Blacktating

Breastfeeding & Race Intersect in New Play

2009-11-21T14:11:00.007-05:00

While listening to NPR on our way to the mall this morning, a piece came on about playwright Sarah Ruhl's new play, In the Next Room. Also known as "the vibrator play," In the Next Room is the story of Dr. Givings, a 19th century physician who cures "hysteria" in women by giving them orgasms with a curious electrical device. Dr. Givings administers this treatment while his wife sits in the parlor with their newborn baby, wondering what is going on.

I was sort of paying attention to the radio while playing with my cell phone, but my interest was piqued when I heard that Ruhl wrote the play while she was breastfeeding her baby and found herself interested in the topic of wet nursing and decided to include it in the story line. When Mrs. Givings has difficulty breastfeeding her baby, she and Dr. Givings hire an African-American woman to come and nurse her.

Ruhl says her play is about "how we separate out bodily functions and labor and love." She says she's intrigued by "this notion of paying someone to do something that, ideally, one does for one's own child — or paying a doctor for the sexual treatment that ideally your partner is giving you in a more intimate way. So it's all these questions of intimacy."

I got a sense from the review of the play in the NY Times that the subject of race is broached tangentially, and since the play is a comedy, I can imagine it's not the focus of the plot. I still think the idea of exploring this type of working relationship really fascinating. Does anyone know if there's a novel or play about a white woman and her black wet nurse? If so, please send it my way.

Anyway, if you are lucky enough to live in New York, the play is running at the Lyceum
Theater until January. If you can't make it to the play, you can check out a clip below.

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Nicole Kidman on Breastfeeding

2009-11-17T13:38:00.003-05:00

Nicole Kidman says she was cast in the movie Nine because she was breastfeeding.

"They're not very big, my boobs, so they just became normal size. I loved it!" she tells the December/January issue of Ladies' Home Journal. "I felt very Woman. When you've had a slightly androgynous body your whole life, having breasts is a nice feeling. [I had] big boobs because I was breastfeeding – I was perfect for it. I wouldn't get cast now."

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Breastfeeding Checks

2009-11-16T15:46:00.003-05:00

How would you like to send one of these checks out to pay your mortgage?

Thanks to Heather at It's All About the Hat for pointing them out to me. As you can guess, these checks depicting a breastfeeding mother benefit La Leche League International. With every purchase of these checks, address labels and checkbook covers, 10% goes to LLLI.

If breastfeeding is not your cause, Message Products also sells checks that support NOW, Planned Parenthood, the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom and more.

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Formula Fed America

2009-11-16T09:42:00.003-05:00

I learned about a new documentary called Formula Fed America on Twitter last night. There were lots of retweets of the link flying around, but I believe the first person to post the link was Anne from Dou-La-La.

Of course my first reaction to watching the trailer was, “Yes! Finally someone has made a movie about the dangers of not breastfeeding!” I am hoping the movie is going to be very accessible and informative without being so preachy as to be a turn-off to the average viewer. I am hoping it will be the breastfeeding version of Ricki Lake’s “The Business of Being Born” and will make a huge splash and be covered in the media.

I am tempering my excitement a bit for now. The website has sparse information on the movie so I have no idea when it will be in theaters or if it’s going to be straight-to-DVD or only available in huge markets. In addition to that, the trailer makes me a bit nervous.

Notice that it features three moms talking about their breastfeeding experiences and three doctors talking about the importance of breastfeeding. All of them are white. I’m concerned that the entire movie is going to lack diversity and breastfeeding will continue to be seen as something that only white women do when we know that’s not true. I hope that they don’t show lots of women of color formula feeding. I hope that the racial and cultural barriers to breastfeeding will be discussed. I hope that women of color won’t be completely absent from this conversation because our babies have the worst health outcomes in the United States and we’re dying of breast cancer and diabetes and obesity and heart disease at higher rates, too.

I hope this movie comes to my area soon. I will definitely be front and center to see it, but I’ll probably be holding my breath a little the whole time.

*Update
I emailed briefly with Leslie Ott, one of the makers of the film. She told me that they are still conducting interviews and hope to wrap the film in February. The film is still unedited and anything related to promotion is not yet set in stone. I have sent her some follow-up questions that I hope she'll have the time to answer.

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Guest Post: Becoming Your Own Advocate

2009-11-15T21:02:00.003-05:00

I'm pleased to present this guest post by Angel, a mom who had to become her own advocate in order to continue pumping at work. Her story is really inspirational and shows how one mom can make a difference for all the women at her job.

Working in the Health Department of a community college, and having a boss who had exclusively breastfed all 3 of her own children, I did not anticipate any barriers to pumping at work after returning from my maternity leave. My boss was gracious enough to provide me with a temporary office, so that I did not have to worry about finding a place to pump, or interrupting my work for frequent pump breaks. As a lactivist and aspiring lactation consultant, breastfeeding was near and dear to my heart, and I was so proud to be working full-time, and still be able to breastfeed my son with no need for supplements.

However, one day out of the blue, the dean called me into her office and proceeded to reprimand me for taking excessive breaks and violating college policy. Apparently, a coworker of mine had called the dean and reported that I was spending 2 hours and 45 minutes each day pumping! This was such a ridiculous overstatement, that I thought she must be joking, but to my horror, the dean not only believed the report, but threatened to cut my hours and pay in order to make up for the time I was allegedly spending.

