Breastfeeding in the News: Sept. 25th – Oct. 4th, 2009

Hello All,
Looks like I’ve fallen behind again, but I have to say I had a great time at the Massachusetts Breastfeeding Coalition conference this week! It was great to see everyone again, especially those of you who made the trek from beyond Worcester.
There’s been a lot of encouraging news lately! McGill University Health Center in Montreal just received $350,000 to support their breastfeeding programs. The US Air Force now gives women a 6 month assignment deferment after giving birth to allow more time for breastfeeding (they used to allow only 4 months, the Navy however gives 12 months). And in Brunei breastfeeding education has been incorporated into their premarital courses so that both prospective parents will be better prepared before they even conceive!
Major flooding in the Phillipines is being met with donations of breast milk so that stressed out refugee mothers struggling to keep up their milk supplies won’t have to rely on formula. And get this – they have even sent in wet nurses!
In Jamaica they are now turning their attention to educating men. “Some men mistakenly believe that breastfeeding is strictly confined to women and babies. They see their role as that of a passive or neutral observer who has little influence on the process, but fathers actually have tremendous potential to either facilitate or undermine the success of breastfeeding,” says Mr. Scott of the Jamaican Health Services. “A father’s support is critical to a successful breastfeeding, simply by listening to the mothers. It requires that you actively play a role in your partner’s life without being invasive.” Well said Mr. Scott, well said! Mr. Scott even added, “that if fathers spend the first weeks after a child’s birth doing some of the household chores and involving themselves in the health and well being of the child, the issue of exclusive breastfeeding will become a norm for mothers.”
Meanwhile in Australia it seems that it is not the men who need educating but the women. When a mother was asked to hide the fact that she was breastfeeding while nursing her 3 month old on a plane this exchange occurred: Mrs Ward said “she told the attendant that she had a right to breastfeed, but was asked again to cover her baby because a man seated near her ”might not like to see it”. ”I said to [the man], ‘Does this offend you?’ and he said, ‘No, not at all.’ [The flight attendant] said, ‘Well, people walking down the aisle might not like it”’
Two new scientific studies have been reported and the way they have been interpreted might interest you. The first showed that due to calcium loss during lactation mothers should be doing more weight bearing exercises (“Breastfeeding moms need more aerobic exercise”). But before we start sending mothers off to the gym don’t you think we should remind them that carrying your baby (i.e. baby wearing) is also a weight bearing exercise?
And in a new study from Spain came the news confirming what we already knew – that breast milk can make a baby sleepy! By anaylizing the types of nucleotides produced over the course of 24 hours, they have found that the milk produced during the night time hours is designed to help a baby sleep, while the milk produced during the day is designed to help keep a baby alert! This is pretty cool! We’ve always said that a mother’s milk continually changes to meet her baby’s needs and this is further proof of that. But again what worries me is the way this has been interpreted. “Breast milk should be drunk at the same time of day that it is expressed.”
After reading this headline I was complaining to my 12 year old daughter that this was just going to make it harder for working moms. Not only do they have to pump, now they will be expected to keep track of when they pumped each ounce and care takers will be scolding them for bringing them “sleepy time” milk when they need the “cappuccino” version, to which my daughter replied “It’s called being organized Mom!” ( I should point out that the “organization gene” is something she gets from her father not me.) My daughter’s opinion not withstanding, I fear that for mothers who already rely too heavily on charts and clocks, this little study will totally push them over the edge. Can I say it again? The real answer is keeping mothers and babies together – we need more maternity leave!
In other news the Canadians were having great success organizing a competition to break the record for most number of babies being breastfed at the same time (I love how they even got the mayor of one city to participate!), but in Montreal the event was called off because of concerns about Swine Flu. In celebrity news, “Gossip Girl” actress Kelly Rutherford has requested a restraining order on her ex-husband because she claims that his actions have caused her so much stress it has affected her milk supply.
And lastly is a very interesting (dry, but fascinating) article outlining the problems surrounding the need to make nutrition in early life a global priority. This report makes the case that not only does early nutrition have lasting effects over the course of a child’s lifetime (“To further complicate the issue, studies from high-income11 and from low-income and middle-income countries6 strongly suggest that the worst-case scenario for several chronic diseases is the combination of undernutrition in early life and rapid weight gain during late childhood and adolescence”), the window of opportunity for intervention is indeed short, that what happens before a child reaches the age of 3 is more important than what happens afterwards.
If I am reading this right they are suggesting that less attention should be placed on school lunches (“The assumptions behind school feeding programmes and growth monitoring for all children younger than 5 years, for example, should be re-examined.”) and international food aid, and instead there should be more emphasis on breastfeeding and complimentary foods. The real problem for policy makers seems to be “how to promote rapid weight gain in the first 2—3 years of life, but not thereafter.” My thanks to Arun Grupta for sharing this article with everyone.
Hope you are all well, and again I love hearing your comments!
Kathy Abbott, IBCLC
http://www.BusyMomsBreastfeed.com
On Facebook: “Breastfeeding in the News”
My Blog: http://TheCuriousLactivist.wordpress.com/

