Breastfeeding New Year’s Resolutions

So it’s that time of year when we look back at the year that has flown by and see if we accomplished the goals, or resolutions we set out for ourselves. This year I’m going to ask all of you who are pregnant or breastfeeding to perhaps set a different type of resolution. “Breastfeeding Resolutions”

If you are pregnant plan on breastfeeding your baby.

I often hear the words “I’m going to try and breastfeed”. When I hear this I often think of the words on my favourite LuLulemon clothing bag: “Successful people replace the words wish, should and try with I will”. With that being said many moms will need support to meet their breastfeeding goals.

Prenatally is the perfect time to assemble your breastfeeding support team.
• I recommend moms attend at least one La Leche League meeting while pregnant. La Leche League is an international mother to mother support network. You can find a meeting close to you by clicking on this link: http://www.lllc.ca/
• Also talk to women you know who have breastfed or are currently breastfeeding.
• Read some books on breastfeeding. One of my favourites is “The Breastfeeding Book: Everything You Need to Know About Nursing Your Child from Birth Through Weaning” by Martha Sears R.N. & Dr. William Sears M.D.
• The internet is full of breastfeeding information. Some sites with evidence based information and others not. You can check out a whole list of useful breastfeeding web pages on my website at http://multiplereasons.com/links.html If you find others that you like, let me know!
• Enrol in prenatal classes, preferably one that has an entire class devoted to breastfeeding. You can find a Canadian Certified Childbirth Educator by checking out CAPPA Canada’s webpage at http://www.cappacanada.ca/ or by calling your local Public Health Department. Most Public Health Departments offer FREE prenatal classes and the information is mandated by the Ministry of Health, so is accurate & up to date.
• Finally if you have a history of any medical conditions (diabetes, PCOS, infertility, prior breast or chest surgeries, etc) a prenatal breastfeeding consultation with an IBCLC (International Board Certified Lactation Consultant) would be recommended. Check out my prenatal Breastfeeding questionnaire that can be found on my webpage for more information. http://multiplereasons.com/services.html#4th


Become a Peer Supporter
• If you are breastfeeding or have breastfed for a minimum of 6 months and want to help other breastfeeding moms consider providing peer support. The Halton Breastfeeding Connection is a volunteer program that provides mother to-mother telephone support for expectant or breastfeeding mothers. They are always in need of volunteers. You can find out more about the program at this link: http://www.halton.ca/health/services/baby_parent/halton_breastfeeding_connection.htm

Support Organizations & Businesses that support Breastfeeding

• There are many businesses & organizations that support breastfeeding and adhere to the World Health Organizations (WHO) international code of marketing of breast milk substitutes. Don’t know what this is? You’re not alone. You can find out what the WHO code is and why it is so important at INFACT Canada’s webpage: http://www.infactcanada.ca/Int_Code_TOC.htm

For a list of businesses in the Halton Region that support Breastfeeding please check the Halton Baby Friendly Initiative (HBFI) webpage for a listing. http://www.babyfriendlyhalton.ca/babyfriendly_places.html

Wishing you all a Happy & Healthy 2010!
Camilla Aviss RN,BHSc(N),CCCE,IBCLC
Multiple Reasons Lactation Support Services
http://www.multiplereasons.com/

