How Breastfeeding Works

I’ve been sent this link and I think it’s something everyone visiting this blog ought to have a look at.

It’s a magazine called A Mother’s Guide To Breastfeeding, written by Mandy Abbett, Infant Feeding Specialist and it contains so much useful information, together with some lovely photos of positioning and attachment, including some excellent ones showing exaggerated attachment, which is very useful for tongue-tied babies.

There has been some debate about the seemingly misguided legislation that will give women the right to breastfeed their babies free from harassment - well, until those babies are six months old.  It would then, surely, be open season on those mothers who breastfeed their babies beyond this age.  However, Sandra Jane Tanner, PR and Media contact for the Association of Breastfeeding Mothers, has had this reply from the Government which answers this and gives reassurance that discrimination against women breastfeeding babies of any age in public is unlawful.

“July 2008

Dear editor

Breast is best for babies

Like most people, the Government believes that breast is best for babies. That is why we are doing everything we can to encourage mothers to breastfeed and to make sure that they are aware of its benefits.

But, for many mothers, the uncertainty surrounding where they can breastfeed is a real deterrent. Babies do not get hungry to order and mothers have to be confident that they can feed their infants in a café, restaurant or shop without the embarrassment of having the owner ask them to stop.

In fact, this type of discrimination has been unlawful for women with babies of any age for more than thirty years, and the mother could challenge the owner under the Sex Discrimination Act. We strengthened this Act with extra ‘maternity’ protection, which means that if the baby is less than six months old the mother could also challenge the owner on the grounds of her maternity.

Some people also think that women can be charged with indecency for breastfeeding in a public place. This is, I am glad to say, utter nonsense and completely wrong.

But, as you can see from the above, the law is not as clear as it could be. People are unsure of their rights and their responsibilities in this area. That is why the Government will be using its forthcoming Equality Bill to make it crystal clear that it is simply not acceptable to shoo breastfeeding mothers and their babies out of places like coffee shops, public galleries and restaurants.

We hope that this will give women complete confidence that the law is on their side when they are breastfeeding their babies.

Yours faithfully,

Barbara Follett, Deputy Minister for Women and Equality”

Does your baby have a chance of low blood sugar at or soon after birth?  See this list here for things that might increase the risk:

Babies with an increased chance of low blood sugar include:

• Early or premature babies (born before 37 completed weeks of pregnancy)
• Babies who are lighter in weight than expected for the number of weeks of pregnancy (SGA - small for gestational age)
• Babies who have needed help to breathe at birth
• Babies who are ill
• Babies whose mothers have had diabetes during pregnancy
• Babies whose mothers have taken medicine for blood pressure (betablockers)

 See the excellent page from Ayrshire and Arran NHS for ideas of things you can ask of your own hospital.

Just having a ponder about the future of this blog and thought I’d ask you what you’ve found most useful so far.  No point me putting together some grand things if nobody thinks they’re any good and never reads them!

I know from the stats on the blog that lots of people find their way here googling celebrity breastfeeding info - would anyone be interested in interviews with celebs about how they have found feeding?  Any in particular?  I have a couple in mind that I can contact relatively easily.

Another route people take to get here is feeding problems - googling such things as tongue tie, as well as issues surrounding how they feel about feeding, whether it’ll be possible to breastfeed twins, how diabetes may affect feeding, etc.

Would it be helpful to have a feeding forum where you can talk more easily to people about breastfeeding and other feeding issues?

I’m also investigating having an e-shop of some sort (not on WordPress in case anyone wonders!), selling slings, breastfeeding necklaces and various treaty things with which mums can pamper themselves a bit, since it’s all too easy to neglect yourself when you’re breastfeeding.  Is there anything else you’d be interested in seeing in an e-shop?  I’m very conscious I don’t want to make breastfeeding appear difficult by suggesting you need all sorts of specialist equipment in order to do it, but I am also aware that many women enjoy shopping and there are some lovely things out there if you so desire!

Is there anything else you’d like to see here?  I am working on articles about centile charts, extended breastfeeding and the guilt thing many women feel surrounding feeding “choices” at present, but please, feel free to suggest anything you like!  And, of course, you can always post here - if you do think a forum would be good, this is the closest thing we have to one until I can get it up and running!  Feel free to respond to questions you see others asking if you have info that will help them - I’d really appreciate that.

Thank you - looking forward to hearing from you all!

Well, I’m not.  Not being made to feel guilty.  But I do feel guilty sometimes.  I will explain why.  As is probably pretty clear from this site, I read a lot about breastfeeding.  I think about it a fair bit - things will occur to me when I’m commuting to work, so I have a notebook with copious scrawled jottings, “do something about BFN Drugline; remember to look up thing about tongue tie; check statistics for exclusive bf in Norway; order report from Baby Milk Action; etc, etc”.

