Looking for Something Green to Do this Earth Day? Breastfeed Your Baby!

Deciding to breastfeed your baby is the GREENEST, eco-friendliest decision you will ever make.

Mother nature designed human milk to be the cleanest, purest fuel. It is species specific, providing everything the body needs for health. In contrast to formula, human milk requires no processing, packaging and in no way pollutes the environment.

Women are more likely to breastfeed having seen the act of breastfeeding.

This Earth Day and everyday lets focus on making breastfeeding the norm. Nurse in public and do it proudly!

Below is an article about how green breastfeeding is from
http://www.mnn.com/family/family-activities/stories/6-green-reasons-why-breastfeeding-is-the-best-feeding

1. Breastfeeding saves energy

Breast milk is ready to go straight from the tap, and it's already the perfect temperature for your baby — no heating required. Breastfeeding saves the energy needed to mass produce and distribute baby bottles and formula, and even recycling the bottles consumes energy. Breast milk, however, has its own convenient storage facility. While many parents make a few bottles of formula at once and store them in the fridge, breasts don't need to be kept on ice.

2. Breastfeeding is plastic-free

Most baby bottles on the market contain various forms of plastic. Plastic, usually made with oil, is one of the world's worst environmental scorns. There are no hard-and-fast numbers about just how much petroleum is used to make plastic, but most studies estimate that it accounts for about 8 percent of the world's yearly oil consumption. Besides draining fuel resources, plastics produce harmful and toxic wastes such as carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxide and more, all of which are taking a toll on the air, water and soil, not to mention our health. Lastly, as much as people love to talk about recycling, many plastic bottles never even make it to the recycling plant, and even when they do, they aren't typically recycled into new bottles. Plastics are not part of a closed-loop recycling plan. Instead plastics are downcycled into other products, a process that may not be energy or cost-efficient.

3. Breastfeeding is biodegradable

Baby bottles are a very specific product. While you may be able to repurpose some for other household applications (think paint dispensers and marble jars) they're really only useful for one task — feeding your baby. You can buy plastic, glass or even Earth-friendly bottles, but in the end, you've got a product on your hands with limited usefulness and a limited lifespan. You can recycle some bottles, sure, but even with recyclable ones, not all parts are recyclable (such as the nipples and liners), and that contributes to our overstuffed landfill issue. We're not ancient Greeks, but like them, our baby bottles do not biodegrade.

4. Breastfeeding reduces waste

Bottles and formula present a costly and excessive packaging problem. Boxes, paper and plastics that take energy both to manufacture and recycle are used to package bottles, bottle accessories and formula. Meanwhile, a mother's milk is waste-free, unless of course you count Victoria's Secret as fancy breast-milk packaging. But, hey, at least they're working on organics and going green!

5. Breastfeeding reduces gasoline use

Breastfeeding stops those late-night trips to the grocery store for formula. Breastfeeding reduces the need for gasoline used to ship bottles and formula. Breastfeeding may even reduce drives to the pediatrician's office, since breastfed babies are typically healthier.

6. Breastfeeding reduces exposure to chemicals

Many brands of baby bottles in recent years have been shown to leach dangerous chemicals such as bisphenol-A (BPA) and phthalates both into babies' milk and into the air, soil and water. You can choose lead-free glass baby bottles over traditional plastic ones, but these pose their own breakage and recycling issues. You can also buy nontoxic baby bottles, although these can be expensive. If you're concerned about toxins in breast milk, research suggests you shouldn't worry. While breast milk can contain low levels of toxins, formula presents much larger ecological problems. The most economical, nontoxic choice for your baby and the planet is breastfeeding.

Nursing Wear

Sorry for the long time between posts. I have so many things I'd like to blog about, and I want to be thorough. I love it when you participate here or on facebook.

Last week during our Wednesday morning support group the mother of an eight week old baby showed the mother of a two week old baby her nursing shirt. Having never seen nursing wear before, the second mother was astounded and amazed.

Nursing wear includes shirts, dresses, tanks, bras and so on that have flaps, holes and hooks to make nursing a baby easy and discreet. It's kind of like the woman's version of a fly opening, except its for feeding.

I bought nursing bras from Target right after Micah was born, and eventually got a nice Medela bra that I liked a lot. The problem with the bras was that while nursing, my breasts didn't stay the same size over the years I was breastfeeding each child.

I was first introduced to nursing tops when Micah was a few months old. The mother of a much older baby (her 2nd) was in the "nursing room" at church. As usual we were talking instead of listening to the sermon, and she showed me her crisp white nursing top and how her stomach stayed covered while she fed her baby girl. I was thrilled by the idea. Micah was a big baby (8 lbs 6 oz, 22 in), well at least big for me, and I had acquired quite a few stretch marks during the last three weeks of my pregnancy. The marks were still fresh, and I was not intrested in showing my "ground beef" skin, along with the poochy belly that hadn't yet become rock hard again (still waiting for that)!