I was speechless; the room was spinning. I saw all my intentions and personal goals thrown out the window, along with my innocent baby’s right to be breastfed. I started worrying about how our family would keep up our budget and get by with a reduction in pay.

Then I snapped back to reality and realized that this woman obviously had no idea what a huge can of worms she’d just opened. I told her that it was my right under Illinois law to pump at work, and that there was no way I could be in violation of college policy, since the college HAD no policy on this—I had checked. Furthermore, I couldn’t be in so-called violation, since the break times reported weren’t in any way accurate. I told her that she could check with my boss or any of my coworkers, if she needed confirmation. She seemed momentarily stunned into silence. I told her that I would email her the information on Illinois law, and promised to continue to keep my break times within the allotted time.

I was furious! I was shaking by the time I got back to my office, and of course, the coworker who’d ratted me out had called out sick that day. I racked my brain, trying to figure out how in the world she’d come up with 2 hours & 45 minutes, when at that time, I was only taking 2-10 minute breaks and a 25-minute lunch, which totaled up to the 45-minute lunch afforded to full-time employees. Even when I first came back from leave, and was using a dying secondhand pump, it was probably an hour & a half a day, max. Plus I worked through most of my pumping, so it wasn’t even exactly a “break”. To make matters worse, my other coworkers were all privy to what this meeting was about, since she’d been complaining about me to all of them. I realized at that moment that my boobs had been the latest topic of discussion around the office. I was mortified.

My boss was beside herself at what my coworker had done, & promised to back me if I ever needed her testimony. I contacted the college’s union rep, but there was no union available to classified staff. She did sympathize with me, however, and advised me not to allow the charges to go unrefuted. I decided to type up a letter of rebuttal. I submitted this to HR, along with a signed statement by my boss confirming my actual break times spent. In the letter, I wrote that I was dismayed that nursing mothers would now be portrayed in a negative light, as it had been my intention to schedule a positive, proactive meeting with HR to set up lactation rooms and implement a program and official policy at the college. I attached a copy of the Business Case for Breastfeeding which is a wonderfully thorough & educational packet for businesses on how and why to become a breastfeeding-friendly employer.

I set up a meeting with the director of HR, pleaded my case, and expressed my interest in creating a lactation program & space at the college. She expressed regret at my circumstances, but didn’t seem to understand the importance of a lactation program, or care much about finding space (even though I did offer to do all the work). She hadn’t even read the packet I’d sent. She requested a month to “research”. A month turned into 2, and before I knew it, she’d retired.

In the meantime, my coworker and I had not spoken in over 2 months. Workdays were horribly awkward and stressful, and pumping at work was now a nightmare, knowing that she was timing me and reporting back to the dean with her “findings”. My milk supply took a beating, and although I knew damn well from all my research that I could boost my supply by relaxing, I was incapable of doing that. I spent most of my breaks crying and wishing I could be anywhere else.

After weeks of depression, stress, and anxiety, I couldn’t take it anymore. I decided to take the high road and asked my coworker out for a cup of coffee. We addressed our issues and came to somewhat of an understanding. Work slowly become bearable and I found the strength I needed to follow through with my goals for the college.

I scheduled a meeting with the new director of HR, and offered my assistance in starting a committee, finding space, and handling the logistics myself. She, like the previous director, had not even bothered to read the packet I’d sent, and just couldn’t imagine that there was a big enough need to justify creating a lactation room, let alone 7 rooms campus-wide, as I’d suggested. She insisted that there was no space on campus, but I gave her the names of several college employees who’d suggested places for such a room, and a list of pregnant employees who would use such a room if it were available. I told her stories of what other nursing mothers on campus had gone through in order to breastfeed (discrimination, harassment, pressure to wean, isolation, etc.), and insisted that it wasn’t right.

I left the meeting thinking that she, too, had blown me off. But a week later, I got an email letting me know that she’d found a room, and was working with maintenance to make the space appropriate! I was incredulous! In the 30+ years since the college had opened, no one had been successful in getting a lactation room built, despite countless requests. But now, we had one! I felt nothing but exhilarating joy at the thought that all future mothers on campus would not have to go through what I did just to breastfeed their babies. I had thought this an impossible situation, but somehow, I got someone to listen.

Finding a room turned out to be much easier than HR had anticipated and they’re now willing to work with me on creating a lactation program and an official college policy. I’m so happy that some good came out of this horrible situation, and that other nursing mothers will benefit from my experience. If I could offer any advice to moms out there, it would be to educate yourself about your rights and the law, be proactive about getting your employer’s support, and don’t give up at the first sign of resistance. Most employers find that accommodating their nursing employees was surprisingly easy—it’s just getting them to agree to do it initially that can be tricky. You shouldn’t have to deal with discrimination, and if you don’t fight it when it happens to you, you’re also enabling your employer to mistreat the next nursing mom.

You have resources! Contact La Leche League and a leader would be happy to work with you or your employer to make your company breastfeeding-friendly. All the literature is on your side! Do what’s best for you and your baby and advocate for breastfeeding whenever possible! I’m so glad that I did, and I’m happy to report that my son is one year old today, and is still a happy booby baby, with no intention of stopping any time soon.

Angel is a wife and mother of two who works full-time and attends classes part-time at the same college. Soon to pursue further education as a lactation consultant, Angel currently assists new mothers as a post partum doula while also raising awareness as an unwavering breastfeeding advocate. When given a moment to relax, she enjoys napping, reading, playing board games with friends, and beating her husband at Guitar Hero.

