Best for Babes

By Elita of Blacktating.com for the Best for Babes Foundation ©2010

Remember last week when supermodel Gisele Bundchen said she thought there should be a law requiring moms to breastfeed for 6 months? Well, she got her wish. Indonesia passed a law that will go into effect in October that states that all women who are medically able to breastfeed must do so for at least 6 months. Mothers who decline will face up to a year in jail or a $15,000 fine.

Did you hear the one about the breastfeeding advocate who is formula feeding her baby? That was the secret Attachment Parenting guru Katie Granju revealed on her blog this week. Katie, who lost her eldest child weeks before giving birth, said the stress caused her mature milk to never come in. After trying every technique she knew, she finally came to the realization that her baby girl will have to be on formula. A good reminder that when we see moms bottle feeding in public, we don’t know their stories or how hard they may have tried to breastfeed without success.

I loved this article highlighting two hospitals in the Tampa area who are encouraging and supporting moms with babies in the NICU to breastfeed. Nearly 80% of the moms of these sick babies are nursing. Many have said they would have given up a long time ago if not for the support systems in place at the hospital. Don’t you love it when the hospital gets it right and is promoting breastfeeding instead of booby trapping moms?

The Health Ministry in China investigated claims this week by parents who complained, their baby girls began to develop breasts after drinking a particular brand of infant formula. The ministry says “no link” can be found between the formula and the breast growth.

Dr. Thomas Hale, the go-to doctor for information on medicines and breast milk, has opened his Infant Risk Center. This call-in center is now open to take calls from professionals and parents. There is no charge for this fantastic service that will provide accurate, evidence-based information on medications that are safe during pregnancy and lactation.

And just when you thought it was safe to leave the house with your kids, yet another mom has been kicked out of a public place for breastfeeding her baby. This time it was McDonald’s. The owner of the restaurant has apologized, but I’m getting a little tired of reading this story over and over again.

The National Health Promotion Strategy kicked off their “Well Bermuda” program with a Breastfed Baby Photo Exhibit this week. The Minister of Health in Bermuda said of the exhibit: “Every baby displayed on these walls is a winner simply because they were fortunate enough to be given the greatest of gifts.” I agree!

Breastfed Baby Photo Exhibit

A while back we did a post on famous magazine covers and photos of celebrities breastfeeding.   One of the commenters pointed out that it would be great if there were more pictures of celebrities nursing in public . . . magazine covers are great but if expecting moms saw more celebs breastfeeding in their every day lives, it would go a long way towards normalizing breastfeeding in our culture.   We agree!  Fear of nursing in public, and shaming, harassing or humiliating nursing mothers is a HUGE boobytrap in the United States.  

Angela White, of the now defunct Breastfeeding 1-2-3, did a great post earlier this year with a beautiful gallery of celebrities breastfeeding in public or standing up for nursing moms.   We want to build on this gallery and make a “home” for all the pictures that crop up in the media of celebrities breastfeeding.   Sure, we all need to see more everyday moms nursing confidently in public, but we also know of more than one mom, husband, grandmother or friend who has changed their mind after seeing that a celebrity breastfed in public or spoke openly about nursing.  Kourtney Kardashian is already blazing a trail with her open comments about breastfeeding and was seen pumping breastmilk on her TV show (warning-R rated for the language, and sexual suggestion, NOT for the image of a mother pumping, IMO).

http://mudspice.wordpress.com/” width=”128″ height=”120″ />As for everydaymoms, check out the awesome slideshow gallery created by Nursingfreedom.org to celebrate us everyday mamas and the beauty of giving our babies the breast and the best!  A brand new organization, Nursingfreedom.org is running a fabulous carnival for nursing in public  this week, we’ve been spreading the word and think they are doing a fantastic job.

Send us your links to pictures of your favorite celebrity moms breastfeeding in public, and we’ll make a permanent place for these pictures so more moms can find them and be inspired.   We will be doing more celebrity interviews and will be using our influence to encourage celebrities that we speak with to nurse in public, and we’ll be using our influence with the media to persuade more mainstream ”coverage” (pun intended) of celebrities nursing in public . . . and will be adding those photos to a similar gallery.   We know that moms need to see their peers nursing in public, but celebrities have a huge impact too.  After all, if photos of Paris Hilton can spark a craze for carrying around dogs in purses, then surely a few more snaps of celebrities nursing can change the public’s attitude towards breastfeeding!

