mom to do if your baby won't take a bottle? Here are some ways to troubleshoot the problem and some solutions that have worked for many moms.

First things first, what's in the bottle? Many breasted babies will balk at the taste of formula. And can you blame them? Have you tasted it? I have and it's pretty vile. If you need to supplement your baby because of low milk supply and have no choice but to use formula, do an experiment and taste them. I found one brand's ready-to-serve to be the most palatable.

If you're offering your baby expressed breast milk in a bottle and she is refusing, it might be that the taste of your milk is off. Are you properly handling and storing your milk? Breast milk will keep for about a week in the refrigerator and about 3 months in a regular freezer, 6 months in a deep freezer.

Smell your milk. Does it smell soapy? Does it taste sour? If so, you may have a problem with excess lipase. Lipase is an enzyme normally found in breast milk, but if you have too much it will break your milk down quicker, resulting in the off taste. What you can do is scald your expressed milk to 180 degrees, then chill and freeze. This can be done in a pan on the stove. Be careful not to overheat the milk, which can kill off the nutrients.

If your baby is old enough, you may want to skip bottles all together and move straight to the cup. Many breastfed babies like sippy cups with straw tops, but experiment to find the one your baby likes. If your baby is very young, you can try finger feeding, feeding with a syringe or a dropper. These methods may take longer, but will be worth it if baby is eating happily.

You can also try some of the newer bottles and nipples made especially for babies who will be going back and forth between the bottle and the breast. I have heard good things about the Adiri breast-shaped bottles and the Playtex Naturalatch nipples. Nipples for breastfed babies should have a wide base that requires the baby to open wide. Nipples should be slow-flow.

Here are some other techniques for getting a breastfed baby to take a bottle:

• Have dad or another caregiver offer the bottle, not mom. Breastfed babies know that mom has the good stuff and will be wondering why she won't give it up!
• Warm up the breast milk or formula. Breast milk is served up at body temperature and your baby may be used to having warm milk and refuse anything cold.
• Some breastfed babies like to be held in a nursing position when given a bottle. Others need to be looking away from the caregiver and offered the bottle from behind.
• Don't wait until the baby is really hungry to offer the bottle. A hungry, frustrated baby probably won't take well to something new.

If your baby is refusing all methods of bottle feeding and is over the age of 6 months, you can offer solids and juice during the day at daycare. Younger babies may completely reverse cycle. Reverse cycling is when your baby switches days and nights and nurses frequently at night and sleeps longer stretches during the day. Reverse cycling is much easier to handle if you co-sleep. Eventually you will not wake up for feedings or will learn to quickly fall back to sleep afterwards. Some women actually don't mind it at all when their baby reverse cycles because there is less pressure to pump a certain number of ounces during the day because you know baby will get what he needs at night.

Do you have any other suggestions for moms whose breastfed babies won't take a bottle? Have you worked through this issue? How did you get your baby to take a bottle?

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Breastfeeding and breast cancer

October is Breast Cancer Awareness month. All of us know a woman who has battled or lost her life to breast cancer. Please take the time to do a self exam every month, even if you're breastfeeding. Although the chances are slim, you can still get breast cancer while nursing.

Unfortunately, if you find a lump you'll probably be told you need to wean your baby and stop all breastfeeding for 6 months before you can have a biopsy done. It's probably news to most of us (it was to me) that when you make milk, cells from your milk ducts exfoliate off in the process. These are called epithelial cells, and they're detectable in your milk.

Research has shown that long before you notice a lump, those epithelial cells start changing in ways that are precursors to the development of breast cancer.

Dr. Kathleen Arcaro, a UMass professor who studies breastfeeding and breast cancer risk wants to analyze those cells. Check out her answers to questions about breastfeeding and breast cancer.

The primary goal of her research is to determine if it's possible to create a non-invasive, early way of assessing breast cancer risk through breastmilk. If it's successful, it would also establish 'molecular biomarkers' for breast cancer risk.

An additional benefit to breastfeeding mothers is that we would not be told to wean before a mammogram or biopsy can be done. No more choosing between breastfeeding and a breast cancer test. It could be as simple and sending in a milk sample to a lab!

In order to conduct this research, Dr. Kathleen Arcaro needs to find 250 women who are both lactating and scheduled for a biopsy. To participate, you'd overnight milk samples to her lab, at no cost to you. If you or someone you know is in this situation, please contact Dr. Arcaro.

Breastfed babies at risk for Vitamind D deficiency

A recent study has shown that breastfed babies are at risk for Vitamin D decificiency, and that the AAP currently recommends that exclusively breastfed babies receive Vitamind D drops. This is not something that was ever recommended to me by my pediatrician, who felt it was unnecessary. Perhaps it is because I live in Florida and we all get plenty of sunshine. However, according to the article, black and dark-skinned children are at a higher risk for Vitamin D deficiency because people of color do not absorb the vitamin as easily through the skin.
An article that recently appeared in the New York Times states that many pediatricians are nervous about speaking about this issue because they don't want to appear anti-breastfeeding or discourage breastfeeding at a time when the rates are at an all-time high.
According to the author of the study, Dr. Cynthia Gordon, many women now are Vitamin D deficient themselves because, as a society, we drink more soda and juice and less milk. So mom's levels of Vitamin D are low, her breast milk has low levels of Vitamin D and the baby ends up deficient. Of course, breast milk is still perfect nutrition for babies, but if you're concerned, you should talk to your pediatrician about adding in Vitamin D drops.

Breast milk necklaces

Have you ever wanted to turn your breast milk into a fashionable piece of jewelry? Yeah, me neither. A group of artists in France figured out that if you boil breast milk and vinegar, it hardens into a plastic which can then be molded. Their work will be on display at an exhibition in France in September called "La part des Anges," or "the angel's share." The collective, Duende, has put together a collection of objects that explore the sharing of food between mother and child, and includes plates specifically used for eating and storing of placenta, as well as the milk jewelry.