Birth and Babies

I found this in my inbox last night.  This sounds like an awesome idea!

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My LLL toddler group has been kicking around the idea of writing our
own kid’s book that would contain positive depictions of moms
breastfeeding. There are literally thousands of books on the market
depicting newborns, babies, baby animals, even baby monsters, with
bottles and pacifiers. There are very few books on the market
depicting moms breastfeeding in the normal course of the day. A few
books focus exclusively on the concept of breastfeeding. These are
typically heavy handed with a limited audience. Breastfeeding babies
and toddler adore these books, other families aren’t interested.

We are constantly looking for really good kids books where moms
happen to be breastfeeding in the picture. It just doesn’t exist.
While I haven’t read every single book on the market, it is
startlingly absent. I wrote to a users group of children’s book
illustrators to ask them why so many children’s books depict bottle
feeding of newborns and young babies. I got a huge response from
illustrators, most of whom were super frustrated with their
publishers! They said that the major publishing houses forbid the
depiction of breastfeeding, male nipples as in dads in the swimming
pool, ancient greeks in togas, Native Americans in buckskin… AND
ALSO, NO UDDERS ON COWS. This tipped me over the edge! No UDDERS!

My LLL group, of 96 moms, has put together a project proposal to an
entrepreneurial website called ideablob.com. This is an online
community of entrepreneurs. Anyone in the world can propose any
project or business idea, no matter how small or unusual. Thousands
of people visit the site and vote for different ideas. The idea with
the most votes is awarded $10,000 to implement their idea.

At the moment, our project idea — a book for children containing
positive depictions of breastfeeding — is among the top ranked. We
have one week left to garner the votes needed to earn the $10,000
grant. We’ve sent the idea around the world and are in the top
scorers for the runoff. Would you be willing to vote for my project?
What would be very helpful would be for you to forward this message
to your friends, asking them to vote, as well. You do need to
register for the site but they are very respectful about not
bombarding you with messages…

Here is the web page:
http://www.ideablob.com

Thanks for your help, everyone! We really do have a chance to win,
but everyone’s gotta vote.

Certainly I think by now we all know that for most mothers and babies, breastfeeding is the most complete nutrition and healthiest form of free babyfood anywhere.  It can take some getting used to, it may take a lot of practice and time to get it right - but in the end, its worth it.

What we may not realise, is that we are subjecting our babies to problems if we choose not to breastfeed.  Here is part of an article I hand out in my classes, which shows some of these side effects and how they can effect a non-breastfed child its whole life!

Gastrointestinal Illness   At least 400 infants die annually in the United States from diarrheal disease; an estimated 250-300 of these deaths are attributed to not being breastfed.  Other gastrointestinal disorders such as
Crohn’s disease, inflammatory bowel disease, and celiac  are minimized  in people who were breastfed.

Respiratory Illness. Between 500 and 600 infants die annually in the United States from acute respiratory disease attributed to not being breastfed. The risk of fatal or nonfatal respiratory infections is two- to fivefold higher among
formula fed infants.

Otitis Media occurs more frequently in infants who are not breastfed. Bacteremia and Meningitis  There is a fourfold higher risk of bacteremia and meningitis among babies who are not breast-fed.

Juvenile Diabetes  More than 100 studies indicate that breast-feeding can delay or prevent the onset of diabetes in  children said Dr Cadwell.

Malignant Lymphomas  A six- to eightfold increase in the risk for developing lymphomas among children younger than 15 years has been found in children who were not breastfed for at least 6 months.

Breast Cancer  Having been breastfed as a child  reduces breast cancer risk in women over 40 by more than 25%.

Pediatric News 33(1):37, 1999

Some great articles on health, nutrition and more for pregnant and nursing moms, as well as women in general!  Spend some time on this gem of a site, you’ll be sure to learn a LOT!

The MayaWrap site has a great tutorial on how to make your OWN ring slings.  This looks VERY easy. 

I’ll be trying this also!

This link shows 10 facts about vaccines, which you may find interesting.  I always encourage my childbirth students to learn about both sides to everything - vaccines being an important one.  The website linked has lots of great information.

For those choosing not to vaccinate, this is a great article on why you should NOT sign the vaccine refusal forms, but rather write your own (examples included).

Did you know that right after your baby is born, he or she will be able to recognize your voice?  Your baby will be able to recognize the voices that spoke to him/her a lot during pregnancy - including your partner and other children!

When your baby is born, if you speak or call for your baby, your baby will turn his or her head trying to find you!