Photos of Celebrities Nursing in Public

Julie Bowen Breastfeeds her twins, as seen on Lopez Tonight, courtesy of Huffington Post

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Carrie Anne Moss in Star! Magazine

Katie Holmes famously reveals that the flap is down on her nursing bra or tank while out with Tom Cruise, courtesy Justjared.com

Gwen Stefani breastfeeding Kingston, image INFdaily.com

UK actress Billie Piper breastfeeding at Miami Beach, courtesy of INFDaily.com , I just had to put this one in because of all the furor recently over moms nursing at pools!

Maggie Gyllenhaal, image justjared.buzznet.com Tea Leoni breastfeeding, Image Fame pictures

 Our goal is to put together a complete gallery of celebrities breastfeeding in public, or showing their support for breastfeeding!   And yes we’ll ask our awesome web guy, http://www.JoeDolson.com to help us make a pretty slide show.  Please send us links to pics with credits for any we’ve missed.  

Hotly followed reality star Kourtney Kardashian is now writing a regular blog for People.com’s Mom & Babies and we’re thrilled about it! 

In writing about traveling with baby Mason, Kourtney expresses every new mother’s anxiety:

At first, I was scared to travel with him. I’m sure every parent goes through it. You don’t know how your baby will be — what if he gets sick or his ears hurt from the pressure in the cabin? One travel tip I got from my doctor: He told me to nurse Mason during take off and landing. He also recommended I put some breast milk in Mason’s nose because it has antibodies that can help keep him from catching a cold on the flight.

Kourtney Kardashian & Mason, courtesy of People.com

We love that Kourtney comes across as down to earth, and relates to expecting and new mothers, and doesn’t shy away from using this platform to share breastfeeding tips!   For months now she has been systematically weaving her breastfeeding experience and tips into her tweets and her interviews with the press; sharing that it is “one of her favorite things.”    This is exactly what moms need; to see nursing as a natural part of life that has its ups and downs and challenges, but comes with a lot of perks and is ultimately extremely rewarding.   In the case of flying with a baby, it is down right convenient as there is less to carry, breastfeeding helps babies ears adjust to cabin pressure without over-feeding, and it keeps baby calm so other passengers can enjoy the flight too.  

As is evident from the 103 comments on her post, Kourtney Kardashian has a remarkable opportunity to do more for breastfeeding than a whole bunch of government campaigns . . . she can help de-sensitize the squeamish (umm, she tasted her breastmilk), normalize breastfeeding in the public eye, and educate expecting and new moms, parents, siblings, grandparents . . . all through the highly visible media outlets.  With her celebrity star-power, perhaps one day no mother will be kicked off a plane for breastfeeding. 

Please tell People.com thank you for publishing Kourtney Kardashian’s breastfeeding tips and that we want more!    Let them know that she is educating moms and boosting their confidence so that more moms and babies can benefit from the amazing health, economic and environmental gifts of breastfeeding.    ( Important note:  Even though many of you will notice and protest that Similac sponsors the Moms & Babies column, please keep your comments focused on the positive.   We believe that we should reward People.com for moving in the right direction first, and we are also very grateful that People.com  has graciously helped spread the word about our exclusive breastfeeding interviews with Gabrielle Reece, Kelly Rutherford and Alysia Reiner.   Whenever People.com links to our interview we get hundreds or thousands of more hits on the story which means that we can reach and educate thousands of more people—there are some terrific breastfeeding-friendly editors working at People.com and we need them!   Our hope is that eventually we can have a conversation with People.com about the WHO Code and help them find a more suitable sponsor that is truly helping moms and babies start out healthy . . . a sponsor that is not undermining parent’s informed feeding decisions and is not violating the World Health Organization’s International Code that protects moms and babies.   For now, however, let’s focus on acknowledging People.com for including breastfeeding in their celebrity stories, and for working with Best for Babes!)   Celebrity breastfeeding stories are critical to educating the mainstream and bringing about the cultural acceptance that we need so that all moms can achieve their personal breastfeeding goals.  With millions of readers daily, People.com has an incredible opportunity to build on this trend and support the 86% of expecting moms who intend to breastfeed, and who are desperately trying to overcome the booby traps and follow the advice of the American Academy of Pediatrics to nurse exclusively for at least six months. 

You can write People.com at editor@people.com  or leave a comment on their Facebook fan page.   You can also leave a comment on Kourtney’s post where she shares her breastfeeding tips . . . and please ask her to do an interview with Best for Babes!  We’d love to hear more about her breastfeeding tribulations and triumphs and be able to share them in greater depth with our readers, along with our resources and tips as certified lactation counselors.   

