Breastfeeding

Breastfeeding

I chose breastfeeding because I myself breastfed my son for the first 10 months of his life (along with expressed breast milk to be bottle fed). There are healthy advantages for newborns/infants that are breastfed and I want to educate more women on breastfeeding pros and cons that I had no idea about…

The first thing you should know is that there are different levels of breastfeeding.  You can be as involved as you want or not… I personally experienced all levels listed below as time went on and weaning occurred. 

Taken from the Le Leche League International Website:

“Exclusive breastfeeding: No other liquid or solid from any other source enters the infant ’s mouth.

Almost exclusive: Allows occasional tastes of other liquids, traditional foods, vitamins, medicines, etc.
Full breastfeeding: Includes exclusive and almost exclusive.
Full breast milk feeding (or fully breast milk fed): The infant receives expressed breast milk in addition to breastfeeding.
Partial: Mixed feeding, designated at high, medium, or low. Methods for classification suggested include percentage of calories from breastfeeding, percentage of feeds that are breastfeeds, etc. Any feeding of expressed breast milk would fall under this category.
Token: Minimal, occasional breastfeeds (for comfort or with less than 10 percent of the nutrition thereby provided.) “ (La Leche League,  2013)

Pro’s:

“Breastfeeding is cheaper than formula feeding

Breastfeeding helps you to recuperate more rapidly after pregnancy and has health advantages for the mother

Breastfeeding is healthier than formula feeding; it contains all necessary nutrients for a baby and protects against several infections and diseases

Con’s

When breastfeeding you need to watch what you eat and be careful with dieting

When breastfeeding it is impossible to know whether your baby had sufficient milk “ (Van Acker, Bakker, 2012).

Breast feeding in America most women breastfeed for the nutritional benefits to the infants’ immune system and also to slim down quickly after child birth. 
In Asia, Africa, and other underdeveloped countries, women breastfeed out of necessity.  They do not have easy access to powdered or liquid man-made formula or bottles

UNICEF’s Stance on Breastfeeding:

“Optimal breastfeeding of infants under two years of age has the greatest potential impact on child survival of all preventive interventions, with the potential to prevent 1.4 million deaths in children under five in the developing world (Lancet 2008).  The results of a study conducted in Ghana show that breastfeeding babies within the first hour of birth can prevent 22 per cent of neonatal deaths” (UNICEF, 2013).

“From the moment a mother gives birth in Ghana, She’s taught to breastfeed her newborn” (Breast is Best, 2011).  More than 10 years ago in Ghana, when a child was born, it was given water.  Many children were dying of diarrhea and pneumonia as a result.  By developing national breastfeeding policies, teaching jingles and songs about breastfeeding, infant mortality rates are rising. Now five years later, babies in the country are exclusively breastfed for the first six months of life and they are overall healthier and happier!

So how can breastfeeding impact my future work? I do not see my career as a platform to preach to parents about breastfeeding, but I know when I started, I had a lot of questions with no one to really ask except medical professionals, and no close friends that were doing it to confide in.  Being an early childhood professional allows me to be able to help breast feeding mothers by creating support groups and or play groups where women can talk about their experiences and gain support locally.  It also an opportunity to educate women on the benefits of breastfeeding for their child and to answer questions as they arise. 

Sources:

Breast is Best. [ABC News Video]. (2011, Oct 06). Retrieved from http://abcnews.go.com/MillionMomsChallenge/video/breastfeeding-ghana-14683520

La Leche League International (2013). Breastfeeding. Retrieved from http://www.llli.org/resources.html.

Van Acker, F. Bakker, E. (2012). A Functional Assessment of the impact of Advantages and Disadvantages on Breastfeeding Attitude. The International Journal of Methodology and Experimental Psychology Issues, v33 n3 p533-545.

UNICEF. (2013). Breastfeeding. Retrieved from http://www.unicef.org/nutrition/index_24824.html

The U.S. versus Spain on birthing

In Spain, you can choose to deliver in a public (state) hospital or private clinic (Private Sector). In the U.S., you can (99 percent) gave birth in hospitals with the help of a physician (91.3 percent). Midwives attended about 8 percent of all births (most midwife-attended births are in hospitals), Of the 1 percent of births that took place outside the hospital in 2008, 66 percent were in homes and 28 percent were in birth centers. 

In both state/private Spain settings, a vaginal birth allows up to 3 days of stay for mother and baby. Vaginal delivery in a hospital or birthing center allows up to 3 days of stay but typically is just one day

Cesarean in Spain allows up to 5 days of stay in the hospital.  Cesarean in U.S. is typically 2 – 4 days of stay .

