Breastfeeding and "work"

I missed this in March (But see http://conscious-families.blogspot.com/2007/05/less-than-one-in-three-babies.html):

Shannon Breen

Working mothers and breastfeeding

The Australian Breastfeeding Association, formerly known as 'Nursing Mothers', has long had a slogan: 'Every mother is a working mother' and nothing could be truer today. In 1996, 25 per cent of new mothers went back to paid work before their baby's first birthday. Today, that figure has almost doubled. According to the Longitudinal Survey of Australia's Children-conducted by the Australian Institute of Family Studies-in 2004, 44 per cent of women with babies less-than-a-year old were working outside the home. 25 per cent of mothers with babies less-than-6-months old were also working. That means a quarter of Australia's infants under 6 months of age spend significant time away from their mothers. At the same time, the National Health and Medical Research Council, the N-H-M-R-C, recommends babies be exclusively breastfed for the first six months of their lives. Breastfeeding should be a baby's main source of nutrition for at least 12 months, and breastfeeding and should continue beyond this. The World Health Organisation recommends a mimimum of 2 years. These guidelines reflect the evidence that breastfeeding isn't best-it's just normal, facilitating a baby's normal development. And artificial baby milk-infant formula has real, measurable health risks for both mother and baby. In short, breastfed babies are healthier: they have fewer visits to the GP in their first year of life for common illnesses like gastroenteritis and ear infections. And for a working mother, that means fewer days taken off work to look after her sick infant. There is also a growing body of evidence that breastfeeding protects against childhood and adult obesity; diabetes; allergies and food intolerances; and some childhood cancers. To focus on just one of these health issues -childhood obesity - today, a quarter of Australian children are considered overweight or obese, a figure inconceivable a generation ago. Researchers now believe one way that breastfeeding protects against obesity is because a breastfed infant regulates its own food supply, allowing a baby to develop at a normal rate. Several international studies show children breastfed as babies were less likely to become obese - even after socio-economic status, birth weight and sex were taken into account. Given this evidence, we really can't afford not to breastfeed. But these facts should not be used as another stick to beat over the heads of working mums. We all have to encourage and support mothers who return to work and want to breastfeed their babies. And practical support from employers is vital. The Australian Breastfeeding Association has developed a Breastfeeding-Friendly Workplace Accreditation Program for employers, to help them provide practical support. Accredited workplaces provide lactation breaks so a woman can either have her baby brought to her by a carer to be fed, or to express milk while at work. Employers also provide a comfortable, private, hygienic place to do so-not the staff toilets-and a refrigerator to store the milk until the end of the day. To confirm requirements are being met, an ABA representative visits the workplace, and talks to staff about the policies and facilities they provide to support breastfeeding employees. Employers can choose to give a 'Come Back Pack' with information on combining work and breastfeeding to employees going on maternity leave. Since 2002, over 40 Australian workplaces have been accredited, including AGL, Westpac, the Commonwealth Department for Health and Ageing, and the Commonwealth Treasury. Treasury Secretary Ken Henry described the move as 'an investment that saves dollars as well as benefiting mothers'. And he's right. A woman who knows her right to breastfeed is recognised and respected will be happier with her choice to return to work, particularly if her baby is still very young. The employer avoids having to recruit and re-train replacement employees. Finally, the federal government acknowledges women aren't breastfeeding long enough. According to the National Health Survey, 2001, less than half of Australian babies are getting any breastmilk at six months of age-failing to receive a normal standard of nutrition. Compare that figure to Norway, where 80 per cent of babies are still breastfed at 6 months of age. The federal parliament is currently conducting an inquiry into the impact of breastfeeding on the sustainability of Australia's health system. Politicians take note: breastfeeding can save employers and the nation money. But working mothers need practical help: paid maternity leave to establish lactation, and on-going support in the form of breastfeeding-friendly workplaces. And importantly, breastfeeding needs to be promoted as the normal way to feed a baby.