My friend had found the nursing tops at Motherhood Maternity so I bought three tops for about $90 and, well, didn't wear them much. I needed two hands just to manage the shirt, and latching a starving, rooting baby on through layers of clothing didn't work for me. Soon I discovered I was more comfortable in a sports bra or other bra, lifting my shirt, and latching the baby on. I got pretty discreet, too, and many times people came to coo at my baby only to discover he was eating!

After Lorelei was born I discovered nursing tank tops. Now these I love. I am still wearing them with Finn now 15 months old. They function as a nursing bra with a latch on the strap, but can be used the same way a sports bra works if I don't have time to unlatch the bra, and they cover my tummy and can be worn under a shirt. Also, they come in many sizes. I had trouble finding nursing shirts in an XS when I was breastfeeding Micah.

The world of nursing wear has seriously expanded since Micah was born in 2003. Gap/Old Navy have jumped on board and have many sizes and basic styles that are usually comfortable and easy to use.

                               I even saw matching mother/baby nursing sets at Old Navy.

For more sophisticated and also more expensive nursing wear there is www.aneemathew.com.

There are even a few Etsy shops who make/carry nursing wear.

What are your favorite nursing clothes?

Human Milk Banking

In January, our US Surgeon General issued a call to action to support breastfeeding. During the question and answer period of the call to action Dr. Benjamin stated that she chose breastfeeding as her first call to action because it is the foundation of health.

Along the same lines, today I saw a breastfeeding poster from 1936-1938 (at http://www.facebook.com/#!/HistoricBreastfeedingPhotos?sk=info ) that reads "Nurse the Baby, Your Protection Against Trouble".

In October last year I learned about HMBANA (Human Milk Bank Association of North America) and decided I would like to donate milk. The milk bank supplies human milk to premature babies and babies who need human milk for medical reasons and requires a prescription from a doctor.  You should know that if you have a premature baby and you are able to give him/her your own milk it will have electrolytes in it especially for him/her because your body KNOWS your baby is premature. Here is a list reasons for human milk and benefits from human milk from www.sharp.com .

Breast milk benefits premature babies like no other food because:

• Human milk causes the intestines to mature faster
• Human milk empties from the stomach faster 
• Human milk-fed infants have less blood infection and preemie eye disease
• Infants fed human milk tend to spend fewer days in the hospital

Besides premature babies, other recipients have included babies, children and adults with the following health needs:

• Allergies or sensitivities to formulas
• Cancer chemotherapy patients
• Failure to thrive (FTT)
• Gastrointestinal problems
• Immune deficiencies 
• Malabsorption syndromes
• Postsurgical nutrition
• Short gut syndrome
• Solid organ transplants (including adults)

I contacted HMBANA and passed an initial screening interview. The requirements for donating to HMBANA include

• In good general health
• Willing to undergo a blood test (at the milk bank's expense)
• Not regularly using medication or herbal supplements (with the exception of progestin-only birth control pills or injections, Synthroid, insulin, pre-natal vitamins; for other exceptions, please contact a milk bank for more information)
• Willing to donate at least 100 ounces of milk; some banks have a higher minimum (Because I was mailing my milk the requirement was 200 ounces).

A woman would not be a suitable donor if:

• She has a positive blood test result for HIV, HTLV, hepatitis B or C, or syphilis
• She or her sexual partner is at risk for HIV
• She uses illegal drugs
• She smokes or uses tobacco products
• She has received an organ or tissue transplant or a blood transfusion in the last 12 months
• She regularly has more than two ounces or more of alcohol per day
• She has been in the United Kingdom for more than 3 months or in Europe for more than 5 years since 1980
• She was born in or has traveled to Cameroon, Central Africa Republic, Chad, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Niger, or Nigeria

I almost didn't pass the European criteria because I lived in Germany as a child. My interviewer had to check with her supervisor, but since I was not on a military base it turns out I probably wasn't exposed to mad cow disease (yay!) and they cleared me to donate. They also asked me about recent tattoos or if my husband had recent tattoos, and my baby had to be under 1 year old (because your milk content changes as your baby ages and toddler milk is designed for toddlers).

The next step was to fill out some forms and begin collecting milk. I was sent some lab paper work and given a donor number. The instructions included sterelizing food grade containers and then freezing the milk in them. I chose to use mason jars and after boiling them in my spaghetti pot for 5 minutes I screwed the lids on and began the process of filling them daily. I chose Finn's morning nap as my pump time. Right after putting him down I would sit at the computer checking my email, all the while filling mason jars with breast milk. I always seemed to have plenty and my body quickly adjusted to making the extra milk, usually 6 ounces each morning.

I admit I took a few days off when Finn came down with a runny nose and I stopped for almost a week at Thanksgiving, but after two months I had my 200 ounces.  Once I established a routine it wasn't too hard. It gave me a great deal of admiration, however, for mom's who work away from their babies full time, and continue to pump all day. I can't wait to encourage and help more of them!


A documentary called "Prescription Milk" is coming out soon. The trailer says that there are 500,000 premature births each year, and that 40% of these babies die and that human donor milk can save many of those lives. (To see the trailer http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJFrnUZGndM ).