Breastfeeding and the Holidays

Breastfeeding and the holidays

So it’s that season again when most moms are busy with shopping, decorating, baking and party preparation. You may have office parties to attend, cookie exchanges to bake for and the “to do” list goes on and on.
So does all this preparation and running around have an impact on the breastfeeding mom & baby (dyad)?
The breastfeeding dyad is a symbiotic relationship. What this means is that a breastfeeding mom is hard wired in a way to her baby hormonally. What affects mommy affects baby and vice versa.
So if mom is busy with the holiday duties and breastfeeding becomes an “inconvenience” or another task on the “to do” list breastfeeding does suffer. Instead of breastfeeding in a busy mall during the holiday season mom may just take a bottle of formula to give instead or because family are over and want to “help” by holding the baby and of course feeding the baby again breastfeeding is pushed aside.
Usually how this presents is a mom whose baby is much too young to wean reports difficulties with the baby becoming fussy at the breast during a feed, or she reports her breasts don’t feel as “full” as they used to, baby seems hungry and “likes the bottle better”. The term coined by La Leche League; an international volunteer mother to mother breastfeeding support organization as the “holiday weaning syndrome”. The weeks leading up to the holidays baby is spending less and less time at the breast for feeds, or if mom is pumping sessions become fewer, shorter in length and formula may be used instead. It’s the start of a slippery slope, but one that can be turned around usually with a few days of feeding on cue, pumping when baby would normally feed, and lots of skin to skin contact.
So how can you avoid falling into this scenario? Firstly remember you are your baby’s everything. Remember why you wanted to breastfeed in the first place (emotional closeness, health benefits for mom & baby).
Keep things simple this year, having a potluck dinner is a great way to spread the work instead of having one person cook and bake for a week leading up to the celebration. I can remember when my twins were babies if people wanted to celebrate Christmas with us they needed to come to us and bring the food. We just provided the space. Ask your friends & families if they could pick up some Christmas gifts for you at the mall, especially if they are going anyways, shopping online is a great option as well to avoid the holiday rush & crowds.
So as you prepare for this holiday season, remember to enjoy family & friends and most importantly reconnecting with baby by sitting down and nursing.
For more information on “holiday weaning syndrome” refer to La Leche League’s website http://www.lllc.ca/
Happy Holidays!
Camilla Aviss RN, BHSc(N),CCCE, IBCLC
Multiple Reasons Lactation Support Services
www.multiplereasons.com
Article is property of Camilla Aviss and may only be copied and distributed in its entirety on the condition that it is not used in ANY context that violates the WHO International Code on the Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes (1981) and subsequent World Health Assembly resolutions.

M.O.M (Moms of Multiples) Breastfeeding drop-ins/meet-ups

Hello Mommies,
I am starting my M.O.M breastfeeding meet-ups starting on Nov 13, 2009 from 10:00-12:00 at Oak Park Moms & Tots in North Oakville.http://www.oakparkmomsandtots.ca/

If you are a M.O.M come on out and meet other M.O.M. If you are expecting multiples and want some information on breastfeeding or anything to do with multiples this is the place to come!

As a M.O.M (twins)I had a group of other "twin moms" who I met up with usually on a weekly basis either for play dates, coffee or dinner. Looking back I don't know what I would have done without these wonderful women in my life. They spoke my language, understood what it was like to have two babies crying at the same time, two toddlers fighting over the potty!

The M.O.M breastfeeding drop-in/meet-up will run the 2nd Friday of every month (with the exception of December, it will run Dec 4, 2009)

Check out meetup.com/Halton-Hamilton-Peel-Breastfeeding-Mommies
if you want to join the group and get information on upcoming dates, topics, etc.

Happy Breastfeeding!
Camilla Aviss RN,BHSc(N),CCCE, IBCLC
Multiple Reasons Lactation Support Services
www.multiplereasons.com

Nestlé Co-chairs food security conference at McGill University (Is this a Joke?)

The following Action Alert I received from INFACT Canada yesterday in my inbox. The words Nestle and Food Security in the same sentence is comical as well as sad to say the least. Please take a minute to send your own letter or use INFACT's below. THANK YOU!
Camilla Aviss RN,BHSc(N),CCCE
MULTIPLE REASONS LACTATION SUPPORT SERVICES
www.multiplereasons.com


McGill University in Montréal is hosting a conference on global food security this October. The co-chair of the conference is Marilyn Knox, President of Nestlé Nutrition Canada. The idea that Nestlé would co-chair a conference on how to make food sustainable and safe for the global community is ironic to say the least. The company's aggressive promotion of infant formula, an unsafe, expensive, and unstable source of food for infants and young children has been undermining the food security provided by breastfeeding for decades. Add to this their production of extremely non-nutritive junk foods and their extensive efforts to privatize the world's water supply, and it's tough to see how any credible academic institution could take Nestlé's supposed desire to contribute to food security seriously. Please write to Heather Munroe-Blum, principal of McGill and conference co-chair, and ask her to rescind this partnership with the corporation.