My latest craze these days is a household notebook I’ve created.  This isn’t a new idea by any means, but I am finding the organization exciting and want to tell everyone about it!  If you read my lastest post over in Home Life, you can visit a great link that is an amazing resource for household notebooks.

Anyway - a household notebook can be great for pregnancy and postpartum.  Many women find it hard to remember things during their pregnancy and also during the postpartum period.  Having a notebook where everything important is stored (along with prenatal appointments, belly and baby stats, etc.)

A daily, weekly and monthly to do list helps keep track of regular and routine tasks.  Make a note of all of the things you need to get done, when they need to get done, and their priority so you can take a peek when you’re having an “I don’t know what to do next” moment.  If you have a checklist of your cleaning tasks divided by room and frequency of needing cleaned, this can be VERY helpful during the postpartum period for your partner or other people eager to help.  All of your regular chores will be written down so they can take a look at your list and do something on it.

Keep a running list of items you want to buy before baby.

Make notes of things you’d like to try during your labor and birth, and postpartum if necessary.  Sitting down to write up a birth plan is helpful, but generally you won’t remember all of the details.  It’s great to keep a running list through pregnancy so you can avoid the “Oh, I wanted to try that!” afterwards.

Keep a list of favorite recipes and what cookbooks they can be found in.  Start planning some freezer meals so you don’t need to cook (or rather, your partner or family) after the baby is born.

Keep a list of books and movies you want to read.  After the baby is born if you’re nursing, there will be a lot of downtime.  If you’re not gazing at your baby (and that will be a lot!), you can catch up on some good books!

If you want to keep track of your new baby’s feedings and diaper changing, you can print off some pre-made charts (you can find some at chartjungle.com) and have them ready to go.

Start off on the right foot and print off health record forms to have ready for your baby.  Document important things like birth weight, length, blood type, and more.  If you choose to vaccinate,

If it helps, keep a note of things to try on your fridge.  Having a baby that is crying for what seems to be no reason can be stressful.  Remember that adjusting to life outside the womb can be stressful to your baby, too.  If you’ve tried the basics - try to feed, change diapers, and make sure baby isn’t too hot/cold, isn’t overstimulated (take baby into a quiet, darkened room), etc. there are some more ideas.

1. Suck.  Your baby may not be hungry, but they are calmed through sucking.  You can try to nurse, use your finger (pinkie, pad side up, no long nails please!), or a pacifier.

2. Swaddle.  Newborns especially like to be swaddled because the tightness of the blanket keeps them near the same position they were in while in the womb.  Don’t be afraid to swaddle snugly!

3. Movement.  Babies thrive on movement.  Try rocking, standing and swaying or lightly bouncing, swinging your baby from side to side (or if need be, use a baby swing if you have one, but babies would prefer a human in many cases).

4. Patting.  Babies like rhythm and patting their bottom or back at a regular beat can be calming.

5. Lay your baby on their side or stomach while you’re holding them. This, too, can be comforting.

6. Sing or “shush” to your baby.  Your voice can be very calming and comforting, and shushing can also be comforting (along with white noise).  Mom or dad may have the best luck just singing or talking to their newborn because baby is already programmed to your voices from hearing them in the womb.

http://breastcrawl.org/video.htm This video explains benefits of breastfeeding soon after birth, and shows a baby latching on to the breast without help.

When your baby is born in a hospital, it seems nearly immediatly the cord is cut and the baby is whisked off to a bassinet sitting under a warmer.  The reason for this is quite simple: your baby is born wet and they are unable to heat themselves when they’re born.  So, a warmer makes sense to keep the baby warm while it’s getting examined, cleaned up, footprinted and swaddled.

A baby will benefit more from skin-to-skin contact with mom though, instead of sitting under a warmer for any length of time.  Moms body, combined with a blanket, will keep the baby wonderfully warm and also comforted because your baby will recognize your smell, enjoy the feeling of your skin, and be soothed by the sound of your voice and heartbeat.

When we had my son born at home I held him close, skin to skin, until his cord stopped pulsing.  We cleaned him up the best we could with a towel and made sure all was well as soon as he was born of course, however the exam didn’t come until later.  Once the cord was cut, I got up to shower and was settled into bed.  My midwives then did the newborn exam, I got the honor of putting his first diaper on (cloth, of course!) and my daughter chose that moment to wake up - as soon as my son was cleaned, examined, swaddled and back in mommy’s arms ready to nurse for the second time (first time we nursed right after birth as I was waiting for the cord to stop pulsing).  My daughters timing was perfect! My son was born at 5:53AM - and I loved being up in labor all night while my daughter was asleep….  But this time, I hope to labor during the day so my daughter can watch the birth. She is so excited!