There are other milk banks like The National Milk Bank whose home base is in California, and there are also sites called "Milk Depots" which can either mean non prescription milk is sold there to parents who want to give human milk to their infants, or locations where milk can be dropped off by donors or picked up by recipients.


I know this was a long one, and I hope some of you decide to look into it yourselves once you have the breastfeeding down. Chances are good that your body can handle it and your milk may save a life. Please tell us about your experience if you decide to donate some of your milk or if you already have.

In The News-Rediculed Mom + Breastfeeding Saves Lives and Money

Last night I asked Kevin to nudge me awake to see the story that was advertised on the news about an Army wife who was told to stop breastfeeding because the office she was in needed to maintain a "professional atmosphere".

My first reaction was that I was disappointed that a woman said it and I wanted to know if she was a mother. My second reaction was well, having a baby in the office isn't professional no matter how you feed him/her. So, clearly that wasn't the real reason.

The mother modeled how she fed the baby for the news camera (baby and breast covered) for everyone watching TV to see, so the woman who scolded her failed miserably in her attempt to keep her from nursing in public! For the whole story see http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=news/local&id=8048784.

The second story got me super excited. It's a complicated study released in the journal, Pediatrics, by the American Academy of Pediatrics that says if 90% of women would breastfeed their babies for 6 months than 900 babies' lives would be saved along with billions of dollars.

My favorite quote from the article was this, "He (Pediatrician Dr. Dr. Lary Gray) also said mothers who don't breast-feed for six months shouldn't be blamed or made to feel guilty, because their jobs and other demands often make it impossible to do so. 'We'd all love as pediatricians to be able to carry this information into the boardrooms by saying we all gain by small changes at the workplace that encourage breast-feeding,' Gray said."


Milk Mentors has Corporate Lactation Program to help business become breastfeeding friendly. It turns out, businesses can save $3 for every $1 they invest in accommodating employees who are also breastfeeding mothers and by complying with 2010s Affordable Care Act which mandates that businesses with 50 employees or more provide a private non bathroom location for employees to express milk for their babies during the first year of the baby's life.

For more on this very interesting and mathematically challenging study see http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=154266 .

Why do women give up?

As soon as I say, "I'm a Lactation Counselor" a women tells me how long she breastfed her babies, what was hard about it, what her doctor told her, what her friends said and so on.

(Me, breastfeeding my squirmy little Finn)

I try to stay positive even if the mother gave up without getting help, and if a mother talks about formula before she knows what I do for a living I try to avoid telling her. I want her to know we are together in the journey of motherhood and I don't want her to feel defensive before we have a chance to connect.

It seems undeniable that mothers want to breastfeed, 75% according to the CDC, but by 6 months less than 14% are exclusively breastfeeding, and only 43% breastfeeding at all.

Why are they giving up so soon?

1. Their own mothers and mother-in-laws did not breastfeed.
2. They have to return to an breastfeeding unfriendly job.
3. It hurts and no one tells them how to fix it.
4. They don't feel comfortable breastfeeding in public because not enough people do it and it doesn't feel normal.
5. Not enough support from friends.

This week a mother-in-law contacted me on behalf of her breastfeeding daughter-in-law. She wanted to purchase an appointment for her daughter-in-law who was struggling. My own mother-in-law did not breastfeed and it was a challenge for her to get used to they way I wanted to do it. Fortunately, she is an amazingly supportive woman, and now gives out my information to women in her area who want breastfeeding help. 

Okay, why do women give up on breastfeeding?

Catching up on breastfeeding news

I just spent some time reading blogs, news articles, study results, etc. pertaining to breastfeeding. It amazes me that feeding a baby can be so controversial. We are not talking about x-rated films or legalizing marijuana here, we just want to support women who want to breastfeed their babies.
http://parenting.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/31/breast-feeding-news-roundup/

Should a mother nurse her baby until he/she is six years old? Well, its not very common, but the American Academy of Pediatrics and The World Health Organization both say to breastfeed as long as is "mutually desired". http://parenting.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/12/10/appropriate-breast-feeding/

Should we make breastfeeding dolls? Why not? Children pretend to breastfeed their dolls anyway. It's how many of them were fed.http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/breast-feeding-doll-parents-controversy/story?id=13248646


Does breastfeeding make a women seem less competent in our society? Well, its a bit trickier and takes more guts in our country than bottle feeding. http://www.miller-mccune.com/health/breastfeeding-women-viewed-as-less-competent-29338/
Also, if you are informed, you know how great breast milk is and that it makes for bigger brains!http://www.dur.ac.uk/international/global/?itemno=11796

Should babies be allowed to breastfeed in public? Well, should adults be allowed to eat in public? Don't our children deserve the same consideration? Also, it gives everyone a chance to see how practical and not sexual breasts are for a change. Besides, motherhood can be so isolating without having to remove yourself every time your baby wants to eat.

Which ones push your buttons. What do you think?