What Science Says:

The World Health Organization suggests that children should exclusively breastfeed the first 6 months of age, or when the baby can sit and becomes interest in food. By “interested” they mean that the baby starts grabbing food from the mom’s plate and actually putting some of it in their mouths. Breast milk should be the main food for children up to the first year after a year it becomes a supplement of a healthy nutrition, based on balanced and fresh meals, you could decide to breastfeed up to two years or beyond.

Why 6 months of exclusive breastfeeding?

Inmune/m n System: A newborn’s inmune system is actually very weak or nearly nonexistent. Colostrum is the first “coat” that will cover the baby’s gut to prepare the inmune system and the intestines to receive food, absorb nutrients and provide gut bacteria. Breast milk during the following months will help “complete” the inmune system, lowering allegerns and *the risk of chronic conditions later in life, such as obesity, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes, childhood asthma and childhood leukemias (*UNICEF).

Nutrition: Besides providing the nutrients needed to develop and grow, breast milk provides fatty acids that are crucial for brain development. As higher mammals, human babies need a well developed neurological system to be able to learn and process information to be able to thrive.

Survival: It is well known that exclusively breastfed children under 6 months old has almost no risk of SIDS. The risks will also be lower on children co-sleeping with parents in the same bed or room.

A Better Start

Breastfed children have better chances to thrive and survive: they have at least six times greater chance of survival in the early months than non-breastfed children (Lancet 2008/UNICEF).  It gives future adults better health conditions, preventing diabetes, obesity, high pressure, and high cholesterol, very common diseases of today’s world. Three generations of bottle fed infants has a high cost, not only for families’ economy, but a greater rate of optimal breastfeeding children under two years could prevent over 800,000 deaths (13 per cent of all deaths) in children under five in the developing world (Lancet 2013/UNICEF).

Your milk is a precious gift of life for you child. Is optimal for developing and protecting a baby and is also the beginning of a healthy lifestyle. Breast milk is everything your child needs, and has all what a baby needs: you!

Be sure to join us in our social media accounts to be up to date with the progress of our project!

And… Don’t forget to share your brelfies using our HT #BreastfeedingWorld 

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Maria Eugenia Corbett

Born in Panama City | I married and began a teaching career on 2007, I became a mother to her my first child in 2009 and I began going to La Leche League meetings being pregnant, becoming an active member and volunteer mother. After my second child on 2011, I began getting more involved in helping other moms | On 2014 Maria Eugenia became a Lactation Counselor and on August 18th I’ll be a certified La Leche League Leader | I’m a Breastfeeding speaker, an active leader and a counselor.

The post Breast Milk: The Best Start appeared first on Breastfeeding World.

The slogan of the 2015 World Breastfeeding Week “Breastfeeding and Work: Let’s Make it Work!” was a very accurate approach for the millions of working women around the world who seek ways to continue the beautiful bond they’ve made with their children through breastfeeding. There are many challenges women come across when trying to keep a breastfeeding relationship with their little ones. Lets knock down many of these challenges with some options that may bring some more ideas to overcome different situations:

Round 1- Keeping up with your babies’ appetite: “Pump-up” your Milk Bank

If you are pregnant or just gave birth: New moms that decide to continue working (or need to work) after their maternity leave – if you have one- you may start pumping from day 1, but you’ll only see few drops of colostrum, which is totally normal, since the size of your baby’s stomach is quite small, and only few drops of the oily substance coming out of your breast is enough. You can wait until the 2nd to 4th day, when the milks “comes in”, to also begin building your milk stash. Now, some women find it difficult to pump when needing to feed a child almost 24/7 at first. It’s quite exhausting if you’re just beginning to understand your body, your baby and breastfeeding all together. So, keep it calm and when you see an opportunity, pump. Some moms find it easy to pump while nursing their babies: one breast with the baby, the other pumping. Other moms pump before or after each nurse. There are some sleepy babies and very productive breasts, that mom finds a relief on pumping. Even if you’re pumping just an ounce per session, you can save it in the fridge, picking up little by little during the day, before you put it into the freezer.  Once your freezer begins to have less frozen food and more frozen breast milk, you can sleep in peace.  The earlier you begin, the more relaxed you’ll be about returning to work.