Want to learn more about lactation programs on US college campuses? Click here.

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Feel the burn?

2009-11-12T14:27:00.004-05:00

You've heard it countless times from countless celebrities. From Rebecca Romijn to Kimora Lee to Jessica Alba, all claiming they dropped the pregnancy weight with little to no effort thanks to breastfeeding. Salma Hayek famously disagreed, stating for her, breastfeeding did not make the weight fall off.

So does breastfeeding really help you shed the pounds? We know breastfeeding burns about 500 calories a day, but a new research study suggests it won't necessarily get you into your pre-pregnancy clothes any faster. According to the study, a few factors determined how much a new mom lost: whether she was overweight before pregnancy, what she gained while expecting and duration of nursing, said Kathleen M. Rasmussen, an author of the study and a nutrition professor at Cornell.

So what does this mean for the average breastfeeding mom? I think the take away is that if you gain sensibly while pregnant (no more than the recommended 35 pounds or so) and breastfeed, you'll probably lose the weight quicker. However, I don't think women should concentrate on the numbers on the scale. I think the most important thing to remember is that you're doing the best thing for your baby and improving your health at the same time.

Is it OK to breastfeed in order to get back into your skinny jeans? Absolutely, it can definitely factor into your decision, and as Marsha Walker is quoted as saying, "We deserve it. She ought to get into those jeans after 9 months of pregnancy and 20 hours of labor. That’s what I tell mothers.” At the end of the day, no woman looks the same after having kids as she did before, not even Heidi Klum. And that's OK (or at least, it should be).

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Does This Pregnancy Make Me Look Fat?

2009-11-11T19:41:00.005-05:00

I have a review and giveaway of a copy of the new book Does This Pregnancy Make Me Look Fat? by Claire Mysko and Magali Amadei up at Blacktating Reviews. Claire, a beauty activist, and Magali, a former model and ED sufferer, interviewed over 400 women and men about the effects of pregnancy and motherhood on a woman's body and self-esteem. The book aims to show:

- How you can learn to trust your changing body, appreciate it, and yes…even work it!
- Why you should be wary of the Hollywood "bump watch" and post-baby weight loss stories– and how to take the focus off the scale
- How to deal with your raging hormones—in the bedroom and beyond
- How to recognize when your body issues get extreme—and how to get help

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$100 Yummie Tummie Giveaway!

2009-10-27T09:56:00.001-04:00

My review of Yummie Tummie Shapewear is up at Blacktating Reviews and I've got a $100 gift card to give away to one lucky reader. Go enter now!

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Breastfeeding is Life Changing

2009-10-26T13:49:00.009-04:00

Welcome Carnival of Breastfeeding readers! This month’s Carnival theme is “What I Wish I’d Know Then….”

When I was first thinking about this month’s theme, it crossed my mind that I could talk about clusterfeeding, and how I wished someone had told me it was perfectly normal for my son to be attached to my boob for hours on end every evening. Then I thought it would be better to dispel the myth that newborn babies eat “every two hours.” I mean, I guess technically it’s every two hours, but the clock starts when your baby begins his meal, not ends it. So it usually feels more like feeding every 30 minutes, round-the-clock, especially if your baby is a gourmand like mine was and prefers to hang out at the buffet for hours, savoring every drop.

But honestly, what I wish I’d know then, and what I don’t think I could ever have imagined, was how much breastfeeding would change my life. I never thought the simple act of feeding my baby could be so life altering. For the first three months, I lived, breathed, ate and slept breastfeeding. It was all I could think about and talk about (and, it seemed, all I ever did). I spent hours online at the Kelly Mom forums, asking questions and reading about other moms’ experiences. I scoured the internet for pictures of women breastfeeding, for articles about breastfeeding, for videos showing how to hand express or latch my baby on. It wasn’t just that I was having some trouble and needed the help (I was and did), but I wanted to know as much about breastfeeding and how milk is made and how babies nurse as I could. It was at this time that I discovered many of the blogs I love and read to this day, and was inspired by other black women who were as passionate about breastfeeding as I was. It was what inspired me to start this blog, which has been an outlet for me and brought some amazing opportunities my way. Because of Blacktating, I have met and become friends with some of the smartest women on the planet who have educated me not just on breastfeeding, but on birth, child development, feminism, attachment parenting and more.

Breastfeeding has changed how I view my future and my career path. I am going to attend training to become a Certified Lactation Counselor so I can teach breastfeeding classes on the weekends. I have been inspired to a higher calling, to help women and babies.

Breastfeeding is such a huge part of my life that sometimes I wonder who I will be when I am no longer nursing. I don’t even think I can count all of the ways that I have changed since becoming a mother, but I know that I wouldn’t be the same woman I am today if I had not breastfed. I want all women to know that breastfeeding profoundly changes you in ways you couldn't have imagined, although I wish I had known then!

Photo credit: Motherwear

Please check out the amazing posts on "What I wish I had known then..."by these other bloggers. This is one of the best Carnivals to date, with some of the most heartfelt posts on breastfeeding I've had the pleasure to read in a while.

Massachusetts Friends of Midwives
My World Edenwild
The Adventures of Shrike & Whozat
Hobo Mama
The Starr Family Blog
Momma's Angel
Breastfeeding Moms Unite
Birth Activist
Three Girl Pile Up
Happy Bambino Blog
Fancy Pancakes
The Milk Mama
Fighting Off Frumpy
Breastfeeding Mums
Cave Mother
Breastfeeding 1-2-3
Mum Unplugged

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Friday 5

2009-10-23T15:45:00.006-04:00

I have skipped a few weeks of the Friday 5! My apologies, things were hectic and I was also out of town. Hopefully these 5 will make up for it.

