We are halfway through Black Breastfeeding Week, 
and I’ve learned since my last post to expect MANY eye rolls from those who don’t get the mission of having a week dedicated to supporting breastfeeding in African-American communities. But, as we’ve seen on the news, the black community needs support. #BlackLivesMatter – and Black Breastfeeding Week matters too. We HAVE to reach some level of understanding of the issues many of us face in our community, and that includes everyone’s issues – even those issues that are more prevalent in one subsection of the community than another. Continue reading
Moms, Don’t Feel Ashamed About Your Breast Milk Supply – Even Scientists Are Still Searching For Answers for Why It Isn’t Consistent (PART TWO)
I recently interviewed Dr.Shannon Kelleher, a human milk researcher, about the staggering results from her recent publication “Biological underpinnings of breastfeeding challenges: the role of genetics, diet, and environment on lactation physiology,” published recently in the American Journal of Physiology-Endocrinology and Metabolism. Dr. Kelleher’s mission is to use scientific and statistical research to uncover how lactation works, why it can fail, and how diet affects a woman’s ability to produce enough quality milk. In Part I, we talked about lactation statistics, and zinc. Today, in Part II, we discuss colostrum and genetics: Continue reading
Moms, Don’t Feel Ashamed About Your Breast Milk Supply – Even Scientists Are Still Searching For Answers for Why It Isn’t Consistent
I recently interviewed Dr.Shannon Kelleher, a human milk researcher, about the staggering results from her recent publication “Biological underpinnings of breastfeeding challenges: the role of genetics, diet, and environment on lactation physiology,” published recently in the American Journal of Physiology-Endocrinology and Metabolism. You may remember my two-part interview with Dr. Kelleher about her published research on zinc related to mammary function.
During that series Dr. Kelleher said, “If you think about it, when you’re breastfeeding you have no idea how much milk you are producing or if the composition is optimal and as long as your baby isn’t overtly ill, you assume that everything is working well. But is it?” And that question has echoed in my mind in the years since that post.
When exclusive breastfeeding causes life long disabilities from insufficient intake. Honoring a child’s 6th birthday today. It doesn’t get easier.
When exclusive breastfeeding causes lifelong disabilities from insufficient intake. Honoring a child’s 6th birthday today. It doesn’t get easier.
6 years ago, a healthy, bouncing baby boy was born. His mommy had a normal vaginal delivery and he immediately latched and began breastfeeding. His first 24 hours of life were uneventful and his mommy and daddy were over the moon during this blissful time. Neither of them knew they would be victims of breastfeeding starvation which would result in life long disabilities for the baby boy, and a heroic campaign of epic proportions by his mother to inform the public of the unforeseen and dangerous consequences of insufficient intake while striving for exclusive breastfeeding.
Tongue Ties and Bottle Feeding
As a NICU nurse, my infant feeding practice is based on my passion and clinical expertise to provide expert feeding care for all babies regardless of how they are fed.
Andrew’s feeding story is one example of how I provide solutions for mothers when they are desperate for infant feeding knowledge which includes more than breastfeeding.
“Where science, infant feeding and shame-free support rules.” ~The Momivist~
