When Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar welcomed their 18^th child last December, I idly wondered whether Michelle might be breastfeeding. Then I wondered: has she breastfed her other children? What about all of them? And then I realized: wow, that’d be nearly two decades of breastfeeding!

Chances are that you know about the Duggars already, at least if you’ve seen their show on The Learning Channel, “18 Kids and Counting.” The show follows the adventures of Michelle, Jim Bob and their children—Joshua, 20 (who is also a newlywed), twins Jana and John-David, 19, Jill, 17, Jessa, 16, Jinger, 15, Joseph, 14, Josiah,…

read more

It’s not every day you read a research paper about breastfeeding that references Voldemort in the title.

Yes, that’s right—Lord Voldemort, that villain from J.K. Rowling’s “Harry Potter” series. He’s so fearsome that he’s known as “He Who Must Not Be Named” (or, sometimes, “You Know Who”). Australian researchers have cleverly noted that much of the research that was key in establishing breastfeeding’s health benefits took a—shall we say—Cornelius Fudge approach to actually naming the detriments of formula feeding.

In other words, if you can bear at least one more Harry Potter reference, research studies are like the Ministry of Magic (pre-reform, of course)—all…

read more

I’ll admit I’m not wild about the title. I would have preferred something catchy like, “Let’s Talk” or “See one. Do one. Teach one.” Nonetheless, “Breastfeeding Best Practice, Teaching Latch & Early Management,” a video co-produced by Injoy Videos and the International Lactation Consultant Association (ILCA) has lots of pluses and few minuses.

If you’re looking for an instructional video on basic breastfeeding management for health care providers (HCPs), “Breastfeeding Best Practice, Teaching Latch & Early Management” is a good place to start. Forty-one minutes in length, the video is divided into four modules that can be viewed individually or together.

• Module one, “Communicating…

read more

Finally, some long-awaited good news on the baby bottle front: Six major manufacturers have agreed to stop selling baby products made with bisphenol A (BPA) in the United States. As reported earlier in babygooroo, BPA is a chemical found in baby bottles, sippy cups, the lining of infant formula cans, and many other products that may pose several health risks. Those risks are thought to be higher for infants and children, and include neurological problems, reproductive health concerns, cardiovascular diagnoses, diabetes, and more.

These companies—Avent, Disney First Years, Gerber, Dr. Brown, Playtex, and Evenflo—have voluntarily agreed to take this action, after several…

read more

Most new mothers worry that their babies are getting enough to eat. Poopy diapers can be reassuring, since nothing comes out the bottom unless something goes in the top. But when what goes in the top comes out the top, parents start to worry.

An article published in the March 2009 issue of Pediatrics revealed that two-thirds of healthy 4-month-old babies regurgitate (spit up) more than once a day. Even though regurgitation is common, 25 percent of parents think it’s abnormal. This explains why gastroesophageal reflux (GER) is one of the most common reasons parents give for pediatric office visits. GER is the…

read more

There’s a new lactation toolkit on the scene designed to help low-income working mothers pump breastmilk at work—and it’s caused a bit of a fuss, mostly because one of the kit’s sponsors is a company that manufactures infant formula.

This isn’t the first time a formula manufacturer has sponsored a lactation toolkit. In 2003, Ross Products Division Abbott Laboratories caused a similar flap when it produced “Business Backs Breastfeeding.”

The accuracy of the information contained within Corporate Voices for Working Families’ new program, “Workplace Lactation Programs: Good for Working Families. Good for Business,” has uniformly been accepted as sound—that’s not the problem.…

read more

Bedsharing was not something I entertained lightly.

When my first child was born, I was well aware of the official recommendations for how he should sleep (on his back) and where he should sleep (in a crib, alone). I knew that his sleep environment should include no fluffy bedding, no pillows, only than a light weight blanket. My husband and I arranged these things carefully while we awaited his arrival.

But life has a funny way of changing one’s plans. Our baby was a great sleeper—as along as he was near his mom or dad. When we would lay him—so carefully, so…

read more

The jury is in. Babies who breastfeed are healthier. Mothers who breastfeed are healthier. Healthy moms and babies are happier. Bottom line—all babies should be breastfed and all mothers should breastfeed. The question is how to make that happen.

What does and doesn’t work?
In an effort to determine which breastfeeding interventions effectively increase breastfeeding rates compared to “usual care,” the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) reviewed studies published between September 2001 and February 2008. Thirty-eight out of 4877 studies met the selection criteria which called for “randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of primary care-initiated interventions to promote breastfeeding, mainly in developed countries.”…

read more

The third annual GOLD09 Global Online conference on breastfeeding and human lactation will be held May 9th – May 31st 2009.  Lactation consultants, LC candidates, breastfeeding counselors, nurses, midwives, doctors and allied health professionals are encouraged to participate.

Sponsored by Health e-Learning, GOLD09 Global Online allows participants to listen as well as interact with international speakers in the comfort and convenience of their own home or office. The online format makes GOLD09 Global Online not only accessible but affordable!

For more information or to register, visit GOLD09 Global Online. This is your chance to learn from a team of experts and reduce your…

read more

“A pair of substantial mammary glands have the advantage over the two hemispheres of the most learned professor’s brain in the art of compounding a nutritive fluid for infants.”

This statement by Chief Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes in the late nineteenth century still holds true today. Breastfeeding offers countless advantages. Breastmilk is composed primarily of whey proteins which consist of secretory IgA antibodies, lactoferrin, lysozyme and a plethora of other nutrients that are involved in host defense. Whey proteins are digested more easily by infants, promote gastric emptying, and also provide local gastrointestinal immunity against organisms entering the body via this…

read more

Never underestimate the ability of health care providers to come up with creative solutions!

The following is a personal account of how a simple but effective new device was conceived and put into practice in a matter of seconds, and how it has helped countless new mothers with a unique challenge related to breast pumping.

By Lauren Pitts, MN, RN

I met Paula (not her actual name) about two years ago. She was a first time mother who, at 27 weeks, gave birth to a 1 lb 12 oz baby girl. Paula experienced severe pre-eclampsia and had to spend several nights in…

read more

Tommy is two and a half years old, and I am totally over washing diapers. Luckily, he’s showing signs of getting ready to ditch diapers completely, and we’re successfully instituting “diaper-free days.” He doesn’t wear a diaper except to nap, and usually tells us when he has to go to the bathroom. In the beginning of this experiment, we invested in some reliable carpet cleaner, but I’m happy to report that we rarely have need of it these days. Success! One step closer!

But, I’ll be honest—ever since I heard about elimination communication, I felt like a chump for sticking my…

read more