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A
young medical student is given his final examination on human
reproduction.
After
reading Question 1; "Give five reasons why a mother's milk is better
than a cows milk for a newborn baby?"; he recalled four and quickly
wrote them down in his exam book.
- A mother's milk is more nutritious; it
contains better balance of fats, carbohydrates and proteins for the
newborn;
- A mothers milk contains a mix of vitamins that
more closely aligns to a human baby's needs.
- A mothers milk contains immunological agents
that will help the newborn fight bacteria, viruses and other
infections.
- Breast feeding is more nurturing and better
developmentally for the child. Stumped, frustrated and running out of
time, he searched his mind for a fifth reason. After pondering the
question for an agonizing five minutes, he quickly scribbled a fifth
response:
- The milk is delivered in a warm and "really
cute" cup.
He
got an "A" on the exam.
Online Resources
KellyMom.com
- This is the most comprehensive site on breastfeeding I have found.
There is information available on every aspect of
breastfeeding
you can think of from what drugs & herbs that are safe while
breastfeeding, breastfeeding different ages, breastfeeding adopted
children, pumping, nursing during pregnancy, tandem nursing (nursing
more than one), and social aspects of nursing.
Katherine A Dettwyler, Ph.D has
done some outstanding research on breastfeeding from an Anthorpological
standpoint titled Breastfeeding: Biocultural
Perspectives.
She is considered a world renown authority on breastfeeding
and
culture and holds several teaching positions and a sought after
lecturer.
To get a feel for Dr. Dettwyler's work, read Commentary on Breastfeeding.
Very revolutionary work that helped me understand why my
instincts weren't meshing with the current sociological climate.
Very interesting reading.
La Leche League
(LLL) is a huge organization that has resources available locally for
help with breastfeeding. In addition to professional
lactation
consultants, they have LLL meetings for pregnant and breastfeeding
moms, and a library of books on many aspects of breastfeeding.
Breastfeeding.com has good
articles and a forum. (I like the breastfeeding forums on Mothering.com better, but it is
still good, just a different personality to the place)
Breastfeeding Books
The
biggest
piece of advice I can give you is to read BEFORE you have the baby.
Learn what kinds of things sabatoge a breastfeeding
relationship
so you can avoid problems. Take a class. Get to
know other
breastfeeding mothers. Immerse yourself in the idea of
breastfeeding as much as you can. A vague 'I am going to try
to
nurse and see if it works' pretty much guarantees failure (or at least
problems) and allows other people's opinions (and bad advice) to make
you question yourself when you are faced with the extreme emotions and
lack of sleep in the early days/weeks after the birth. The
most
challenging time of breastfeeding is the first 4-6 weeks.
That is
how long it takes most breastfeeding couples to learn how to work
things efficiently. After that it is as easy as breathing and
you
won't be burdened by the cost and inconvienence of bottles (nor the
cost and inconvience of babies that get sick more often since babies
fed artificial baby milk aren't getting the immune benefits of real
milk),
no matter how long you choose to breastfeed.
The Ultimate Breastfeeding Book of Answers
by Jack Newman, MD lives up to it's title. It is one I hear
recommended over and over. It has great concrete solutions
for
any breastfeeding question you might have.
Breastfeeding Book by Dr. Sears,
MD is a solid and well written book on breastfeeding. There
is a section of the Baby Book
on breastfeeding, and this expands on that. Like all of his
books, it has a gentle writing style that encourages you to follow your
instincts rather than rigidly follow a set of rules while at the same
time giving great ideas for you to try when things aren't working well
for you.
Bestfeeding: Getting Breastfeeding Right for
You
by Mary Renfrew excels at it's illustrations and pictures of proper
latch on, latch on problems, and positions. It is reasonable
in
that it doesn't advocate one particular position as the only position
to breastfeed and encourages you to find what works for you.
LLLs The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding
has gotten mixed reviews. I haven't seen it, but I have heard
that other books do a better job of addressing concrete solutions to
problems, and it isn't a good book for a Cesarean baby or a woman who
plans to return to work. Not terrible, but better books are
out
there.
So That's What They're For:
Breastfeeding Basics
by Jenet Tamaro is a book I haven't seen, but keep hearing good things
about. It is usually recommended along with a comment on how
funny it is. Humor always wins kudos for me!
Other Resources
Some
other links
Ted Greiner's Breastfeeding Website
Breastfeeding Basics
Breastfeeding Online
Nestle Boycott
Breastfeeding Propaganda
xanga Blog Rings worth checking out
Breastfeeding
Lactavists - breastfeeding
advocates
*~breastfeeding_warriors~* - Mamas overcoming difficulties to breastfeed
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