The nomination period ends September 15, 2010.

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Dr. Hale will be presenting in Lafayette on what else, Medications and Mother’s Milk! I am thrilled. He is a phenomenal lactation speaker and the symposium is only $45. This is an amazing opportunity. Call the Kathryn Weil Center at 765-449-5133 to register for the August 19th breastfeeding symposium.

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…provide reasonable break time for an employee to express breast milk for her nursing child for 1 year after the child’s birth each time such employee has need to do so. The employer shall make reasonable efforts to provide a place, other than a bathroom, that is shielded from view and free from intrusion from co-workers and the public, which may be used by an employee to express breast milk. An employer shall not be required to compensate an employee for any work time spent for such purpose.

This portion of the bill is a HUGE step forward, but to put that year time limit on it is a baby step backwards.  Overall, I am thrilled, though.  This is great news.

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Q: What should moms know about Attachment Parenting (AP) and what are the biggest misconceptions?

A: Attachment Parenting is summed up best for me by Dr. John Gottman. He says, “The key to successful parenting is not found in complex theories; elaborate family rules, or convoluted formulas for behavior. It is based on your deepest feelings of love and affection for your child and is demonstrated simply through empathy and understanding.

“Good parenting begins in your heart, and then continues on a moment-to-moment basis by engaging your children when feelings run high, when they are sad, angry, or scared. The heart of parenting is being there in a particular way when it really counts.”

Attachment parenting misconceptions? One of the biggest is that AP mommies are passive and let their kids do whatever without discipline. Sometimes they think we are a by-the-numbers group and we parent exactly the same way.

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Date: Friday, March 19, 2010
Time: 12pm – 2pm
Location: Believe Midwifery Services, LLC
118 West Main Street
Thorntown, IN 46071
Phone: 765.436.7527

This group meets monthly on the third Friday of each month.

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Now, 4 years later, I am very confident about my identity as a mother.  I attribute this to the time that has gone by, and most importantly to my support.  My support comes from quite a few different places.  Number one, I have a wonderful family that encourages me and praises me on how well I am doing with my children.  This is so wonderful.  I’m not sure how one would get by without a family like mine.  Secondly, I’ve finally met some other parents that have similar parenting styles.  Having a friend breastfeeding with me in public while my newborn and I were still figuring out our “rhythm” was exactly what I needed to start feeling confident about nursing my son wherever I might be.  I’m a pretty modest girl, so getting used to having a little skin–that usually only my husband sees–out for anyone to see was a bit of a struggle.  But, as I nursed more and more in public, I am totally comfortable with it now.  And, I think it’s my duty as a breastfeeding mom to make sure I’m doing all I can to normalize it.  I want other moms to see that it’s normal, and that not everyone is bottle feeding.  Having friends that are doing the same things as me is very encouraging.  And this goes for every mom.  No matter what, moms need encouragement.  And knowing friends that are going through motherhood with you is encouragement enough.

Not only have I found support from people that live nearby, but from people all over.  There is a world of information and encouragement on the internet.  One of my favorite bloggers just recently posted an article that inspired me to write this post.  And everyday, I can find something that someone has written that coincides with what I’ve been doing as a mother or provokes a thought of how I feel about a certain topic.  Some of the online communities I have found are wonderful support for moms.  I’ve also fell in love with Mothering magazine.  The same things I find online are in this magazine–words of encouragement, unique stories from other mothers, and so many resources.

My point in writing this post is to emphasize the necessity of a support group.  Whether it be family, friends, literature, or an online community, we, as mothers all need it.  Because once we are secure with our identity as a mother and are convinced that we are doing a great job at raising our babies, we truly will be bringing up our children to the best of our abilities.

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“Breastfeeding provides a sanitary, safe, and consistently available food source, which is vitally important during and following a disaster. Human milk also contains important anti-infective properties that protect infants from malnutrition, diarrhea and other diseases that commonly arise during an emergency situation such as this tragic situation in Haiti.”

More recommendations from the organization are as follows:

Encourage mothers to continue breastfeeding to give infants sanitary, safe nutrition, to help fight infection and disease, and to keep infants warm;

Feed the mother so she can, in turn, feed her infant;

Provide a safe environment for breastfeeding or expressing milk, including providing a private area or a way to breastfeed discreetly, if the mother desires it;

Assist mothers who are separated from their infants with regular milk removal to maintain their milk production and avoid engorgement;

Provide donor human milk from a human milk bank if a mother is injured or unable to directly breastfeed;

Assist mothers with re-establishing their milk production if they have already weaned their baby.

The full press release is here.

As for milk donation, it looks like there is still some organizing left to do.  You can visit this website to learn more about how you can help by means of milk donation.

From what I’ve found, the U.S. milk donor supply is low.  The goal is to increase our supply in order to meet the Haitian needs.  So, get out there and donate!

I was reading another blog post about the status of the milk donation to Haiti, and a great point was brought up:

Is it beneficial to even send this milk, if the point is to encourage breastfeeding?

I agree with the writer in that it wouldn’t be beneficial to supply a breastfeeding mother with donor milk.  This would keep her from feeding her child with her own milk, which would lower her supply.  But, the milk would be great for a baby that may have lost his/her mother, or for a baby that was not already breastfeeding.  Whatever the case may be, I hope that an effort to donate breast milk helps the people in this devastating time.

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