Ministry Proposes Breastfeeding Course (Brunei)
Bandar Seri Begawan – The Ministry of Health (MoH) has proposed exclusive breastfeeding as one of the topics to be covered in premarital courses in order to provide early knowledge to soon-to-be mothers on the importance of the practice, said acting principal nursing officer Hjh Meriah Pengarah Hj Buntar yesterday.
‘All this time, topics covered by the religious ministry during the courses conducted were more focused on marriage in Islam, but now with the addition of topics under the health aspects, soon-to-be-mothers will have a better knowledge on the benefits of the practice before they conceive,” she explained, adding that the soon-to-be-mothers will at least be well prepared before starting a family.
Their spouses will also then understand the importance of breastfeeding and be supportive, she added.
http://brudirect.com/index.php/200910037693/Local-News/ministry-proposes-breastfeeding-course.html
PGH to embark on breastfeeding mission in ‘Ondoy’ evacuation centers
Instead of canned goods and used clothes, a team of doctors from the University of the Philippines–Philippine General Hospital is bringing a unique donation when they embark on a relief mission to “Ondoy” evacuation centers: breast milk for babies.

Dra. Maria Asuncion Silvestre, head of the PGH Lactation Unit and Milk Bank, said the medical mission aims to help breastfeeding mothers cope with the stress from the massive floods that ravaged their houses and, more importantly, to prevent the spread of diseases among infants.

Silvestre likens breast milk to a “vaccine” that can protect infants from sickness especially in disaster and emergency situations.
Silvestre said the news of infants catching diarrhea and pneumonia in evacuation centers prompted the PGH Newborn Medicine department and some of its partner organizations to educate mothers on how to breastfeed properly during times of crisis.

She discouraged donors from giving infant formula to the evacuees, saying this may bring more harm than good. Even raw breast milk that has not been pasteurized is safer than formula milk, the doctor said.

“In disaster areas, it’s very restricted. The centers can be unsanitary, they have no clean water. They have no way to boil (sterilize) the milk bottles. Formula milk can be contaminated because there are many sources for contamination,” Silvestre explained.

More than half a million people have sought refuge in 726 evacuation centers, where disease and crowded conditions are major concerns.
As of Thursday noon, the relief mission had collected more than 100 liters of breast milk.

For the breastfeeding mission in Cainta, infants up to six months old will be cup-fed by volunteers from the medical school.

“The breastfeeding moms will proceed to our designated area where they will be given some refreshments and Vitamin A. Some of them will be given breastfeeding t-shirts and they will be educated on how to sustain their breastfeeding, even though they are stressed and tired,” Silvestre said.

The t-shirts, drinking water, and a cargo of pasteurized breast milk will be provided by mother-support groups like Mommy Matters and Latch.