Remember the Breastfeeding Challenge? Toronto won with 372 moms breastfeeding at the same time.

A group of Florida moms is providing breast milk for a baby whose mother passed away.

The International Breast Milk Project is providing breast milk to typhoon victims in the Philippines.

Mali has 48 "baby friendly" hospitals. The US has about 80.

Breastfeeding mothers can exercise to offset bone density lost while lactating.

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Bravado Breastfeeding Information Council Survey

2009-10-22T21:10:00.003-04:00

Bravado! Designs, makers of some of the best nursing bras on the market, will launch the Bravado Breastfeeding Information Council (BBIC) on November 10th. The BBIC will serve as a resource to the media, providing accurate information about breastfeeding. Additionally, the Council will provide research and guidance to businesses and organizations, with the purpose of instituting successful and meaningful programs for breastfeeding women.

For many years, Bravado has run surveys on their website to better understand the experiences of breastfeeding mothers. However, they'd like to reach more women and that's where you all come in. Bravado would like you to take a few minutes out of your busy day to complete a brief survey about your breastfeeding experience. The survey asks questions about your duration of breastfeeding, how supportive your friends and family were of your decision to nurse, whether or not you continued to breastfeed after you returned to work, etc.

To thank you for your time, you'll be entered into a contest to win one of five $100 gift cards to Target or Sephora, your choice!

You can learn more about the BBIC at their new website. Once there, you can also register to attend a live webcast on November 10th which will feature some of the "best brains in breastfeeding" discussing their findings.

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You are not a pacifier!

2009-10-21T13:57:00.005-04:00

Photo by Itsmybinky

I never used a pacifier with my son. I was one of those moms who was totally against using it from day one. From all the books I had read and through speaking with the Lactation Consultant at the hospital, it seemed detrimental to breastfeeding to introduce a pacifier (or any artificial nipple) before 4-6 weeks. By that time, my son and I had an established breastfeeding relationship and to give him a pacifier seemed counterintuitive. When he needed to eat, he had me. When he needed comforting, I was there. I felt, and still feel, that a pacifier would have hindered my ability to interpret and respond to my son's needs effectively. Besides, pacifiers cause a host of problems. Early introduction of pacifiers has been linked to shorter duration of breastfeeding. Pacifiers can affect teeth alignment. A new study has shown that pacifiers (along with bottles and finger sucking) cause speech problems. There also appears to be a link between pacifier use and frequency of ear infections.

So why do so many people give their baby a pacifier? I know that some babies do need pacifiers, like preemies and those in the NICU. But healthy full-term babies? Why is it that when a baby needs to be comforted, instead of bringing him to our breast, we reach for a piece of plastic? Are they just a part of our culture and deemed a necessity, like cribs and strollers (which many moms eschew as well)? I think that plays a role in it, but I also think many women fear "being used as a pacifier" by their babies. We are told again and again by friends and family not to nurse on demand because you "don't want the baby to use you as a pacifier!" But the thing is you are not a pacifier.

Whenever I hear a mom being admonished for nursing her baby on cue, allowing her baby to fall asleep at the breast, or letting a baby comfort nurse, I am brought back to this wonderful quote by Paula Yount.

"You are not a pacifier; you are a Mom. You are the sun, the moon, the earth, you are liquid love, you are warmth, you are security, you are comfort in the very deepest aspect of the meaning of comfort.... but you are not a pacifier!"

That statement really sums it up for me. I think it's important to remember that you can never nurse too often, although you can nurse too little and cause problems. There is no shame in responding to your baby's needs. In fact, I think it's what gave me such confidence as a new, first-time mom, so much so that people would often comment on how self-assured I seemed.

What do you think? Am I unfairly villifying the pacifier? Are they a useful tool or just another accessory pushed on us as a necessary part of modern parenting that hurts more than it helps?

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Breastfeeding Campaign Debuts in New Zealand

2009-10-20T16:58:00.007-04:00

The Ministry of Health in New Zealand has just launched a new ad campaign to promote breastfeeding and normalize breastfeeding in public. The campaign will consist of posters placed on buses, ads in women’s and parenting magazines, in malls and on screens in warehouse stores. According to the press release, the campaign was created with friends and family of breastfeeding moms in mind, who often can influence whether or not a woman breastfeeds and for how long.

"Although New Zealand has breastfeeding rates that are consistent with other OECD countries, rates are low at six weeks, especially among Māori and Pacific women,” said Ministry of Health Deputy Director Margie Apa. She went on to say that barriers to breastfeeding, including “lack of breastfeeding support and information, mothers returning to paid work and finding it hard to continue breastfeeding, and negative attitudes to breastfeeding from the general public and family members” tend to more adversely affect minorities, teenage parents and low-income moms.

The pictures used in the campaign are absolutely beautiful and props to New Zealand for their concerted effort to include minority women in the ads. What makes these ads so powerful and extraordinary is that they're so mundane. They are simply photographs of women going about their daily lives, breastfeeding in the library, on the bus and at the airport.

The text on the bottom of the ads reads, "Wherever they're heading, a healthy start in life will help them get there. In the community and in the workplace, breastfeeding is natural. Perfectly natural. For information, please visit breastfeeding.org.nz."

