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The Rising Trend of Breastfeeding in Airports
Nervous about unbuttoning your blouse in public? It’s an awkward moment for every nursing mother. And it’s equally the same feeling of inconvenience with breastfeeding in airports, while traveling. It is certainly different than feeding at home. While it may be frowned upon by some people, it is perfectly legal to breastfeed your baby in public, and this includes breastfeeding in airports. The reality is that while airports are going the extra mile in the terminal to make your layover more enjoyable, the whole nursing thing is treated like an unwanted black sheep in the family. Most airports don’t offer a designated friendly establishment for nursing moms and the ones…
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Surprising Facts about Breastfeeding
Fox News posted an article this week entitled: 12 surprising facts about breastfeeding new moms should know. I found that the information in this article did include surprising facts about breastfeeding; therefore, I felt it worth sharing. 1. Breast milk isn’t always white. Breast milk is usually white or cream-colored, but it can also be green, blue, yellow, or orange. You might also notice that it’s thicker one day and more watery the next. Either way, it’s perfectly normal and nothing to be worried about, said Sara Chana Silverstein, an international board-certified lactation consultant, master herbalist and creator of the Savvy Breastfeeding app. 2. One breast will produce more. Just like…
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The Difference between Breast-Milk Feeding and Breastfeeding
I know that there is a difference between breast-milk feeding and breastfeeding. You know that there is a difference between breast-milk feeding and breastfeeding. But, most importantly, most mothers don’t know the difference between the two–and believe me there is a difference. In a recently published article, by Pacific Standard Magazine, entitled The Unseen Consequences of Pumping Breast Milk, multiple lactation consultant experts explain not only the difference between the two, but express what trained lactation consultants should be doing differently (in ways of assisting mothers in both technique and education). As with all students–and that’s what mothers are…students–different students have distinctive ways in which they learn. It is important, as their teacher,…
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Lactation Consultants Boosts Mothers’ Contact with Newborns
Improving Mothers’ Contact with Newborns The recent statistics coming out of the New Hanover Regional Medical Center are further evidence that lactation consultants are key to improving successful contact with newborns and their mothers. In the last two years, since it adopted the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative begun at NHRMC’s Betty H. Cameron Women’s & Children’s Hospital, New Hanover Regional Medical Center has seen a sharp increase in mothers exclusively breastfeeding. Before the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative was implemented, only 38 percent of mothers were breastfeeding exclusively after their release from New Hanover Regional Medical Center. The number of mothers exclusively breastfeeding today? 78 percent. That means more than twice as many mothers at this…
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The Lactation Police
As someone who see lactation consultants as a group of professionals trying to help weary mothers and uncooperative babies, I hate to see them reflected poorly in the news. In the last week, The Washington Post published two articles that portrayed lactation consultants in a negative light. The first of these articles, Your breast-feeding and bottle feeding comments are unwelcome, calls lactation consultants “lactation torturers.” The second post, My husband calls them breast-feeding bullies, says that many see lactation consultants as medical professionals “who are seen as pushing breastfeeding by any means necessary.” As a lactation consultant, it is important to remember how often mothers feel like failures when they are unable…
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The Nine Roles of a Lactation Consultant
The following are the nine roles of a lactation consultant as defined by the International Lactation Consultant Association (ILCA). Advocate: The IBCLC is the advocate for breastfeed¬ing women, infants, children, families, and communities (IBLCE, 2003, 2008; ILCA, 2006). The IBCLC role is integral to the function of the mother’s and infant’s healthcare team. Clinical Expert: As a clinical expert in the management of breastfeeding and human lactation, the IBCLC is trained to counsel mothers and families on initiation, exclusivity, and duration of breastfeeding, and to assist amidst any difficul¬ties or high-risk situations. IBCLCs are sensitive to and support the needs of mothers, infants, children, and various family structures in working…