Write your own letter or copy INFACT's below.

Send your email to:

Principal Heather Munroe-Blum: heather.munroe.blum@mcgill.ca
Diedre McCabe, Administrative Coordinator: deidre.mccabe@mcgill.ca


*********

Dear Principal Munroe-Blum,
As the directors of INFACT (Infant Feeding Action Coalition) Quebec and INFACT Canada, two non-governmental organizations that work to protect infant and young child health as well as maternal well-being through the promotion and support of breastfeeding and optimal infant feeding practices, we are writing to you with respect to the upcoming McGill Conference on Global Food Security being held from October 5-7.
We were very happy to see McGill supporting and involving itself with such an important issue as Global Food Security. What has shocked and disappointed us is to learn that you, as Principal of such an esteemed university, and with a background in the field of epidemiology, would co-chair this event with the President of Nestlé Nutrition Canada. We would like to have a better understanding of why this decision was made as Nestlé has an extensive record of engaging in irresponsible social and environmental practices:
· Unethical marketing of infant formulas and repeated, systematic violations of the UNICEF/WHO International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk substitutes and subsequent resolutions;
· The use of forced child labour in their cocoa supply chain West Africa
· The marketing of unlabelled genetically modified foods;
· Controversial water pricing and the privatization of public water resources;
· Lobbying against vaccination of livestock during the British Foot and Mouth Disease outbreak in 2001;
· Environmental destruction in Brazil;
· Intimidation of trade unionists in Colombia;
· Demanding millions in compensation from hunger-stricken Ethiopia;
Because of these actions Nestlé has gained a reputation around the world of putting profits before the wellbeing of the global community, and is the target of the world's largest consumer boycott. To counter its well-deserved negative reputation, Nestlé makes public shows of support for social causes such as food security; despite the fact that any independent examination of their actions shows that the company actively undermines such causes. Consider the fact that Nestlé is the largest promoter of infant formula in the world, a product which is neither affordable nor safe in many communities and erodes the food security of infants and young children, the most vulnerable members of society.
The mission statement of your University states that
The mission of McGill University is the advancement of learning through teaching, scholarship, and service to society by offering to outstanding undergraduate and graduate students the best education available, by carrying out scholarly activities judged to be excellent when measured against the highest international standards, and by providing service to society in those ways for which we are well suited by virtue of our academic strengths.
Your affiliation with the President of Nestlé Nutrition Canada, as Co-Chair of a conference that addresses global food security, is inconsistent with both the mission and reputation of McGill. Any discussion about food security has built-in bias when the co-chair is affiliated with one of the largest food distributors in the world. Large corporations with a monopoly on food preparation and distribution are detrimental to our food security.
Because of the participation of Nestlé Nutrition Canada, the upcoming conference does not afford participants the freedom to independently analyze the issues. If there is no financial support or engagement between Nestlé and McGill then we question what is the rational behind this decision. Perhaps a representative from the World Health Organisation or another International University would be more appropriate.
We respectfully request that you immediately and publicly disengage yourself and McGill University from this and any other affiliation with Nestlé Canada.
Respectfully yours,

Carole Dobrich RN, IBCLC Elisabeth Sterken Bsc, Msc, Dt
INFACT Quebec President INFACT Canada President

And on behalf of the INFACT board of directors and members.