Thank you for helping us put positive pressure on the ”booby traps” by acknowleding media outlets that report on breastfeeding responsibly.

This from the U.K.’s The Independent, but bound to be true in the U.S. too:

Despite decades of initiatives to persuade mothers that “breast is best”, most still prefer using infant formula milk because they believe society at large is anti-breastfeeding, a poll for Mother & Baby magazine has found. The survey comes on the eve of World Breastfeeding Week as the Government debates whether to introduce legislation protecting a mother’s right to breastfeed.

Nearly two in three mothers believe the UK is “not breastfeeding-friendly”, prompting concerns from nursing mums that they would struggle to breastfeed while out and about. Miranda Levy, Mother & Baby’s editor, said: “Every mum we questioned understood the health benefits of breastfeeding, but a huge percentage were put off even trying because of the fear of people staring.”

She added that many of the 1,200 readers surveyed cited stressful breastfeeding experiences, with one commenting that she was even asked to be more discreet at a “mums and tots” group because the lady running the group had her husband there.

Although the World Health Organisation recommends mothers exclusively breastfeed their babies until they are six months old, barely a third of British babies are still exclusively breastfed at one week and just one-fifth still are by six weeks. By the time babies are four months old, that figure has plunged to 7 per cent, giving Britain one of the worst breastfeeding records in the developed world.

Following the article are a number of comments admonishing moms to not care what other people think, and to whip out their boobs in public, as well as some rants for or against covering up when nursing in public.  

First of all, admonishing moms to get over their shyness is counterproductive.   Sure, we’d like to see moms be empowered to nurse in public, but beating them over the head with it is not going to help any more than beating them over the head with the benefits of breastfeeding is going to help when they are being handed a bag of free formula on their way out of the hospital.  What we really need is to change the public perception of breastfeeding.  Let’s start by giving mom accurate, unbiased, evidence-base information and then respecting her decision on how to feed her baby, whether that is formula-feeding, breast-feeding, or a combination of both-and let’s promote donated, screened, pasteurized human milk as the next best choice to mother’s own milk.   Next we need to change the public perception using glamorous, mainstream images, celebrities, and an ad campaign to coach, cheer on and celebrate moms who decide to breastfeed, just as Nike did for fitness and Demi Moore and Vanity Fair did for maternity.  Moms need to be inspired, but so does the general public, to view with awe and admiration the act of breastfeeding.  Moms face a myriad of “booby traps”-the cultural and institutional barriers to breastfeeding that are preventing them from succeeding, and certainly don’t need more pressure, judgment or to be made to feel guilty.   Finally, we need to shine the spotlight on those “booby traps” and remove them through a well-coordinated strategic approach.    When we remove the barriers, we’ll find that more moms will make the decision to breastfeed and be able to carry it out. 

Second, let me take a minute to address the covering up in public issue.   This is hotly debated in the breastfeeding movement, with many breastfeeding advocates insisting that women should not be forced to cover up, and that it is only when our culture sees more moms breastfeeding openly that it will become socially acceptable.   Well, in my opinion, it’s a bit of a which-comes-first-the-chicken-or-the-egg syndrome.   As long as moms are squeamish about nursing in public, no amount of cajoling will get them to do it.   And while we at Best for Babes absolutely agree that no woman should be told she HAS TO cover up, we also think that if it makes some women more comfortable, then let’s encourage and cheer them on.   I was one such woman who didn’t feel comfortable nursing in public, and although I made it an adventure to find hidden spots to nurse it was always a bit daunting.   So I implore the breastfeeding advocates who are against cover-ups categorically to consider that they can be a useful stepping stone.   More nursing in public whether covered or not is a GREAT thing, and if a mom can be made to feel more secure or even stylish by using a lovely product in the form of a poncho, bib, blanket or even wide-brimmed hat then let’s let her be.   After all, some of us are a bit more motivated to go to the gym by the chance to wear cute work-out gear, or feel more confident going on an interview when sporting a snazzy suit, so let’s not deprive new mothers of the same props that may make the difference in how long they carry on.

By the way, upon checking out Mother and Baby magazine online, I was very happy to see that they advertise right on the home page a gift bag for moms that carries no formula samples and is breastfeeding-friendly  and code-compliant by adhering to the  World Health Organization’s International Code of Marketing Breastmilk Substitutes.  Kudos to Mother and Baby!