Table of Diversity Weekly: Breastfeeding Awareness Month
- Demetria
- Oct 13, 2023
- 10 min read
Updated: Dec 19, 2023
"The U.S. Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend that infants be exclusively breastfed for about the first 6 months, and then continuing breastfeeding while introducing appropriate complementary foods until your child is 12 months old or older. The American Academy of Pediatrics and the World Health Organization also recommend exclusive breastfeeding for about the first 6 months, with continued breastfeeding along with introducing appropriate complementary foods for up to 2 years of age or longer." -CDC
These are the new guidelines recommended by the CDC in March 2023.
I breastfed both my kids for 12 months. My son was born in the middle of 2020 and breastfeeding him was easy. He latched right away and since we were home together because of the pandemic, it was easy to breastfeed on demand. My daughter was born in 2022 and breastfeeding her was more challenging. She was a great baby and also latched right away. The problem was that the world had gone back to normal. It is extremely difficult to be a working mom and exclusively breastfeed.
I preferred to have my daughter be with me and found it easier to keep my supply up. However, that was not always welcome in the business world. While more workplaces are making it easier for parents to pump milk, it's not easy to breastfeed. For me, pumping was more work and it often slipped my mind. When I was away from my daughter throughout the day, I didn't produce enough milk to satisfy her in my absence. My daughter's hunger cries were hard to ignore and was a constant reminder of her needing to eat.
Breastfeeding isn't just about providing essential nourishment to babies, it also fosters a unique bond.
I recall a former client who told me that my daughter was a distraction, and not in a good way. It's comments like this that make it difficult for working parents to adequately provide for their baby and contribute their greatness to the world. As leaders, it is important for us to be flexible and create cultures that are supportive of parents who choose to breastfeed.
This issue of A Healthy Dose of DEI is bringing awareness to the significance of breastfeeding and the importance of creating a supportive environment for breastfeeding employees. This edition is packed with benefits of breastfeeding; the challenges of breastfeeding; creating breastfeeding friendly spaces; and dismantling stigmas and myths associated with breastfeeding.
Read. Listen. Watch.
36 Facts You Didn't Know About Breastfeeding to Honor Breastfeeding Awareness Month. -Romper
"August is National Breastfeeding Awareness Month and although parents (and the public in general) have taken huge strides in the right direction to normalize breastfeeding, there is still a lot of work to be done. Stories of mothers being harassed in public, cases where moms give up nursing too soon because they lacked support, or even hospitals that push formula as the norm to new moms pop up all too often. More than just raising awareness about the importance of breastfeeding, this month is crucial for encouraging people of all genders, ages, races, orientations, and demographics to support breastfeeding, regardless of what they chose to do for their baby."
Most parents don't meet breastfeeding guidelines. Experts call for new support. -Good Morning America
"The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends that infants be exclusively breastfed for the first six months of life and continue breastfeeding along with other food until two years of age.
Research shows breastfeeding has many benefits, including decreased infant infections and childhood cancers as well as a decreased risk of diabetes, high blood pressure, breast, ovarian and endometrial cancer in the mother.
But only about a quarter of women meet those recommendations, according to data shared by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Experts said that's partly because health care and social systems aren't set up to support breastfeeding."
Fathers' role in breastfeeding and infant sleep is key, study finds. -CNN
"Fathers matter. A new study- a rare effort that focuses solely on the father's involvement in an infant's life- shows a striking link between the support that dads offer and better infant outcomes.
The research sought to answer several questions about paternal participation in breastfeeding and the use of safe sleep practices for babies. The results showed that fathers play a crucial role in both- and it highlights the need to bolstered parental leave policies in the United States, according to the study, which published Friday in the journal Pediatrics.
The results of the survey, which included 250 fathers, were 'suboptimal,' the study concluded, revealing only 16% of dads followed all the recommended safe sleeping practices for infants. And many could do more to support mothers who breastfeed, which can provide key health benefits for babies, the study indicated.
The reason the researchers asked these questions in the first place? Moms wanted them to, said study coauthor Dr. Craig Garfield, a pediatrician at Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago and professor at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine.
For more than 30 years, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has carried out a Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System- or PRAMS- survey that seeks to gather data from mothers before, during and after birth.
'The moms actually started to write in the margins of the survey,' Garfield said. 'The only question they asked (originally in the survey) about dads was: 'Did your partner hit, kick, beat, or slap you during your pregnancy?'