The US could learn a lot from this ad campaign. Remember the disastrous campaign created by the Ad Council in 2005? First there were these images:

Dandelions? Ice cream? An ad campaign to promote breastfeeding and not a mom or baby to be found? That was quite the head scratcher. (Not to mention the fact that the formula companies lobbied to get the actual messages on the ads watered down before they even debuted). Then there was this TV ad that many women found downright insulting.

Compare those ads to the ones in New Zealand and you can see how far we have to go in this country. We need to fight those "booby traps" that keep moms from breastfeeding or meeting their breastfeeding goals and focus on making breastfeeding the cultural norm, the natural extension of pregnancy and childbirth. These ads are a huge step in the right direction to help normalize breastfeeding, particularly in public. Anyone in marketing in New Zealand looking for a job?

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$25 Gift card to Tiny Prints

2009-10-14T21:31:00.001-04:00

Head over to Blacktating Reviews to enter to win a $25 gift card to Tiny Prints!

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October Carnival of Breastfeeding: What I Wish I'd Known...

2009-10-13T20:42:00.004-04:00

How many times have you thought, "Oh, if only I'd known this about breastfeeding, I would have..."? Or, "Why didn't anyone tell me that breastfeeding was like this?" Well, now is your time to share all that you've learned during your adventures in breastfeeding with moms-to-be and commiserate with veteran moms who've been there, too. Join the October Carnival of Breastfeeding and share your wonderful stories with us. As usual, we are looking for posts that are:

- Well-written and grammatically correct
- Thoughtful and directly on point for the carnival topic
- On blogs that pertain to subjects of interest to our readers (breastfeeding, parenting, etc.)

Submissions are due on Monday, October 19th and the Carnival will go live on Monday, October 26th. If your post is selected, you will be asked on the day of the carnival to edit your post to link back to each of the other participants in the carnival. Examples of past carnivals can be found here.

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Review: Tummy Tankz

2009-10-08T20:33:00.003-04:00

I was recently sent a Tummy Tank maternity belly band to review on the blog. No, I don't have anything to tell you guys. I'm not expecting. But that's what makes this company and this product so unique.......

To read my full review of the Tummy Tank, please head over to Blacktating Reviews.

Black Breastfeeding Moms: How You Can Help Save Lives

2009-10-06T15:42:00.003-04:00

I am pleased to present this guest post by Tanya Lieberman, IBCLC, of the Motherwear Breastfeeding Blog.

African American breastfeeding moms - we need you in the fight against breast cancer!

You probably know some facts about breast cancer: 1 in 8 women will develop it. Early detection saves lives. Breastfeeding reduces your risk.

But did you know that African American women tend to develop a more aggressive form of breast cancer? And that a higher percentage die from it?

These facts are daunting, but there is a special contribution African American nursing moms can make in the fight against breast cancer.

A study based at the University of Massachusetts is seeking African American nursing moms who have had, or are expecting to have, a breast biopsy for participation in a groundbreaking study. The lead researcher, Dr. Kathleen Arcaro, is examining the breastmilk of nursing mothers to identify molecular biomarkers for the development of breast cancer. Dr. Arcaro needs African American moms to participate so that she can determine if her findings are applicable to all women, and different types of cancer.

The identification of these biomarkers may lead to new breast cancer treatments, and perhaps a test which would use breastmilk to determine breast cancer risk.

If you participate, you would provide a breastmilk sample, which is overnight mailed from your home to the lab, and provide a copy of a biopsy report. You would receive $50 in thanks for your participation.

If you think you may qualify, please contact Dr. Sarah Lenington by email or by phone: (413) 577-1823. If you don't, please spread the word by forwarding this on. If you're a blogger and would like to spread the word, contact Tanya about a guest post. Flyers and brochures are available. For more information, see the study website. Thank you for your help!

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Boo Nestle!

2009-10-05T15:17:00.007-04:00

In case you haven't already heard, I boycott Nestle products. If you're new here or don't know much about the company, you can read this post, as well as check out IBFAN's site or Baby Milk Action.

Every year, Baby Milk Action sponsors a "Nestle Free Week" and this year, Halloween falls within that week (October 26, 2009-November 1, 2009). I was talking to Danielle Friedland on Twitter and she had a great idea to create a special hash tag to promote boycotting Nestle for Halloween and I came up with #BooNestle. This is a great start for those of you who feel trying to boycott Nestle's extensive list of products might be too daunting. Simply don't buy Nestle's candy this Halloween and make a difference.

Nestle makes and/or distributes a ton of candy & chocolate products in the US which includes Aero, Butterfinger, Cailler, Crunch, Kit Kat (my fave...gah!), Orion, Smarties, Wonka, Baby Ruth, Raisinets, SnoCaps and more. If you can't tell if it's Nestle, don't buy it. Here's a list of items that are safe:

Hershey's Kisses
Twizzlers
Jolly Ranchers
Reese's
Snickers
M&Ms
Mars Bars
Almond Joy
Whoppers
Tootsie Rolls
Tootsie Pops

You can also RSVP to the boycott on Facebook and show your support that way.