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VAGINAL DELIVERY OF BREECH BABIES, NEW GUIDELINES RELEASED

SOCIETY OF OBSTETRICIANS AND GYNAECOLOGISTS OF CANADA (SOGC) PRACTICE GUIDELINE: VAGINAL DELIVERY OF BREECH PRESENTATION

SOGC notes that many women who end up with a breech pregnancy can safely deliver vaginally so doctors should not automatically perform a cesarean section (Ubelacker, 2009, June 17). Dr. Robert Gagnon, chair of the SOGC’s maternal fetal medicine committee, explains: “Breech pregnancies are almost always delivered using a cesarean section, to the point where the practice has become somewhat automatic…What we've found is that, in some cases, vaginal breech birth is a safe option, and obstetricians should be able to offer women the choice to attempt a traditional delivery” (Ubelacker, 2009, June 17). Executive vice-president Dr. Andre Lalonde highlights that a reliance on cesarean deliveries has meant a large proportion of Canadian obstetricians lack training in vaginal breech birth. SOGC will develop programs with universities to ensure new medical school graduates and practising physicians are trained in techniques to safely deliver breech babies vaginally. This clinical practice guideline (SOGC, 2009) reviews the physiology of breech birth; discerns the risks and benefits of a trial of labour versus planned Cesarean section; and recommends to obstetricians, family physicians, midwives, obstetrical nurses, anaesthesiologists, paediatricians, and other health care providers selection criteria, intrapartum management parameters, and delivery techniques for a trial of vaginal breech birth.

SOGC practice guidelines: http://www.sogc.org/guidelines/documents/gui226CPG0906.pdf

French: http://www.sogc.org/guidelines/index_f.asp

News: http://www.parentcentral.ca/parent/article/652174

This is good news for those moms hoping to have a vaginal delivery as well as for breastfeeding. We know that cesarean births are associated with delayed lactogenesis (that's medical terminology for "milk coming in") and as expected, a delay in initiating breastfeeding. (Chen et al., 1998;Deweyet al., 2003; Evans et al., 2003;Grajed & Perez-Escamilla, 2002; Leung, Lam, & Ho, 2002; Nissen et al.; 1996; Rowe-Murray & Fisher, 2002; Wittels et al., 1997).

Unfortunately it's not for moms expecting multiples. The new guidelines apply only to singleton pregnancies.

Now it will be just a matter of time to get the New OB/GYN's trained to do it!

Thanks, Happy Breastfeeding.
Camilla Aviss RN,BHSc(N),CCCE
MULTIPLE REASONS LACTATION SUPPORT SERVICES
www.multiplereasons.com
Remember: "There's Multiple Reasons To Breastfeed"

The Famous "Indiscreet Breastfeeding Manifesto"

the Indiscreet Breastfeeding Manifesto, first published by Sundae Horn in Mothering Magazine in 2001.

I will nurse my child anytime, anywhere, no matter who is present or what I am wearing.
I will bare my breast with pride and confidence.
I will not apologize for nourishing and nurturing my child.
I will not smother my child with a napkin or blanket.
I will smile at everyone around me and ignore rude stares.
I will know that I am giving my child the perfect infant food from the most efficient, ecological, and economical delivery system.
I will know that I am giving my child the healthy start that is his or her birthright.
I will set an example for women and girls, educate the public, dispel breastfeeding myths, de-sexualize the breast, and make the world a better place, all through the simple act of feeding my child.

Seems Common Sense doesn't it? I sometimes wonder are we helping or hindering breastfeeding in public with "Nursing Rooms"? I think they are great on one hand, especially if you're supplementing at the breast and need to get the lact-aid, feeding tube in place and aren't comfortable doing so out in public. On the other hand are we saying, to breastfed you have to do this behind closed doors?

Of course our Human Rights support Breastfeeding anywhere, any time, anyplace.THANKFULLY!
Aren't we fortunate to live in a country that either is supported and protected.

For those moms who do breastfeed openly in public. THANK YOU. You are not just nourishing your baby you are changing attitudes and beliefs.

Happy Breastfeeding!
Camilla Aviss, RN,BHSc(N),CCCE
MULTIPLE REASONS LACTATION SUPPORT SERVICES
www.multiplereasons.com

Remember "There's multiple reasons to breastfeed"

New Webpage!!

Check out my new web page! www.multiplereasons.com
It's finally up and running! Thanks to Michelle at Oakville Moms for doing such a great job on my site! www.oakvillemoms.com
Check it out and let me know what you think?
As well if there are articles or topics you would like to see, drop me a line and let me know.

Thanks!
Camilla Aviss RN,BHSc(N),CCCE
MULTIPLE REASONS LACTATION SUPPORT SERVICES
multiplereasons@sympatico.ca
www.multiplereasons.com
Remember "there's multiple reasons to breastfeed"