Early Pacifier Use Leads to Shorter Breastfeeding Duration

Here is an article that tells me something I already pretty much knew. My daughter was an exception to this though. I didn't want her to have a pacifier early but the nurses plopped one in her mouth while I was showering the day after she was born. Luckily for me she still nursed just fine even after the binky. I know some mom's who really struggled with latch issues and some that never did get their baby to latch after pacifier use in the first couple of weeks. A newborn should nurse when they cry and not have a binky. Early pacifier use can cause latch issues, nipple confusion and a low milk supply. Here is the link to the article.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090316/hl_nm/us_early_breastfeeding

500th baby born at The Midwife Center

We have one liscensed, out of hospital birth center in the Pittsburgh area. It is run by a fantastic group of CNM's (Certified Nurse Midwives) and the RN's in the group are awesome as well. They opened a new birth center in the summer of 2003 and this morning at 12:06 a.m. they welcomed baby number 500. Congratulations to the midwives and to the family on the birth of a new baby.


http://www.post-gazette.com/multimedia/?videoid=101614

Benefits of Breastfeeding

Here is a well written article about the benefits of breastfeeding that I came across.

http://www.naturalmomsblog.com/breastfeeding-benefits-to-mother-and-child.html

How to make breastfeeding difficult

Here is an article I found that was written in 1986 by an IBCLC and I think it is still true today. If you really want to see someone fail at breastfeeding here's what to do.


http://www.bflrc.com/ljs/myths/glct_dum.htm

Article in O Magazine about breastmilk donation

This is a beautiful but sad story that brought tears to my eyes. Hopefully it will help bring some awareness to the need for breastmilk donation. I personally donated a small amount of milk to a family through a group called Milk Share and it was a wonderful feeling to help someone else. I would love to hear thoughts on this story.

http://www.oprah.com/article/omagazine/200903_omag_milk_bank/1

Breast Crawl Video

This is a link to a video that I believe was created by The Mother and Child, Health and Education Foundation. UNICEF, WHO and WABA along with the scientific community strongly recommend initiating breastfeeding within an hour of birth. This video shows how a newborn placed between its mother's breasts will initiate breastfeeding on it own. The newborn has the ability to find its mother's breast all on its own and to decide when to take the first breastfeed. This is an amazing video and I just wanted to share it.

http://breastcrawl.org/index.html

Childbirth Without Choice

An article about how women have to fight tooth and nail to be "allowed" to attempt a VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean). This is one of the things that makes my blood boil. Providers will make the risks of VBAC sound so horrible but they won't discuss the risks of major abdominal surgery or the risks of repeated c-sections. They also don't discuss the risks of c-section to the baby. The first link is to an article called Childbirth Without Choice and the second link is to an article written by the same woman that was in Time Magazine called The Trouble with Repeat Cesareans.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/pamela-paul/childbirth-without-choice_b_168652.html

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1880665,00.html

Do you or someone you know want to have a VBAC and are being refused or discouraged from attempting it? Did you or someone you know have a successful VBAC? I would love to hear about it.