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#NestleFamily, Bloggers & Race: Why It Matters

2009-10-01T16:11:00.006-04:00

If you are on Twitter and following me or any one of the many breastfeeding advocates, you probably noticed us tweeting with the hash tag #nestlefamily. If you’re not up to speed, I’ll try to break it down succinctly. Many large corporations, like General Mills and Hallmark, have begun inviting high-traffic bloggers (often so-called “mommy bloggers”) to their corporate headquarters on all-expense paid trips. In return for food, lodging and airfare, these bloggers give the company their opinions on its products. The company then uses this information for marketing & PR purposes. At the end of the day, the company is trying to make money. Focus groups are nothing new, but with women, particularly mothers, making the majority of the buying decisions for their families and social media becoming a more important, effective (and cheap!) marketing tool, it’s a safe bet that these types of trips will be offered more and more frequently.

Nestle recently planned one of these trips for about 20 bloggers*, a list of whom you can find here. The event is currently taking place in California, but for weeks, attendees have been tweeting with the #nestlefamily hash tag on Twitter. I first got wind of this event when someone I follow on Twitter used the hash tag and I decided to search it and investigate further. I found that a woman who I thought of as a breastfeeding advocate was attending the event. Her name is Jennifer James and she is the woman behind The Black Breastfeeding blog (now defunct), Mom Bloggers Club, and the historical breastfeeding blog on Mothering magazine’s website. When I asked her why she would ever align herself with this company and attend their blogger junket, her response was that she never said she had a problem with Nestle. Maybe so, but I think she should have a problem with Nestle.

Nestle has long been thought of as one of the most corrupt corporations in the world. They are a huge multinational and have their hands in almost every aspect of the food business. They produce and export many of the “ethnic”and international products you probably eat or grew up eating. They own the largest share of the infant f*ormula business. They recently acquired the Gerber brand. They sell bottled water. They make candy. At Thanksgiving, you probably make your pie with their canned pumpkin. On a diet? You’ve probably stocked up on their low-calorie frozen meals. They are blatant WHO Code violators and aggressively market their infant f*ormula in developing nations. They used to send sales reps to developing nations in white uniforms and call them “milk nurses.”

These reps would convince mothers to use f*ormula instead of breastfeed and would provide them with freebies just long enough, until their milk ran out. So now you have a woman who is impoverished with a hungry baby and no breast milk. This led to watering down of f*ormula (which still happens to this day, right here in America). These women often didn’t have access to clean water so they couldn’t sterilize their baby’s bottles or nipples and had to mix the powder with contaminated water.

Besides their unethical formula marketing, they have also been accused of using child slave labor in the Ivory Coast to make their chocolate. In 2000, the BBC produced a documentary on children who were stolen from their families and forced to work on cacao plantations where Nestle buys their cocoa. The children were often starved and beaten, and some claim those who tried to runaway were murdered. Then there’s Nestle’s stake in the water business, where they sell local communities’ water at a huge profit, while people who live in the area end up paying through the nose for their own local water.

There has been a lot of condemnation of Nestle in the blogosphere lately and many people are learning things about Nestle they never knew. Many have decided to boycott the company, which I applaud. The conversation about Nestle has been great, but one thing missing from all of the discussions is the racism implicit in many of Nestle’s business practices.

I’ve been told by mom bloggers that it doesn’t matter if people are dying because of Nestle and their products, because it’s only people in Ethiopia. And those enslaved children making the chocolate Nestle buys? Don’t care about them, because Crunch bars are delicious! Nestle pulls shit in the developing world that they would never dream of doing in Europe or the Americas (unless it’s targeting Hispanic moms: in 2004, they marketed their formula heavily in Los Angeles & Houston, specifically in Spanish-language magazines and radio.) They market their f*rmula as protecting against diarrhea in Africa, when studies show formula-fed children are 25% more likely to die from diarrhea than breastfed infants. They also sell a cereal there as a complementary food for infants that contains honey, when we all know honey should not be given to children under the age of 1. In Laos, they use the same logo on their f*rmula as they do on their coffee creamer. Since there is such a high illiteracy rate in Laos, pediatricians discovered parents were often mixing up the two products when they found babies were suffering from protein malnutrition. You can even see the racism in their subsidiaries, like L’Oreal, which was found guilty of racial discrimination by France’s highest court in June. Do a search in Google for Nestle’s marketing practices and you’ll find again and again how they specifically target poor people of color and that these practices result in sickness and death. I will state it unequivocally: Nestle is a racist company.

It’s easy for Nestle to prey on these black and brown people, people who are impoverished, oppressed and often uneducated. It’s bad enough to aggressively market f*rmula to women who have the resources to make a relatively informed decision and have access to clean water. But what kind of company targets the most vulnerable, the easiest to manipulate because of fear and ignorance?

So what of the women of color who chose to participate in this blogger junket? Although it may not be fair, I’m even more disappointed in them than the rest. With all of Nestle’s infractions in Africa presented to them, they choose instead to believe Nestle’s PR team and tweet about how great it is that Nestle has water wells in Africa and built a whopping THREE homes there for poor people. Well, shit, it’s the least they could do, but it still doesn’t absolve them from all of their piss poor practices around the world. As a Latina, does it not bother you that they created a campaign just for Hispanic women, thrilled because the population boom in your community means big bucks for them? As a black woman, do you really have no regard for women in Africa burying their babies because they can't afford to feed them? That their babies will die and they will still choose to feed the next one Nan because Nestle says it's better? Maybe you don't believe Nestle is racist, but just greedy. But does that make it any better?

*It’s important to note that many more bloggers were invited and turned down the invitation because they didn’t want to be associated with Nestle. I commend those bloggers on taking the time to research the company before accepting a free trip from them and taking their money.

