Efforts to ban the distribution of gift bags by hospitals is gaining momentum. According to Rachel Zimmerman, a reporter for The Wall Street Journal.com, “For some newborns, there’s no more lunch on the corporate dime.”

Deborah Kaplan, Assistant Commissioner for Maternal, Infant and Reproductive Health, announced that New York City public hospitals will be joining other hospitals nationwide in halting the distribution of gift bags containing infant formula samples to new mothers.

NYC’s action was prompted, in part, by data from a 2006 study by the Government Accountability Office that found lower breastfeeding rates among mothers who received free formula samples compared to those…

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Compare the following headline that accompanied a news report of a recent study: Maternal Diet in Late Pregnancy Affects Children’s Risk for Eczema, with the actual title of the research article: Maternal diet during pregnancy in relation to eczema and allergic sensitization in the offspring at 2 y of age.

The news report goes on to describe a study published in the February issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, in which children born to women who consume allergenic (citrus fruit) foods and foods rich in n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (margarine and vegetable oils) during the last 4 weeks of pregnancy,…

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Do you go to work even when you’re sick?

Well, you’re not alone.

According to a Fact Sheet from the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, more than 22 million working women do not have paid sick days.  Nearly 50 percent of women working in the private sector have no paid sick days. Industries that employ the most women are the most affected. These industries include retail and food service, where 55 percent and 78 percent of workers have no paid sick days.

Because women are the primary family caregivers, half of working mothers must miss work when their child is sick, and half of all working…

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I take pride in being a breastfeeding advocate as well as a Buckeye. So I was saddened to see a recent report about a childcare center in Columbus, Ohio, that charged a mother an additional $50 a week because her 3-month-old infant was breastfed.

Reportedly the childcare staff told the mother that her milk was a hazardous body fluid. As such, it had to be stored in a separate refrigerator and reheated in a separate warming unit, hence the additional charges.

At first the mother was reluctant to complain because she needed a place to leave her baby. But now that she no…

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The National Business Group on Health (NBGH) in cooperation with the Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB) is developing a Model Benefit Plan for Children, Adolescents, and Pregnant and Postpartum Women.

The plan will include coverage for up to 20 lactation consultant visits per pregnancy for a mother and child (provided by an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant or Primary Care Provider), and a $2,500 credit per child per year for banked human milk.

The Plan is scheduled to be released May/June 2007. Employer education materials will accompany the Plan and its feasibility will be tested at two demonstration sites beginning summer 2007.

The value…

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I recently received the following note from a dear friend. If anyone recognizes the author, please let me know, so that I can credit her with this lovely reflection on parenting. Enjoy!

Is there a magic cutoff period when offspring become accountable for their actions?

Is there a wonderful moment when parents can become detached spectators in the lives of their children and shrug, “It’s their life,” and feel nothing?

When I was in my twenties, I stood in a hospital corridor waiting for doctors to put a few stitches in my son’s head. I asked, “When do you stop worrying?” The nurse…

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Cough and cold medications containing decongestants, antihistamines, cough suppressants, and expectorants are commonly used alone or in combination to relieve symptoms of upper respiratory infection in children under the age of 2 years.

The use of such preparations have reportedly led to the deaths of three infants ages 1-6 months. The dosages at which cough and cold medicines can cause illness or death in children under the age of 2 years is unknown.

In 1997, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) issued a policy statement advising parents of the risk of adverse events and the potential for overdose.

More recently on January 12, 2007,…

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It now appears that eating more fish may be beneficial.

A recent study published in The Lancet looked at 11875 pregnant women who were divided into three groups based on the amount of seafood eaten week during pregnancy. There were those who ate (1) no seafood, (2) some seafood (1-340 grams), and (3) more than 340 grams of seafood.

The authors reported that verbal intelligence quotient (IQ) of children from mothers with no seafood intake and 1-340 grams of seafood intake was 50 percent and 9 percent more likely to be in the lowest quartile, compared to children of mothers who ate…

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In case you missed the headlines – Breastfed kids enjoy greater social mobility than bottle-fed children – Breastfeeding helps children up the social ladder – researchers at the University of Bristol in the UK followed 3182 babies born from 1937 to 1939.

They reported that breastfed children were 41 percent more likely to achieve a higher social class as adults than children who were formula-fed – Breastfeeding in infancy and social mobility: 60-year follow-up of the Boyd Orr cohort.

Initial data was collected by survey administered at 16 centers in England and Scotland when the subjects were on average 7 years of age. Subjects…

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You wouldn’t know it based on a recent report from the United Nations Children’s Fund, but Kids Count.

According to results published by UNICEF in a report titled, An Overview of Child Well-Being, the US and UK were rated the worst among 21 industrialized countries in which to be a child.

For a candid discussion of the report visit All Things Considered by National Public Radio (NPR).

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Britt Pegan and Cheryl Atkinson are among the many breastfeeding mothers who are taking breastfeeding from the backroom to the runway with a wide range of apparel designed with breastfeeding mothers in mind. Their products include everything from Lilypadz and Booby Tubes, to a line of clothing from Sweden called Boob.

According to Robin Eckler of the Globe and Mail, “Almost gone are the days when mothers felt compelled to drape a blanket over the heads of their nursing infants. Breastfeeding has gone public. Big time. And where there’s milk, there’s marketing.”

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One of the leading causes of illness and death in children is infectious disease. There is clear evidence that breastfeeding provides short-term protection – but the long-term impact on adult health and intellectual development remains controversial.

Research shows that breastfed babies are healthier, but do they grow up to be smarter and healthier adults?

In an effort to determine the effects of breastfeeding on blood pressure, diabetes, cholesterol level, overweight and obesity, and intellectual performance, the World Health Organization authorized systematic reviews and meta-analyses of existing data, Evidence on the long-term effects of breastfeeding.

Because nearly all of the studies included in the analyses…

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