Mother's Milk: Ideal Nutrition for Babies

All about the nutritional benefits of breastfeeding,
from Charis Childbirth

"Every year medical journal articles describe more valuable substances discovered in human milk. Scientists are only beginning to write the story on other factors in human milk that may be important to baby's growth and development. For example, other enzymes besides lipase are available to aid infant digestion. Epidermal growth factor, present in human milk in significant amounts, may promote the development of tissues in the digestive tract and elsewhere. Other hormones in milk may influence a baby's metabolism, growth, and physiology. The effects may be subtle, but they may also have far-reaching implications. Being breastfed has advantages that reach into adulthood. Science is only beginning to learn what these benefits are."

Click here to read the article.

Toddler Helps Mother in Delivery of Baby Brother

When this woman started having her baby in the living room of her home, her 2-year old instinctively went to get a towel and came back to catch the baby. Cool or what?!?

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2009/nov/18/good-catch-toddler-helps-in-delivery-of-baby/

Two-year-old Jeremiha Taylor doesn't have to ask his mother where babies come from -- he helped deliver his little brother at the foot of his family's living room couch. "He's my little hero," Jeremiha's mom, Bobbye Favazza, 27, of Olive Branch, said Tuesday. "It was like he knew what to do." Favazza gave birth to a 7-pound, 4-ounce baby boy, Kamron Taylor, on Friday morning. Firefighters arrived moments later to cut the umbilical cord.

Newborn Babies Cry in Their Native Tongue

Here's an excerpt from an interesting news story about still another way babies are influenced by their mothers while in the womb...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33656622/ns/health-kids_and_parenting/

"Prenatal exposure to language was known to influence newborns. For instance, past research showed they preferred their mother's voice over those of others.

Still, researchers thought infants did not imitate sounds until much later on. Although three-month-old babies can match vowel sounds that adults make, this skill depends on vocal control just not physically possible much earlier.

However, when scientists recorded and analyzed the cries of 60 healthy newborns when they were three to five days old — 30 born into French-speaking families, 30 into German-speaking ones — their analysis revealed clear differences in the melodies of their cries based on their native tongue."

Current Issue: H1N1 Vaccine

Here is some good commentary from Midwifery Today:

www.midwiferytoday.com/articles/preg_H1N1fluvirus.asp

"Historically, alternative preventative treatment has been utilized successfully in times of epidemic flu outbreak. Although there is an option to vaccinate oneself with this new H1N1 vaccine, I would argue that the current global situation warrants a more serious search for safe, non-invasive alternatives. The inherent risks of vaccinations can serve as a reminder for midwives to return to the basics, creating and maintaining a healthy immune system."

Author Jeramie Peacock describes some of the problematic ingredients in the H1N1 vaccine, as well as alternative approaches being taken in France and India.

Historical Breastfeeding Photo: WPA Poster

I found this image in the Library of Congress online archives recently. It was created in 1938 as part of an art project organized by the federal Work Projects Administration. I'm not a fan of this style of art, or the WPA for that matter, but I thought this would make a nice addition to my growing archive of historical breastfeeding images.

The artist was Erik Krause, who did a number of other posters in this same propaganda style. The others carry slightly more socialistic messages, but similar artwork. This one reads, "Nurse the baby: Your protection against trouble. Inform yourself through the Health Bureau publications and consult your doctor."

Before 1930 most mothers breastfed their babies. Artificial formulas were expensive and still in development. Apparently some mothers thought it was more sophisticated to feed their babies from a bottle, so they would give their babies cow's milk in glass bottles. But this would've had to have been transported and refrigerated and couldn't have been convenient or affordable for average families.

According to this article (linked below), by the late 1930s, formulas had become safer and were viewed as more scientific by mothers who could afford them. And then it became a sign of affluence, or for immigrants - assimilation, and quickly became the norm.

I found some very interesting and relevant information about the history of breastfeeding in a preview of this book: http://books.google.com/books?id=hHbTDVfWNU4C&lpg=PP1&pg=PR17#v=onepage&q=&f=false

You can see this WPA poster in the Library of Congress here:
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/h?pp/PPALL:@field(NUMBER+@1(cph+3f05325

Doula Discoveries

Part of the doula journey for me has been learning my way around parts of Austin that I never had occasion to visit before. And I've had to find my way to many a hospital during stormy weather and rainstorms, or in the middle of the night, while it's dark and the streets are empty and the traffic lights are flashing. It always feels surreal, a little bit dramatic. Then it's interesting to see those places again in the daylight when they seem much less exciting and much more average. :)

Besides visiting lots of hospitals and clients' homes, I've also been to a lot of coffee shops. It's funny, because none of these moms are drinking coffee, but it seems that coffee shops are still the best place when you're having a casual, yet professional, low-key, get-to-know-you meeting with a stranger. :)

Today I got lost trying to find Cherrywood Cafe on 38 1/2 Street. I drove right past it and ended up having to circle around and come back the way I came. But it was a nice little place, and really conveniently located for the couple I was meeting.

In recent months I've also met clients at: Thunderbird Coffee on Koenig Lane, Flipnotics on Barton Springs Road, and Jo's on 2nd Street. I also have a doula friend who lives in Round Rock and we've met more than once at the Starbucks in La Frontera.

So maybe, in addition to learning about pregnancy and birth, I'm learning about a good cup of coffee, too. If you ever need to know of a good coffee shop with free wi-fi near a hospital or ob/gyn clinic, give me a call!

http://www.toothpastefordinner.com/

Another beautiful birth!

I got home at 4:00 a.m. from a long labor that ended with a beautiful birth and a healthy baby. This was my second opportunity to shadow Kristen Downer and learn from her decade of experience. She was really great at handling a nervous mom. and functioning on no sleep!

It was pretty cool that this baby came when she did; the barometric pressure had just made a major shift and it really feels like autumn here in central Texas. The first day of autumn doesn't usually bring such a dramatic change in weather! But it is so pleasant and it made for a beautiful birth day.

I got four hours of sleep and now am feeling refreshed for a day at my "real job." :)