Guests
Shannon Breen, Counselor, Australian Breastfeeding Association

Further Information
Australian Breastfeeding Association
· 2002 - Submission by the Australian Breastfeeding Association to the Victorian Obesity Summit, 23-24 October 2002, Melbourne Town Hall, Melbourne
· 2003 - National Clinical Guidelines for Weight Control and Obesity Management in Adolescents and Children
Producer
Sue Clark

Andrew Reiner's comment: Little need to comment, really. Breastfeeding is normal in all mammals, including human beings. There is no need for "science" to tell us that breastfeeding is better for the health of babies and mothers. Hundreds of thousands of years of evolution are unlikely to be wrong. If mothers weren't bombarded with the nonsense our mass media trot out there would be no issue. Women would breastfeed without any discussion and they would do so for as long as it suited mother and baby. Based on what I have observed with my own chidren and grandchildren - as well as others - I would be surprised if many mothers stopped breastfeeding their babies before they turned two or three years old. The fact that a statement like this is greeted by raised eyebrows is testament to how off course our society is in the 21st century. Ours is an unconscious civilization (also the title of a book by John Ralston Saul, published in 1996/7).

Attachment parenting prevents depression

Depression, in spite of the media's attempts at mystification, can be prevented if we treat children differently. This would be clear to everyone if only we turned off our TV sets long enough.

http://health-and-wellbeing.blogspot.com/2007/06/depression-black-dog.html

Could attachment parenting prevent cancer?

The post below looks at the way cancer research is conducted and implies, but does not state, that the scientific community's efforts could be better directed at a possible link between disease, including cancer and factors like natural birth, breastfeeding and other attachment issues. Why not study the possibility that illnesses, including deadly ones like cancer, could be prevented by some combination of birth and parenting practices, such as natural childbirth, breastfeeding for periods exceeding two-to-three years, responding to babies crying (immediately and regularly) and eliminating institutional childcare and childhood vaccinations? The reason is fairly clear. If the results went in the direction I suspect, it would mean finacial disaster to the medical industrial complex. Readers should be aware of the works of Wilhelm Reich, especially "The cancer biopathy", written more than 60 years ago and now out of print (but obtainable).

http://health-and-wellbeing.blogspot.com/2007/06/scientific-research-and-cancer.html

Carrying babies reduces crying!

I have just discovered this article from the journal Pediatrics, published in 1986!!! For those readers who need "scientific" evidence to support the obvious.

PEDIATRICS Vol. 77 No. 5 May 1986, pp. 641-648

This Article
Full Text (PDF)

Increased Carrying Reduces Infant Crying: A Randomized Controlled Trial Urs A. Hunziker MD1 and Ronald G. Barr MDCM, FRCP(C)1

1 From the Department of Pediatrics, The McGill University-Montreal Children's Hospital Research Institute, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

The crying pattern of normal infants in industrialized societies is characterized by an overall increase until 6 weeks of age followed by a decline until 4 months of age with a preponderance of evening crying. We hypothesized that this "normal" crying could be reduced by supplemental carrying, that is, increased carrying throughout the day in addition to that which occurs during feeding and in response to crying. In a randomized controlled trial, 99 mother-infant pairs were assigned to an increased carrying or control group. At the time of peak crying (6 weeks of age), infants who received supplemental carrying cried and fussed 43% less (1.23 v 2.16 h/d) overall, and 51% less (0.63 v 1.28 hours) during the evening hours (4 PM to midnight). Similar but smaller decreases occurred at 4, 8, and 12 weeks of age. Decreased crying and fussing were associated with increased contentment and feeding frequency but no change in feeding duration or sleep. We conclude that supplemental carrying modifies "normal" crying by reducing the duration and altering the typical pattern of crying and fussing in the first 3 months of life. The relative lack of carrying in our society may predispose to crying and colic in normal infants.
Key Words: crying • carrying • colic • mother-infant interaction.

Submitted on May 17, 1985Accepted on July 10, 1985

Less than one in three babies exclusively breast-fed even for six months

From AAP:

Workplaces 'not breastfeeding-friendly', May 7, 2007 - 7:29PM

Australian mothers are forced to wean their babies off breast milk too early because workplaces are not "breastfeeding-friendly", a public inquiry has been told. Federal guidelines recommend that infants be fed only breast milk until they are six months old, but national figures show only about 32 per cent are exclusively breastfed. Women's Electoral Lobby representative Natasha Pollock said women were not breastfeeding or were weaning early because their workplaces did not provide privacy, they struggled to find child care close to work or bosses believed having infants at work lowered productivity. The lobby on Monday called on the government to provide universal paid maternity leave and make sure employers provided feeding-friendly workplaces. Most mothers intended to breastfeed their babies, but the rate fell dramatically once they left hospital after giving birth, it said. Inquiry chair Alex Somlyay said the hearings were trying to establish what could be done to increase breastfeeding rates so Australian children received the best possible start to life. Children who are not breastfed are at a higher risk of developing eczema, diabetes, gastroenteritis and lymphatic cancer. Ms Pollock said allowing women to breastfeed at work improved retention of skilled female workers and reduced absenteeism, as breastfed babies were sick less frequently and recovered faster, she said. She said studies had shown that every $1 invested in breastfeeding support returned $3.
"There is a sound business case for employers to support breastfeeding women," Ms Pollock told the inquiry. Ms Pollock cited a United States study of 462 women that found 90 per cent of women in workplaces that supported breastfeeding returned to work before their baby was five months old and continued breastfeeding for six months on average. "That shows what a success it can be if it's implemented properly," Ms Pollock said. "At the moment there is no onus on employers to make a workplace breastfeeding-friendly, and women don't know what their rights are." WEL representative Ingrid McKenzie said governments had a crucial role in encouraging breastfeeding through legislative and funding programs. "The current resourcing by the commonwealth government is, to put it mildly, minimal and we find that particularly surprising in light of the current budgetary condition (and) when it is such an important public health initiative," Ms McKenzie told the inquiry. The government had provided "fairly meagre" funding to a scheme designed to encourage breastfeeding in 2002, but discontinued it after two years. The Australian College of Midwives on Monday told the inquiry the scheme had shown promising results but needed renewed government funding and support to expand. About 58 hospitals in Australia are accredited under the Baby Friendly Health Initiative, which assesses facilities on whether they support, respect and encourage breastfeeding. Mothers in accredited hospitals were more likely than other mothers to breastfeed their babies, the college said. The midwives' organisation said the number of hospitals in the program had doubled during the two years the scheme received government funding.

Andrew Reiner: If our media were more socially responsible then srories such as this would be given far greater prominence, the horrific nature of these statistics would be pointed out and the public would have some chance to understand what a nightmare we are creating. Neither Mr Ruddock nor Mr Howard have publicised thes things, nor the state governments nor anyone with any chance of actually making it into print or onto television. Really, as far as the public are concerned, these are non-issues. The minimum time that babies need to be breastfed, even according to the conservative World Health Organization (WHO), is not six months but tw0 years. Even the American Pediatric Association (AMA) recommends a minimum of 12 months. Anyone who has had the delight to spend time with babies and watch them grow and develop very quickly becomes aware that babies naturally seek to be fed in this way, delight in it and thrive on it, as do their mothers. Without the incessant noise from the outside world confusing mothers about the positive value of "work" and "career" and the negative value of mothering, such an issue would never arise. Mothers would naturally, spontaneously and lovingly breastfeed their babies until such time as both were ready to move on to the next stage of their lives. Fron what I have observed, this would rarely occur before 2 years and six months of age, but probably much later. Just as our economy has no place for elders, so it has no place for babies, infants, or full time mothers. These people are thought to contribute nothing to our greedy economy, therefore they have n value. This is even built into our language. A woman who spends almost 24 hours a day caring for her baby, working hours that no employee has ever worked, with little sleep and little rest does not "work". We even have a category called a "working mother", namely someone who has paid employment ("work") in addition to the mothering role (which, for reasons that defy logic, is not regarded as work, no matter how strenuous). There is a reason for the straits the world finds itself in. There is a reason for the sickness, depression and so-called "mental illness" that have become an epidemic. We will not find this reason in macro-analyses. The reason is to be found in the first weeks and months of life. It is now probably too late for the human race and indeed the planet. But it is not too late for any given individual. If you are considering becoming a mother or a father, or if you are soon to become one, you can make a simple decision now. Have your baby naturally and then listen to your own inner guidance rather than external authority. A mother's inner voice, together with the baby's innate capacity to communicate her needs are an infallible guide. You will know what to do.

Natural childbirth

Have a look at today's two posts on my other blog (Tuesday, 10 October 2006): http://health-and-wellbeing.blogspot.com/2006/10/natural-childbirth-and-creation-of.html. See also:
http://health-and-wellbeing.blogspot.com/

The pain of being human

Readers may be interested in clicking on the link below to view something I have just posted on one of my other blogs:

http://andrewreiner.blogspot.com/2006/09/pain-of-being-human.html