If you already have your breast milk bank: Keep track of how much your baby is drinking per day. Babies, as adults, won’t eat the same amounts everyday, but at least having an estimate of how many ounces your little bundle of joy is drinking is helpful. Try to pump that same amount to avoid getting a breast milk bankruptcy. To keep your milk supply, try to pump the same time your baby usually nurses. Some moms take advantage of the prolactin boost that happens between 12 a.m. till 6:00 a.m. to get a good pumping session.

Photo taken from Wikihow

Round 2- Surviving long nights and heavy days

This one might be a tough round at the beginning, specially if your maternity leave is very short. It may be the one that might knock you down, but women are strong and usually get through it.

Fight for your rights: Almost all countries have laws that protects breastfeeding, at least the first 6 months. Do your research and try to negotiate whether you could get to work a little late or leave earlier.

Co-sleeping: When babies and mommies are together, both of them feel happier and sleep better. If you are a healthy, non-smoking mom, you can take advantage of this strategy to get some rest and re-connect with your baby at night.

Round 3- First things, First!

Setting priorities: Nothing is more important for a mother than her baby. Family and people come before anything. If something can wait, it will. Enjoy every single second you have with your baby.

Leave us some comments bellow telling us how you’ve made breastfeeding work! and don’t forget to reach out to us vía Facebook. 

Maria Eugenia Corbett

Born in Panama City | I married and began a teaching career on 2007, I became a mother to her my first child in 2009 and I began going to La Leche League meetings being pregnant, becoming an active member and volunteer mother. After my second child on 2011, I began getting more involved in helping other moms | On 2014 Maria Eugenia became a Lactation Counselor and on August 18th I’ll be a certified La Leche League Leader | I’m a Breastfeeding speaker, an active leader and a counselor.

The post Breastfeeding and Work: How to make it work? appeared first on Breastfeeding World.

Picture taken from lovelivegrow.com

In today’s world, most moms (including me) look more like jugglers than any other thing. Balancing a marriage, a household, and work seems chaotic from a “non-mother” point of view. In fact, if you ask us how we do it, the answer could be: “I don’t know!”. But when it comes to breastfeeding, schedules and some routines are not helpful at all. Then managing all the “modern life situations” (that are actually EXPECTATIONS), breastfeeding seems difficult to “fit in”. Then I ask myself: “Why breastfeeding always has to be the ‘bad guy’ in the movie?” The truth is that either you breastfeed or not, motherhood is a tough journey, but with the most gratifying results.

So, if breastfeeding is not the isssue… then what is?

The way life has changed for women the past hundred years has determined a  “socially accepted” pattern of mothering, yet it goes against the thousands of years of evolution that as mammals we have had. Parenting on the earlier days was held by an entire community, tribe, or extended family. The “mothering skills” were passed from mother to daughter. Women used to observe from their own family members how to take care of their children. When the time came for women to become mothers, it was quite easy. The social expectation was that a mother had to be with her child . This expectation was beyond the “social acceptance”: it was how we have survived and evolved. For hundred years, it seems we have forgotten about the vulnerability human babies have, how they grew literally attached to us in our wombs for 9 months, and their dependance to their mother in all aspects of their lives.

Nowadays women have awesome ways to manage everything by themeselves. Breastfeeding is part of the mothering “set of skills” that some of us have to manage, “too”. But if we look at it from the “mother” point of view, it’s a matter of setting priorities. Breastfeeding works when women commit to it.

Sure, women need to work, have a professional career, and look gorgeous (I mean it!), feeling good about themeselves, enyoing their successes, moving foward, but when it comes to being a mother, you can make a check mark on all those expectation, because you’ve become all of the above to that little baby of yours.

To make breastfeeding work these days, women need to feel confident that they CAN do it and enjoy their babies. The illusion of control will go away, once you start cherishing every second of that bonding time with your little one. Thinking that a child will only be a baby for a year its enough excuse to let the laundry unfinished for a day. Making breastfeeding work also depends on your creativity. Ask those working moms that breastfeed how they make it through their day. Their different life situations may help you get through your the day (or night). It’s true that life is not perfect, but you can make your breastfeeding a more enjoyable time when you give yourself the time to understand and get to know your precious angel.

Maria Eugenia Corbett

Born in Panama City | I married and began a teaching career on 2007, I became a mother to her my first child in 2009 and I began going to La Leche League meetings being pregnant, becoming an active member and volunteer mother. After my second child on 2011, I began getting more involved in helping other moms | On 2014 Maria Eugenia became a Lactation Counselor and on August 18th I’ll be a certified La Leche League Leader | I’m a Breastfeeding speaker, an active leader and a counselor.

