The List

I have a card in my kitchen that a dear friend sent me. It has a woman from the 1920s bent over a book with pen in hand. It reads: "Nothing beats the satisfaction of crossing things off a list"
 

It is a very gentle reminder of how the to do list can be all encompassing, how very busy our lives can be especially at this time of year with winter holiday and celebrations on our calendars - creating even more lists on top of the existing lists!!!

 

So where does that leave our families, the babies and toddlers, their needs are still the same regardless of all the busyness that holiday time can bring. Mothers are left juggling little ones needs and all the other needs of family life. – Sometimes it can feel that there is just not enough space or time for all that needs to be done.

 

I hope that we can look to those little ones to keep us on track to remind us what is really important:

 

A contented baby close to their mother fed freely on cue.

 

A toddler who is happily engaged in helping with some of those chores on the to do list.

 

As Naomi Stadlen writes in “How Mothers Love"

 

"If a mother opens up real heart room for her child, it does not seem possible to fold it away again".

So when the to do list seems endless; maybe it is time to slow down and breath into your heart space; look to the little ones and fold away the lists.

 

Breastfeeding LENS would like to wish you all an easy holiday with plenty of time to enjoy the little ones and big ones too.

 
Happy Holiday
 

Christine

UNICEF BFI Conference Cardiff

Back now from the UNICEF BFI conference in Cardiff. Whilst mainstream NHS breastfeeding support still has a long way to go, it is clear it has progressed enormously. Good information from BFI, LLL and other sources IS getting through! I am writing this with my head buzzing from meeting so many like-minded people.

I attended to staff an exhibition stall promoting membership of ILCA (International Lactation Consultant Association). We had plenty of interest and hopefully the stand had a positive effect. Access ILCAs Journal of Human Lactation and research about breastfeeding and breastfeeding issues is a real help. The BFI conference is also to disseminate information and research about infant feeding. Outside the work time, which was during the breaks and lunchtime each day, I managed to attend most of the conference. It was a real treat to hear and take away so many positive messages.

Here are a few:

• Breastfeeding is a relationship (Gill Rapley)
• Meet the needs of the baby and the nutrition takes care of itself (Gill Rapley)
• "There is no such thing as a baby, just a baby and other." quote from Donald Winnacott (Gill Rapley)
• Mother and Baby are a single unit a dyad (Carlos Gonzales)
• The role of the DAD in the DYAD is to provide the arms for support of the mother and baby pair (Carlos Gonzales)
• Dads are not stupid they understand that the baby needs her/his mother (Carlos Gonzales)
• The mother IS the baby's environment no matter where they reside (Carol Bartle)
• Sleeping together is the natural thing to do (Carlos Gonzales)
• 90 % of what we know in brain science has only been known in the last 15 years (Margot Sunderland)
• Attachment directly affects the genome (Margot Sunderland)
• Under fives have a need every 20 seconds (Margot Sunderland)
• "The mere presence of the mother not only ensures the infants well-being but also creates a kind of invisible 'hothouse' in which the infants development can unfold" quote from Myron Hofer (Carol Bartle)

If you were there, you may have other favourite quotes. What were they?
Anne

P.S. If you are looking for ways to integrate ideas such as these, see our
 www.breastfeedinglens.co.uk/mother-baby-together

Well Done BAMBIS!

 Congratulations to Danielle Price, Sarah Todd and all the peer supporters at Liverpool BAMBIS (Breastfeeding And Mums Breastfeeding Information and Support). Sarah and Daniel are the BAMBIS Community Peer Support Coordinators. http://www.liverpoolwomens.nhs.uk/Library/our_services/maternity/BambisLeaflet_2.pdf

I have recently heard that their breastfeeding peer support programme won the “Best Supporting Organisation for Parents award” at the recent family-go-live awards ceremony in Liverpool.

http://www.familygolive.com/family-go-live-awards-2012-winners/

I am happy to have worked with Sarah and Danielle offering training and support to their project. Their hard work and dedication has meant that more mothers and babies of Liverpool have experienced happier and longer breastfeeding relationships.

Well Done,

Anne

Just one week until Baby Friendly conference in Cardiff

Three of the directors from Breastfeeding LENS will be attending the upcoming UNICEF BFI conference.  And, what an array of interesting speakers on offer, such as: Carlos González, Paediatrician and author of My Child Won’t Eat! and Kiss Me! Margot Sunderland, Director of Education and Training at the Centre for Child Mental Health: Kate Billingham, Senior Advisor, Nurse Family Partnership International: And, Carol Bartle, Researcher and Coordinator of Canterbury Breastfeeding Advocacy Service. 

 

Andrene will be there wearing her infant feeding coordinator hat and Anne and Marion will be there running stalls for lactation consultant organisations. Anne will be at the International Lactation Consultant Association (ILCA) stall. Marion the Lactation Consultants of GB stall.

 

If you see us please come and say hello and have a chat (though we can’t discuss LENS business whilst on the stalls).

 

If you are unable to attend  such an exciting conference then watch this space as Andrene, Anne and Marion will be blogging about the conference. 