Update: People are questioning the validity of my claim that there were racist remarks on Twitter aimed at the activists trying to educate people about Nestle. Please see this post for coverage of the racist things being said by mom bloggers.

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5 Biggest Mistakes Working & Pumping Moms Make

2009-09-27T21:16:00.009-04:00

Welcome Carnival of Breastfeeding readers! Please be sure to scroll down to the end of this post to read through all of the blog posts on this month's topic, Working & Breastfeeding.

Going back to work after having a baby can be tough. Many of us, even if we love our careers, find it extremely difficult to leave our tiny babies in the care of others for 8 hours per day. For many moms, continuing to breastfeed after returning to work is a way to stay connected to your baby, even when you have to be apart for hours every day. Breastfeeding & working is no easy task, but you'll make it easier on yourself if you avoid the Top 5 Biggest Mistakes Working & Pumping Moms Make (AKA, Mistakes Elita Made Frequently While Working & Breastfeeding).

#1. Wearing a dress to work.
Unless you've invested in a dress made for nursing, you'll find yourself with a conundrum when you have to pump at work in a dress. To pull the dress up, scrunched at your shoulders, or pull it down, exposing your body from the waist up? It's a tough call and one you don't want to have to make. The good thing about this mistake is it's one you only make once. Trust me on this.

#2. Forgetting parts of your pump.
Who knew one teeny tiny piece of rubber could ruin your whole day? Forget a membrane at home and you'll be screwed. I suggest all moms learn the art of hand expressing, but most women do better with a double electric pump. Buy spare parts of your pump in bulk and stash them everywhere: desk drawers, your pump bag, briefcase, and car.

#3. Buying a cheap pump.
Although some women do really well with hand expression and manual pumps, in general it's best to invest in a good double electric. A double electric pump that only costs $50 is probably not going to cut it if you're working out of the home full-time. Scrimp and save, or ask your friends to chip in on the pump as a shower gift. If you're eligible for WIC, contact your local office. Sometimes you can rent a pump through them for free.

#4. Forgetting a bottle top.
Imagine, you've just spent the last 20 minutes pumping and you've got two bottles full of milk. You carefully place them in your bottle stand holder and dip into your pump bag for the bottle caps and realize you only have one. OK, so you can probably store the milk safely in your office's fridge, but how do you get the milk home? Again, keeping extras around of everything will keep you safe. Also stash some breast milk storage bags in your pump bags. You never know when you'll have an especially productive day and make loads of milk.

#5. Suffering in silence.
If your nipples hurt after every pumping session and you're literally sucking the skin off them, don't assume this is par for the course! Pumping ain't a joy ride, but it shouldn't hurt. Oil your pump flanges up with olive oil and be sure you're using the right size. Also, you don't have to pump on high! Try to mimic with the pump the way your baby nurses. A little faster and stronger until your milk lets down, then slower and longer to empty your breasts.

Don't miss the rest of this month's wonderful posts on working & breastfeeding!

My World Edenwild: Breastfeeding mothers need workplace support
Breastfeeding Moms Unite!: Breastfeeding at my family day care
The Milk Mama: A job where everyone breastfeeds
Momnesia the Book: Sorry, facilities guy!
Marshins: Taking your working boobs to work
Strocel: Working and breastfeeding a toddler
The Marketing Mama: Working and pumping
Motherwear Breastfeeding Blog: Breastfeeding & working is possible & you can make it work!
Chronicles of a Nursing Mom: Do you really need a pump?
Vanderbilt Wife: I think this officially makes me a Mommy Blogger
Stork Stories: My breast pump and I didn't get along
babyREADY: What about breastfeeding when I go back to work?
Mum Unplugged: This is a breastfeeding office
Best for Babes: Beating the employment booby trap
Breastfeeding 1-2-3: Tips for Breastfeeding & Working
Breastfeeding Mums: Breastfeeding & Working in the UK

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Rebecca Romijn on Breastfeeding Twins

2009-09-27T20:28:00.005-04:00

Rebecca Romijn, and by extension her husband Jerry, were very vocal about her breastfeeding their twin daughters, Charlie and Dolly. Romijn recently opened up about the time she spent nursing her twins, a period she refers to as when she was "the milk machine."

She says, "I finished nursing three weeks ago. And yes, I was a milk machine. I felt like that's all I was to them, just this walking milk machine. Now that I'm not there as many hours during the day, they're pretty clingy and I have to say I love it. It's the best feeling in the world."

OK, I find that quote to be a bit odd, but I do commend her on nursing her twins for almost 9 months. It's even more of a commitment to breastfeed multiples, but it is possible and of course it's well worth the extra effort. Since more and more women are having twins and triplets, it's even more imperative to provide moms with good breastfeeding support and information to help them succeed. If you are currently pregnant with twins, I'd like to point you to a great resource for info: Roxanne Beckford Hoge.

Roxanne is the owner of the maternity/nursing store One Hot Mama (and a blog by the same name) in Los Angeles, CA. In addition to being an actress and businesswoman, Roxanne is a mom of four, including twins whom she breastfed into toddlerhood. Her natural twin birth was featured in an episode of Bringing Home Baby, a breath of fresh air for a show that is typically filled with epidurals, emergency C-sections, formula and tons of bad breastfeeding advice. Roxanne is an all-around cool chick and smart cookie. She makes herself available to anyone who wants "been there, done that" practical advice about breastfeeding and parenting.