The post Why breastfeeding seems demanding? appeared first on Breastfeeding World.

Ironically, most governments support six months of exclusive breastfeeding, but sabotage this recommendation by providing only 45 days of maternity leave after birth (and some moms have none).

The “baby-moon” is too short! It’s like dating: for loving and getting involved with someone, it requires time. The same thing happens with motherhood. We need time to adapt to the new feelings, to the new schedule (some of us never do), to the new life we have in our arms. In 45 days, we are just starting to understand our baby’s cues!

And breastfeeding crisis begins…

Above all, we have our pediatrician, depending on how “supportive” he or she is with breastfeeding, some have never breastfed or are not parents, so talking about parenting choices with them, they’ll probably give opinions based on their own experience, yet not all experiences apply to our lives.

Oh! And how about our family and friends? It all comes down to one thing: Have you seen them breastfeed, or at least the male family members have seen women in your family breastfeed? If the answer is no, they’ll probably won’t be the ones you’ll count on when having a “midnight crisis”(a.k.a. colic). They’ll probably be the first to suggest a pacifier or a bottle of formula, and again, breastfeeding crises. So, what can you as women and mother do to prevent sabotaging your breastfeeding experience?

According to the “Womanly Art of Breastfeeding” and my experience, it is quite as simple as:

• Building a support network: Women and families that breastfeed or that have breastfed. Where to find them? At a La Leche League support group, or hang out with those “exhibitionist” women at a park feeding their babies. There are many play-date groups you may join too.

• “No, thank you”: “A little bit of formula won’t do harm. You need time for yourself.” Answer: “No, thank you”. “She is crying so much! Your milk seems not to satisfy her hunger.” Watch for hunger cues. Trust your body.

Read: Is my baby getting enough milk? A challenge to ditch the numbers and watch your baby

• “I can buy milk if you want”... your answer: “No, thank you”. “Try this new pacifier! It wont harm her suction“. Answer: “No, thank you”.

• No pacifiers or bottles: When pregnant, one of people’s favorite thing to give you, since it’s quite “normal” these days, are breast substitute products. Don’t have them near you. Use them after the second month of your child, or as simple as not using them, ever! These are the REAL enemies of breastfeeding! Nipples hurting, mastitis, and almost all breastfeeding problems come to these products. Avoid them if you want a successful breastfeeding experience. If you really need to go somewhere without your child, there are many options like having the baby drink from a tiny cup (like shots), having the baby “sit” in a 45° angle (if baby is younger than 6 months). Some moms give their breast-milk through a syringe.

• For working moms: Start on your breast milk bank A.S.A.P.! Use the prolactin peak (hormone involved in milk production), from 1 a.m. to 6 a.m. to get a nice pump, so you can store it when needed. Use your baby’s sounds, pictures or while breastfeeding to get more milk out per pump, since the oxytocin, the hormone of love and milk release, boots out when the brain registers baby is near. Remember that breast-milk can stay: 7 days in a refrigerator, 1-3 months in a freezer shared with a refrigerator, and 3-6 months in an only freezer.

• Last but not least: Common sense and instincts are the ones to trust! In other words, TRUST YOURSELF! Trust your body, trust your milk and your breasts, as your heart which pumps blood, because that same blood is the milk that you give your child. Enjoy every second of life you’re giving to your baby…

Are you sabotaging your breastfeeding experience? What do you think? Share your experience with us by commenting below and inviting your breastfeeding friends to do so as well!

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Please join us in our social media accounts, get up to date with the progress of our project!

And… Don’t forget to share your brelfies using our HT #BreastfeedingWorld

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Maria Eugenia Corbett

Born in Panama City | I married and began a teaching career on 2007, I became a mother to her my first child in 2009 and I began going to La Leche League meetings being pregnant, becoming an active member and volunteer mother. After my second child on 2011, I began getting more involved in helping other moms | On 2014 Maria Eugenia became a Lactation Counselor and on August 18th I’ll be a certified La Leche League Leader | I’m a Breastfeeding speaker, an active leader and a counselor.

The post Are you sabotaging your breastfeeding experience? appeared first on Breastfeeding World.