So, even though I haven’t had any formal training as such, I do feel pretty well-informed about infant feeding.

My problem comes when someone asks me about it and someone overhears, tuts, sighs and gives me a lecture about making women who couldn’t breastfeed feel guilty.  I used to go for this and believe it was a valid point, but the more I think about it, the less logical it seems.  And I know, where feelings are concerned logic often takes a back seat, but hear me out.

First of all, readers of this blog or those who know me from elsewhere know that I’m not unkind, I don’t want to make anyone feel guilty and I would never knowingly say something hurtful.  But I’ll be damned if I stop talking about breastfeeding (especially when I’m asked outright!) just because it “might” make women feel guilty.

I’d like to unpick the guilt thing, if I may.  Why would women feel guilty about their infant feeding experience?  Because they were 100% happy with their decision?  Because they had total free choice to make it?  Or because they aren’t actually all that happy about being told how wonderful breastfeeding was whilst they were pregnant and deciding that that was what they wanted to do, only to be left to fend for themselves once the baby was born by health professionals who hadn’t much of a clue how to support breastfeeding?  I’d say the latter is the more common situation - women forced into formula feeding against their wishes.

How do we alter this for the future?  Is it really best not to talk about it in case we make the women who can’t change their own experience feel guilty?  Without the benefit of a time machine, we’re unable to alter the past - but we can make things better for the future.  It may well be that discussion about how best to encourage and support breastfeeding for future mothers does make some women feel uncomfortable.  But unless we do something about it now, women will go on having dreadful experiences of breastfeeding, which is surely not a situation anybody wants?  Except, perhaps formula manufacturers - they use the “don’t make women feel guilty” line as a key marketing strategy to stifle debate around infant feeding.  Please don’t buy into repeating it - it does a very great disservice to women.

Some of the most impressive women I’ve met in the time I’ve spent learning about breastfeeding are those who had a feeding experience they didn’t expect or desire and found themselves stopping breastfeeding sooner than they would’ve chosen - but who want to talk about what happened to them and to stop it happening to other women.  It’s more thinking like that we need if anything’s to change for the better in future.

 So far, I’ve been told it’s best not to talk about it for fear of making women feel guilty by a GP, a local councillor and an MP (all men, incidentally).  So should I feel guilty if I’m asked about breastfeeding and I stop talking when someone tells me to because I might make women feel guilty?  Or should I say, politely, that I think it’s too important not to talk about it?  You could guess what I do say, in fact

I’m lonely.

I keep writing posts and I know lots of people read them, but you’re not commenting.

I won’t bite, I promise.  I won’t breastfeed you either.  Honest.

If I’m not making you want to post, tell me here what I can write about that will.

There’s a link at the top of this page called “post here” - you can post anything you like there.  Well, preferably breastfeeding-related.  But on this post - post anything at all.  Just post!

Please post details of events near you here.  I’ll be back later to add to this myself!  Thank you!

(Edited) I posted this the other day without introduction and I thought I ought to add something to explain why I feel this is an important addition to the site.  So often women think that breastfeeding is something you need to do for a long time in order for it to make a difference, so why should they start when, for instance, they’re going back to work early, or when they know family commitments will make it difficult to breastfeed for any length of time?  This list is one of the clearest illustrations I have found to describe exactly why each day is important.  It’s also one of the best encouragements for women finding it hard, at whatever stage - from finding latching difficult with a newborn to finding it wearing to feed a toddler who’s discovered they can ask for milk…and get it! - and all the stages in between.  Please don’t get me wrong - breastfeeding’s not all work, work, work (a whimsical aside for those of you who remember the NatWest ad!).  But it can be tough and it’s nice to have a reminder of why you’re doing it!

Reasons To Be Proud

First Feed:

• For baby - helps to stabilise baby’s blood sugars and protect baby’s gut.
• For mother - a great opportunity for the first skin-to-skin cuddle.

1 Day:

• For baby - the antibodies in mother’s colostrum provide natural immunity from infection. 
• For mother - helps womb to contract to normal size.

2-3 Days:

• For baby - sticky black meconium is cleared more readily from baby’s bowel. 
• For mother - instant relief for hot, swollen breasts when milk comes in.

1 Week:

• For baby - transition to world outside womb is eased. 
• For mother - frequent feeds mean time to sit or lie down and for you to get to know each other.

2 weeks:

• For baby - food & drink always ready at the right temperature, adapting to the baby’s needs. 
• For mother - hormones help you to get back to sleep after night feeds.