For moms having twins, Rox recommends the Double Blessings nursing pillow, Dr. Barbara Luke's twin book, and this page on home births of unexpected twins for inspiration for a natural birth. Roxanne is an amazing woman and I encourage you to check out her blog and if you're lucky enough to live in L.A., stop by and see her in her store. She'd love to talk to you about breastfeeding.

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Friday 5

2009-09-24T21:21:00.003-04:00

Welcome to the latest edition of the Friday 5. Enjoy!

Ana Ortiz, one of the stars of Ugly Betty, is breastfeeding her daughter in between filming scenes for the show. Imagine that, a workplace that's supportive of employees breastfeeding!

Multinationals in Vietnam sell baby formula so aggressively that they often break laws designed to promote breastfeeding.

In case you need a reminder: Nestle are the Bad Boys of Business.

Gossip Girl Kelly Rutherford has taken her ex to court for refusing to bring her baby to set to nurse, and stressing her out and affecting her milk supply.

A Danish study shows a link between toxin levels in mother's milk and testicular cancer in boys.

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Speaking of Working & Breastfeeding...

2009-09-22T21:32:00.001-04:00

The video below provides a laugh, although it is a bit NSFW because of the language. Look out for the pumping at work scene!

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New study favors fortified formula?

2009-09-16T15:47:00.003-04:00

When I read the headline of this news article, I was completely taken aback: "New evidence favors fortified baby formula." Huh? There is now evidence that infant formula that's fortified with DHA/ARA from algae is now favored over breast milk? Says who?

Well, the newspaper article title is a bit misleading, but so says a group of doctors who tested 202 9-month-old babies on their ability to perform a series of problem-solving tests. According to the study, which is published in the current issue of the journal Child Development, 51% of the babies who were on fortified formula from birth successfully completed the 3 tests, compared with only 29% who got regular formula without the added DHA/ARA.

Some babies in the study had been breastfed and those who were weaned from breast milk to formula when they were 4 to 6 months did equally well on all of the tests whether they got the fortified formula or not. According to the researchers, the take away is that perhaps these babies didn't receive the enhanced formula long enough for it to make a difference. But maybe the real reason is that they'd already gotten the benefits of the breast milk!

Now this study is all kinds of flawed. As Arwyn from Raising My Boychick noted on Twitter, if the study had noted the level of nutrition of the mothers of the breastfed babies and if formula company money wasn't involved, maybe it would be worth paying attention to. Yes, that's right, all of the formula used in the study was "donated" by Mead Johnson, makers of Enfamil. Wasn't that nice of them? In addition to donating the formula, Mead Johnson also paid two of the doctors (Hoffman & Birch) involved for subsequent studies. Dr. Hoffman has also received consultant fees from Mead Johnson to provide educational seminars for pediatricians. Let me guess, Dr. Hoffman recommends Enfamil!

These types of studies really frustrate me because the science is flawed and then you get headlines that scream "formula is better than breast milk!" and many people believe it. How many people who read this article will take the time to look up the abstract of the journal article where the study was published and realize this whole thing is just another marketing tactic by the formula companies. The sad part is that a lot of new parents will fall for this ploy. As Barbara Moore, president and CEO of Shape Up America!, told ABCNews.com in an e-mail, "This is a disturbing new development....Now parents will be encouraged to forgo breastfeeding--which is optimal for both mothers and babies--in favor of a hyped up infant formula."

And let's not forget there are some dangers associated with feeding babies formula that has been fortified with DHA/ARA, including gastrointestinal upset, jaundice, apnea and even death. For a great report on these enhanced formulas, please take the time to read Cornucopia's research in "Replacing Mother: Imitating Human Breast Milk in the Lab." Are these added ingredients safe, risky, or a benign marketing gimmick to sell more formula? Do your due diligence to decide, but please don't let Mead Johnson do it for you.

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New Warning on Evenflo Breast Pumps

2009-09-16T10:55:00.003-04:00

The company Evenflo recently released a brand new double electric breast pump, the Comfort Select Performance Dual Pump. The pump was a redesign based on company research and discussions with moms on what they needed and wanted in a breast pump. They had a big marketing campaign back around June where they did several giveaways on "mommy blogs." Annie @ PhD in Parenting reviewed the pump and I was given one to review as well. Since I rarely pump anymore, my plan was to give the pump to my friend who was pregnant to use and get her feedback and post it to the blog. I actually just visited her and her new daughter this weekend and gave her the pump, with the caveat of waiting until at least 6 weeks postpartum to use it. My friend will be staying at home with her baby, so I thought this pump would be great for her as it was billed as an "occasional use" pump.

Now, literally days after I dropped it off to her, I see that the FDA has issued a warning against this pump, saying it found manufacturing violations at two of the plants where the breast pumps are made. In addition, Evenflo reportedly received complaints from several women who claimed they received electrical shocks from using the pump. The FDA says Evenflo failed to properly investigate these claims. According to the news article,

"Amy Neff, Evenflo's associate general counsel, said the company does investigate its consumer complaints but said the problem was a 'documentation issue.' In its letter, the FDA said the company's response to the complaint-investigation problem is now 'adequate.' However, on the medical-device reporting problem, the FDA said the company has yet to fully address the agency's concerns.

Lindsay Harris, Evenflo's vice president of quality and product integrity, said, 'We are working cooperatively with the FDA' to address the agency's concerns. He said the company reports all device complaints to the agency."

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