Home births are becoming more common in Spain but are not covered under public or private health care.  

Pain relief is possible – if available in Spain at your hospital.  Pain relief always available in form of epidural or spinal block (unless at home) in U.S.

Statutory maternity leave in Spain is currently 16 weeks’ paid leave from work, of which six weeks must be taken after the birth. Fathers are entitled to 15 days’ paternity leave (depending on their job). In 2015 this will increase to 30 days. If there are complications for either the baby or the mother, the father is entitled to a longer period of leave. Maternity/Paternity leave are all dependent on the employer and benefits you receive and or pay for in the U.S. Leave can range from a week to 12 weeks for the mother and 0 days to a week for fathers.  

In my experience with delivery, I had a vaginal delivery and stayed in the hospital 3 days because I had some excessive blood loss and needed to be monitored more closely.  I was very fortunate to deliver at the end of the school year, only taking 10 days off of work and also having 8 weeks of summer before the next school year started.  My husband was allowed to take one week off of work at 60 % of his pay if he did not want to use sick/vacation time to take leave. He also worked from home several hours. I would definitely appreciate if the U.S. would adopt some of the other maternity and paternity policies in the world like Spain’s 16 week leave with 100% pay for mothers.  I feel if more mothers could stay home during these critical times with newborns, there would be less social/emotional delays or problems with children.  When a parent is forced to return to work because of pay or no sick days, the parent can be stressed which then affects the newborn and family. 

Information about Spain retrieved from the following sites:

http://barcelona.angloinfo.com/information/healthcare/pregnancy-birth/birth/

http://www.babycenter.com/0_surprising-facts-about-birth-in-the-united-states_1372273.bc?page=3

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/04/maternity-leave-paid-parental-leave-_n_2617284.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000009

Personal Birthing Experience

My personal birthing experience – delivering my son Collin!

It was almost one year ago today – last Mother’s day to be exact (May 13). I was in the hustle and bustle of finishing end of the year report cards – determined to get them and much more done before Collin’s due date of May 28.  All day I had been having what I would describe as “cramps” and I didn’t pay much attention as I was focused on finishing my 40 report cards… Finally around 4:00 I finished and got up to stretch. I then went to relax on the couch and watch tv.  It was then I noticed there was regularity to my “cramps” so we timed them. 7-10 minutes apart.  My doctor suggested a nice long walk to see what would happen.  My husband, dog, and I went on an hour long walk in the rain at our local park.  The cramps were now full on contractions every 5 minutes or so.  My doctor decided it was time to make the hour drive north to our hospital just in case… We arrived at the hospital around 10 p.m. My contractions slowed on the drive up so we were sent to walk the halls of the hospital.  We walked and walked until 2:00 a.m. I was finally contracting regularly and dilating so we were admitted.  Once admitted and comfortable, I opted for the epidural – and it was grand! I was getting some sleep and so was my husband.  I easily labored all day Monday will no real pain but not a lot of progression either.  Finally around 12:00 p.m. on May 14^th, my doctor decided to break my water and get things going. I was also given pitocin to speed things up. Around 2:00 is was time to push! The moment I had been waiting for! This was not the easy part.  I was delivering 2 weeks early and thought things would go smooth but they didn’t go as well as expected… A lot was going on and things are fuzzy for me as I was sleeping between pushes from exhaustion.  Collin made it most of the way down by himself but then – GOT STUCK! The doctor had me push and push but nothing was helping. He tried to suction him a bit, that didn’t work, he tried the forceps, that didn’t work, he pushed on my stomach from up top, that didn’t work… He finally did an episiotomy and wiggled my little bundle of joy out around 4:00 p.m. He is perfect in every way! Of course I would rather he didn’t get stuck and things went a little smoother but he is just perfect! I was and still am so in love with this little boy.  (7 pounds, 13 ounces, 21 inches long!)

 1 Day Old and 11 Months old 

I chose this event because I was physically and emotionally present and I am a proud mom! I am also so glad to have delivered in a hospital because of the complications I did experience with the actual birth.  Impacts on my son’s development could have included loss of oxygen due to being stuck and this could cause brain damage - but that is not the case here. Collin should have every advantage that a typically developing child has and then some! Some milestones: rolling over at 5 weeks, First word (da da at 6 mo), crawling at 8 mo, walking at 10 mo. He says about 9 recognizable words and can understand so much more. He loves the outside and anything that moves – trucks, tractors, and 4 wheelers :)