Mothers knew that a father's active support could be critical in the early months of an infant's life, and they wanted that data reflected, too, Garfield said. Ultimately, the CDC reached out to the Northwestern researchers for help, providing funding for the study."
I Had No Idea How Hard It Would Be To Navigate Breastfeeding As A Muslim Woman. -Huffington Post
"When I was pregnant with my son, I already knew all about cluster feeding, mastitis and tongue ties.
I could reel off the benefits of colostrum from the top of my head and I'd watched enough mummy blog videos about the optimum positions for breastfeeding to do the 'rugby ball' in my sleep.
But it was only once I'd given birth that it hit me. The on thing I hadn't factored in, because there was so little information available about it, was how on earth to navigate breastfeeding as a Muslim, hijab-wearing woman.
All new mothers have a lot to contend with in the early weeks. It's no small thing to see your entire world shift and suddenly have this tiny, ravenous, needy person attached to you 24/7.
But as a Muslim woman, this was compounded by the misogyny and racism that rules my every day.
Not only was I wading through all the emotional and physical changes of postpartum life, but also extra layers of cultural expectations, societal stereotypes and the sheer practicalities of it too- like what to do when my baby screams so much for milk that he chokes on his own saliva (hint: whipping out a breast in the middle of Tesco is not exactly an option as a hijabi).
Or how to tell whether that man watching me is being a creep or about to call me a 'Paki' (answer: both).
Muslim women and breastfeeding actually have a lot in common. We are misunderstood and stereotyped in equal measure- politicised, criticised and objectified all at once.
But that can mean, at times, that breastfeeding as a Muslim woman in public has felt like the odds are stacked against me. And I'm not alone."
The Moms Who Breastfeed Without Being Pregnant. -The Atlantic
"While her wife was pregnant with their son, Aimee MacDonald took an unusual step of preparing her own body for the baby's arrival. First she began taking hormones, and then for six weeks straight, she pumped her breasts day and night every two to three hours. This process tricked her body into a pregnant and then postpartum state so she could make breast milk. By the time the couple's son arrived, she was pumping 27 ounces a day- enough to feed a baby- all without actually getting pregnant or giving birth.
And so, after a 38-hour labor and emergency C-section, MacDonald's wife could do what many mothers who just gave birth might desperately want to but cannot: rest, sleep, and recover from surgery. Meanwhile, MacDonald tried nursing their baby. She held him to her breast, and he latched right away. Over the next 15 months, the two mothers co-nursed their son, switching back and forth, trading feedings in the middle of the night. MacDonald had breastfed her older daughter the usual way- as in, by herself- a decade earlier, and she remembered the bone-deep exhaustion. She did not want that for her wife. Inducing lactation meant they could share in the ups and the downs of breastfeeding together.
MacDonald, who lives in a small town in Nova Scotia, had never met anyone who had tried this before. People she told were routinely shocked to learn that induced lactation- making milk without pregnancy- is biologically possible. They had so many questions: Was it safe? Did she have side effects? How did it even work? But when she described how she and her wife shared nursing duties, many women told her, 'I wish I had had that.'"
How COVID stay-at-home orders helped breastfeeding mothers and babies. -San Francisco Chronicle
"When the Bay Area issued its COVID shelter-in-place order in March 2020, San Francisco resident naomi Lau was just about to go back out into the world after having her second child, a son, two months prior.
Instead, Lau, who was breastfeeding her son at the time, joined the millions of Bay Area residents- and soon the rest of the country- in staying home. Lau would go on to breastfeed her son for 18 months, four months longer than she did her daughter, who is now 6.
Lau said sheltering in place helped her be more available to her son's needs and likely contributed to her extended nursing. She was able to do it without the scheduling demands of in-person work meetings and other obligations she would've had if everyone hadn't been at home.
Unlike with her daughter, whom she kept on a tighter feeding schedule, she was able to breastfeed her son more on demand, in part because she was working remotely and wore him in a baby carrier around the house.
'I do think I was more present, and I honestly didn't have anywhere else to be,' said Lau, 38. 'I was more available if he wanted to breastfeed.'
Lau's experience mirrors that of many mothers who breastfed during the early pandemic months: According to UCSF-led study published Thursday, mothers who nursed their infants at the height of COVID stay-at-home orders in 2020 did so for about two weeks longer- a nearly 18% increase- compared with women who breastfed prior to the pandemic."
