After becoming pregnant the first time, one thing I knew right from the start was that I would breastfeed my child. I knew it might require a little bit to master breastfeeding after birth, but I felt confident that my baby and I could achieve it. Little did I know that my baby’s severe tongue-tie and lip-tie would make it a lot less simple than I imagined—and forever change my preconceived notions of there being only one “right” way to provide human milk.
Starting with pregnancy and birth care and continuing throughout the lifespan of Black Americans, systemic racism affects every aspect of life, from housing to health care to criminal justice to education to employment.
I never thought I would breastfeed my baby because I was not breastfed. I also never believed I could face birth. After all, pain as tiny as a paper cut drives me crazy! But all those assumptions began to change when a family friend who is a former La Leche League Leader gifted to me The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding when I was pregnant.
Every day our ICEA community shows strong support to pregnant and birthing women as educators, birth doulas, post-partum doulas and in other related roles. I offer up this blog post as an example of the power of birth support and how a community came together in a unique way to provide that support.
The WHO and UNICEF administer the BFHI program internationally and work with the national authority in each country which confers the Baby-Friendly® designation in their nation. More than 20,000 maternity facilities in 150 countries around the world have earned the Baby-Friendly designation.
As with any topic, I try to find the balance and work with the individual family. Breastfeeding can work and can be therapeutic while dealing with mood and anxiety disorders. It’s a matter of delving into the family dynamics and figuring out what is going to work; what is best for the situation.
The essential oils are literally the plant oils distilled from aromatic plants. This concentrated oil can be used in many ways, but like the plants, must be used respectfully. Essential oils produce an aroma, most often pleasant, and thought of as medicinally benign.
Implicit bias can be defined as “attitudes or stereotypes that affect our understanding, actions, and decisions in an unconscious manner.” What is means is that we act or make decisions/assumptions without conscious thoughts.
There are some research articles surfacing touting the ability of breastmilk to actually destroy cancer cells. Substances found only in breastmilk, alpha-lactalbumin, combined with fatty acids (most commonly oleic acid) have the capability of destroying malignant tumor cells.
In December of 2018 the Food and Drug Administration approved the first “milk analyzer” marketed as a tool to manage the nutritional needs of infants at risk for growth failure. Many breastfeeding advocates are concerned about not only how these tests are used but also the message being sent to breastfeeding mothers.
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The International Childbirth Education Association (ICEA) is a professional organization that supports educators and health care professionals who believe in freedom to make decisions based on knowledge of alternatives in family-centered maternity and newborn care.
