At the rent house where we live, we get mail every day for different people who have lived here before. Apparently one of them worked in a medical field, because yesterday we received the state Morbidity Report. Sounds like fun reading, huh? It did have an interesting article on breastfeeding trends in our state. Unfortunately, since 1998 there has been no significant increase in breastfeeding here. I'm not so surprised; frankly, I've only known two other local breastfeeding moms in my 6 years of mothering.
The article states:
The Healthy People 2010 goals for breastfeeding in the early postpartum period are seventy-five percent and fifty percent at six months.
Let's just say that it's nowhere near that. However, the article pointed out that if we don't increase our breastfeeding rate, we could see increased healthcare costs because of the greater number of infant infections, lower infant IQ, increased risk of breast, uterine, and endometrial cancers in women who don't breastfeed, increased risk of osteoperosis for mothers, and greater risk of obesity for babies and moms. WOW! That is pretty straightforward. I've been personally convinced of the benefits of breastfeeding for mom and baby, but I had no idea that the government and medical communities were taking it so seriously. That's encouraging.
By the way, the image above is the new international breastfeeding symbol. Mothering Magazine (who hosted the contest for its design) says:
The purpose of an international symbol for breastfeeding is to increase public awareness of breastfeeding, to provide an alternative to the use of a baby bottle image to designate baby friendly areas in public, and to mark breastfeeding friendly facilities.
Of course, breastfeeding does not require a special place and is appropriate—as the Canadian government's slogan says—"anytime, anywhere." The purpose of the symbol is not to segregate breastfeeding, but to help integrate it into society by better accommodating it in public.
Read the full article here.
2 comments:
Cool logo. :) Thanks for posting it.
Gabriel has done so well breastfeeding. I can't imagine not nursing my baby. Someone gave me a breast pump and I figured I wouldn't use it, but Ryan bought tickets for a concert next month and didn't even think about not being able to take the baby. So, I'm figuring out the breast pump so we'll be able to leave Gabe with gramma for an evening. I tried it today for the first time and all went well. he wasn't too sure about the bottle at first, but he ended up taking it and did great. He cried when the milk was gone. lol I guess when he nurses he can continue to suck even when it's gone. Can't do that with a bottle!
I never thought I'd use a pump either; then Billy ended up in the hospital for a week when Sarah was 4 months old, and I couldn't keep her with me. Pumping was a lifesaver. She did fine. I used it a few other times so B and I could go on a date, and that was nice too.
The only problem was that whereas my other kids had no idea what a bottle was, when Sarah saw another baby with a bottle she would have a fit for it! She still loves bottles. She has a preemie doll bottle that she fills with water and uses all by herself. Cracks me up. Maybe it's just the novelty, LOL.
So glad breastfeeding has gone well for you!!!
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