Breastfeeding Unplugged: Diversity in Lactation Support
"On today's show, we are talking about an issue that's been in the spotlight quite a bit lately. You might have heard about the Black Maternal Health Momnibus Act of 2021, a collection of 12 bills introduced by several members of Congress and the Black Maternal Health Caucus to comprehensively address every dimension of the black maternal health crisis in America.
Here's a scary fact. We live in the richest country on the globe, yet the U.S. has the highest rate of maternal deaths in the world. Black moms are three to four times more likely to die in childbirth than their white counterparts. And for black women, access to resources, education, and maternal healthcare isn't even close to where it should be. Now, of course, this is a breastfeeding podcast, which occupies just one tiny aspect of maternal healthcare. But we wanted to make sure we addressed the issues from our perspective, because even from our little corner of the world, we know that black women are not represented or supported the way they should be. So let's find out why.
Our guest today is Harlem-based IBCLC LaShanda Dandrich who knows a thing or two about supporting black families on their breastfeeding journeys. In addition to her work with Nest Collaborative, LaShanda also owns the Uptown Village Cooperative, a maternal health group that provides education and support around gentle birthing practices in Upper Manhattan and the Bronx, the Chocolate Milk Cafe, a lactation support group for African American families, and Lactation Learning Collective, a collective of lactation professionals mentoring aspiring IBCLC's."
The Milk Minute-A Lactation Podcast: Breastfeeding as a Neurodiverse Parent
"Join Heather and Maureen on the Milk Minute today to look at breastfeeding as a neurodiverse parent. This episode focuses on personal experiences and anecdotes from clients. We explore management of sensory processing issues, increase anxiety, time blindness, clear communication, unpredictability and more. Let's chat about how we can support ourselves or our partners transitioning into 'neurospicy' parenthood!"
TEDxStowe: Why breastfeeding has become a privilege not a right- Sascha Mayer
"In this powerful talk Sascha Mayer discusses why we need designs that see all of our humanity. When we truly see each other we all benefit. By expanding the visibility of breastfeeding we can make it a truly authentic choice for mothers. After all, breastfeeding is the choice of rocket scientists! Sascha mayer is the CEO and Co-founder of Mamava, Inc. Mamava designs solutions for nursing mamas on the go, and since 2015 has placed over 750 lactation suites. In 2018 Sascha and her Mamava co-founder, Christine Dodson, were the SBA's Small Business Persons of the Year from Vermont."
Weekly Activities
Activity 1: Are you aware of the recent changes to the PUMP Act?
'The Providing Urgent Maternal Protections for Nursing Mothers Act (PUMP) amended the FLSA to require employers to provide reasonable break time and appropriate facilities for workers to express breast milk for a nursing child for one year after birth. This amendment expanded FLSA coverage for lactation rights and added enforcement provisions to allow lawsuits for violations. PUMP became effective on December 29, 2022.
The PUMP Act builds on 2010 amendments to the FLSA and further expands the workplace protections available to breastfeeding employees. The PUMP Act requires employers to provide breastfeeding employees with the following:
A reasonable amount of break time to express milk as needed for up to one year following the birth of an employee's child; and
Space to express milk that is shielded from view, is free from intrusion from coworkers and the public and is not a bathroom.
Employers should be familiar with these basic requirements, which arose from the 2010 FLSA amendments. The PUMP Act adds nuances, however:
FLSA-exempt employees are now included.
All employers are covered, but employers with fewer than 50 employees can exempt themselves with proof that providing the requirements to breastfeeding employees would impose an undue hardship on the business.
Remote employees are entitled to lactation breaks on the same basis as if they were working onsite.
Employers do not need to pay lactation breaks as long as the affected employees are completely relieved of their duties during the breaks. These protections also now come with enforcement mechanisms, including a private right of action for employees to sue their employer (although claims for failure to provide an appropriate space require 10 calendar days advance notice for the employer to comply.)"
Does your organization provide an inclusive workplace for breastfeeding employees?
Activity 2: Less than 20% of parents reach the 6 month threshold of breastfeeding. There is no one-size-fits-all solution to being inclusive of breastfeeding employees. If you currently have breastfeeding employees on your team, ask what their breastfeeding goals are and how you can be supportive. If you have employees who previously breastfed, ask what support they could have used to successfully achieve their goal.
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