4 weeks:

• For premature babies - lower risk factors for heart disease in later life. 
• For mother - saves time sterilising and making up bottles.

6 weeks:

• For baby - half the risk of chest infections now and up to 7 years old.
• For mother: Breastfeeding likely to be easier and you can go out and about without bottle feeding equipment.

2 months:

• For baby - lower risk of food allergy at 3 years old if breastfed only.
• For mother - reduced risk of ovarian cancer in later life.

3 months:

• For baby - five times less likely to get diarrhoea now and a reduced risk for the whole year.
• For mother - fewer visits to gp as baby is less often ill.

4 months:

• For baby - Half the risk of ear infections.  Less risk of asthma now and protection continues for up to 6 years.
• For mother - feeling of empowerment at having been solely responsible for growing your baby for 4 months.

5 months:

• For baby - five times lower risk of urinary tract infections.
• For mother - a lovely way to reconnect with the baby if you go to work.

6 months:

• For baby - lower risk of eczema now and up to three years old.
• For mother - less risk of osteoporosis in the long term.

1 year:

• For baby - three times less risk of becoming obese by age six and a lower risk of heart disease as an adult.
• For mother - no need to by formula milk at all saving at least £450 this year.

2 years:

• For baby - likely to have higher average scores in intelligence tests.
• For mother - expect fewer visits to orthodontist when baby is a teenager.  Risk of breast cancer reduced by 8%.

 (This first published by the NCT, but I can’t find it on their site now, so have reproduced it here.)

Just came across this story about a little girl, Isabella Sciulli, born premature, whose mother worked hard to establish a good breastmilk supply, but very sadly died whilst the baby was still in intensive care.  Her husband and friends knew she didn’t want her baby to have formula, so organised breastmilk donations for her.

Really worth watching the news item on the link too - it’s sensitively reported and very moving.  I donated breastmilk when my second son was born and it’s struck a chord with me to see a baby receiving donated milk.  I would urge anybody in the UK thinking about donating milk to get in touch with UKAMB.

If you’re breastfeeding, everyone wants to tell you how to do it.  Their opinion (based on nothing more than fresh air and a touch of the mentals in many cases) is gospel and they WILL be affronted if you don’t pay attention to it.

Now, this is easier to ignore if it’s a well-meaning but a trifle barking relative.  You can say, “Yes, Gran, thanks for that, I’ll be sure to scrub my nipples with steel wool to toughen them up, thanks for that,” and then do no such thing (do NOT do this, it is NOT a good idea…!).

But what about when it’s a midwife, GP, paediatrician or health visitor?  Somebody who ought to know about infant feeding and have some understanding of breastfeeding?  What then?  It can take courage of conviction to go against professional health advice - but so often, advice about breastfeeding is based upon personal experience of the member of medical staff giving it out, not on latest research or established fact.

Take, for example, the GP I saw at a hospital who discovered I was still breastfeeding my eldest son at 12 months.  Horrified, he told me, sneeringly, ”Do it for six months if you must,” and “They bite, you know!” (that latter as if he was James Herriot talking about a baby piglet, not a small boy).  Because, of course, all mothers of breastfed babies enjoy having their nipples gnawed…  I explained politely the WHO said to breastfeed for at least two years and…cutting him off as he opened his mouth to protest…that this wasn’t solely advice for developing countries.

But I shouldn’t have had to tell him this - it’s pretty basic infant nutrition, isn’t it?  Apparently not.  Some other gems I’ve heard are, “You must drink milk to make milk,” “You won’t be able to breastfeed your second if you’ve not breastfed your first, because the milk doesn’t come in if you don’t use it up the first time,” and ”There’s no goodness in breastmilk beyond six months,” (some HCPs say three months, some a year - whatever, it’s still illogical that something so perfect for the child should suddenly turn into something akin to chip fat at an arbitrary point in time!).

It’s pretty disgraceful that the people most women rely upon to provide them with information about feeding their baby are so often woefully misinformed, or allow their own prejudices or experiences to colour the advice they give.

I would say to you to challenge any advice you’re given that seems a bit off - ask for the research that backs it up, tell them that what they’ve told you isn’t right after doing your own research - but above all, have confidence in your body to breastfeed, don’t let anyone tell you you need to be eating or drinking anything special in order to do it and DO post your tales of lunacy and misinformation here for us to shake our heads over and, well, OK, laugh at a bit.  And do also post stuff you’ve been told that you’re not sure about - I’ve heard many of the myths that are often trotted out and can provide you with some lovely links to research and feed back to your health professional - nicely, of course…!