 

You may be wondering what the other directors are up – Jill will be in New Delhi, India attending the World Breastfeeding Conference.

 

While they are away I will be looking after Breastfeeding LENS and celebrating my son’s 18^th birthday.

 

Christine

 

Mothering - Mothering - Mothering - Mothering

On a long train journey I overheard two mothers discussing their baby’s growth and development.
 

I began to reflect how mothers are constantly bombarded with opportunities to compare their baby’s progress with weight charts, developmental stages and media reports.

 

As a new mother I remember my need to judge my mothering through comparing my baby’s progress against another baby. I am also aware how detrimental this can be to the mother’s self esteem and ultimately the child’s.

 

It is a mothering challenge to love unconditionally, to celebrate children for who they are and not what they are.

 

It is a challenge for mothers to love themselves, to feel that they are good enough and not to check how they are doing through their children achievements – to find a soft kind tender place for the mothering that they do and celebrate that they are good enough and that their children are also good enough as they are.

Christine

The cost of choice

The recent UNICEF publication ‘Preventing disease and saving resources: the potential contribution of increasing breastfeeding rates in the UK’ ¹ has publicised the cost to the NHS of not breastfeeding.

When published research is on an emotive topic, such as breastfeeding, there is often a backlash. The backlash against breastfeeding information delivered in a neutral tone is often strident and couched in terms of blame.

Blame is directed towards those who support and help breastfeeding mothers. They may even be labelled as ‘Breastapo’ or ‘Lactivists’ and blamed for making mothers feel guilty. The writers of such criticism frequently state that they themselves are pro-breastfeeding, and pro-choice, only trying to be realistic in the face of very real difficulties experienced by themselves or mothers they know. They seem oblivious to their hidden message – appropriate help and support was missing when sorely needed. Defending the use of formula and bottle feeding as a solution to breastfeeding problems compounds the very real sense of loss many women feel when breastfeeding goes wrong.

The tone and content of articles and reports that defend a woman’s right to choose her baby’s feeding method, is often patronising to women and assumes an inherent conflict and tension. There is a feeling that a baby’s right to be breastfed is in conflict with a mother’s right to choose otherwise. They forget that mothers are also exposed to health risks when they do not breastfeed. Mothers and babies are on the same side: Mothers too have a right to breastfeed! All mothers want the best for their babies and deserve acceptance and support alongside unbiased, good quality information to enable them to make an informed feeding choice. Those who later discover that basic, factual information was withheld, on the grounds that they may feel guilty, actually feel patronised and are angry.

Each mother is unique, as are the circumstances in which she makes her choice about feeding her baby; and yet the vast majority of mothers choose to breastfeed. The preliminary results from the 2010 infant feeding survey ² show that in England the breastfeeding initiation rates have increased from 78% in 2005 to 83% in 2010.

Breastmilk provides so much more than nutrition. It provides inbuilt control mechanisms that develop babies’ immune systems and appetite control. Hormones in the mother help her to cope with the day to day activity of caring for her baby. Breastfeeding is an experience that many mothers treasure long after their child has moved on from that stage. Knowing that breastfeeding should be a comfortable and pleasant experience and that there is specialist help available can help more mothers achieve a satisfying and rewarding breastfeeding relationship.

Optimal health is only possible with optimal care and nutrition, so it is not really that surprising that health costs arise when babies are not breastfed. Modified cows milk formula, whatever the claims of the manufacturer, is by no means optimal nutrition, even when fed with love and care. The recent report has shown that the cost of specialist help for breastfeeding could easily be met by the saving in health care costs achieved.

Anne

1.    http://www.unicef.org.uk/Documents/Baby_Friendly/Research/Preventing_disease_saving_resources.pdf?epslanguage=en

2.    http://www.ic.nhs.uk/webfiles/publications/003_Health_Lifestyles/IFS_2010_early_results/Infant_Feeding_Survey_2010_headline_report2.pdf

 

Relaxed breastfeeding

Welcome to Relaxed Breastfeeding, the blog for Breastfeeding LENS, a new company set up by Andrene, Marion, Christine, Anne and Jill.  We are all lactation consultants, La Leche League Leaders and trainers. 
 
From time to time we will post comments around issues and news about breastfeeding.  This is a new experience for me (Jill) as I’ve never written a blog post in my life.  I’ve been doing some searching for how to write a blog and there don’t seem to be any instructions, so I’ll just have to start.
 

I found a wonderful resource, Lactation Matters, http://lactationmatters.org, the official blog of ILCA, the International Lactation Consultant Association.  I am a member of ILCA and didn’t know this blog existed.  Now I do, I’ll be visiting it frequently.  Maybe I’ll even find the courage to post on it!  The page I found was Great Breastfeeding Blogs to Read, written by Amber McCann.  She tells us that a sample of mothers was asked, ‘do you trust the information and advice that you get from blogs?’ and 98% said YES.  Blogs are important.

Jill

 

 

Welcome. Blog posts comming soon.