Five wet nurses, or mothers who breastfeed children that are not their own, from the support group Arugaan are also joining the mission.

Through the endeavor, Silvestre hopes to provide mothers with the necessary knowledge in caring for infants in disaster situations.

“If the (breast milk) supply for that evacuation center is gone, at least moms can continue breastfeeding their babies. The mission is not meant to be a dole-out; it’s meant to have a multiplier effect,” she said. – GMANews.TV
http://www.gmanews.tv/story/173571/pgh-to-embark-on-breastfeeding-mission-in-ondoy-evacuation-centers#
Breast milk should be drunk at the same time of day that it is expressed
The levels of the components in breast milk change every 24 hours in response to the needs of the baby. A new study published in the journal Nutritional Neuroscience shows, for example, how this milk could help newborn babies to sleep.
Breast milk contains various ingredients, such as nucleotides, which perform a very important role in regulating babies’ sleep. The new study, published recently in the journal Nutritional Neuroscience, confirms that the composition of breast milk changes quite markedly throughout the day.
The scientists looked for three nucleotides in breast milk (adenosine, guanosine and uridine), which excite or relax the central nervous system, promoting restfulness and sleep, and observed how these varied throughout a 24-hour period.
The milk, collected from 30 women living in Extremadura, was expressed over a 24-hour period, with six to eight daily samples. The highest nucleotide concentrations were found in the night-time samples (8pm to 8am).
“This made us realise that milk induces sleep in babies”, Cristina L. Sánchez, lead author of the article and a researcher at the Chrononutrition Laboratory at the University of Extremadura, tells SINC.
“You wouldn’t give anyone a coffee at night, and the same is true of milk – it has day-specific ingredients that stimulate activity in the infant, and other night-time components that help the baby to rest”, explains Sánchez.
In order to ensure correct nutrition, the baby should be given milk at the same time of day that it was expressed from the mother’s breast. “It is a mistake for the mother to express the milk at a certain time and then store it and feed it to the baby at a different time”, points out the researcher. .
References:
Sánchez, Cristina L.; Cubero, Javier; Sánchez, Javier; Chanclón, Belén; Rivero, Montserrat; Rodríguez, Ana B.; Barriga, Carmen. “The possible role of human milk nucleotides as sleep inducers”. Nutritional Neuroscience Vol. 12(1):2-8. 2009.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-10/f-sf-bms100109.php#
For Baby, A breast milk cappuccino
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1217765/For-baby-breast-milk-cappuccino-Morning-feed-gives-infants-natural-pick-up.html
Breastfeeding moms need more aerobic exercise
Cheryl Lovelady and her team from the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) measured bone mineral density in 20 women four to 20 weeks post pregnancy.

They found that those who didn’t exercise lost around seven percent of their lower-spine bone density in that period.

“During lactation, women transfer around 200 milligrams of calcium per day from their own stores to their breast milk,” Lovelady said.

“Calcium is critically linked to bone density and health, and this depletion can result in loss of bone mineral density. When mothers wean their infants, bone mineral density usually returns to normal levels,” she added.
“We proposed that weight-bearing exercise would minimise bone losses during lactation and decrease the risk of osteoporosis later in life,” Lovelady said.

Exercise – especially strength training – can slow bone loss during lactation, the study found.

Besides, regular weight-bearing exercise has an added benefit for moms trying to shed post-pregnancy weight: It significantly improved their body composition compared to the non-exercisers, lowering their body fat percentage and increasing lean mass, even without dietary intervention.

The findings were published in the journal Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise .
Effect of Exercise Training on Loss of Bone Mineral Density during Lactation
http://journals.lww.com/acsm-msse/Fulltext/2009/10000/Effect_of_Exercise_Training_on_Loss_of_Bone.10.aspx
Airline’s breastfeeding bungle
A MELBOURNE mother says she was left in tears after a Tiger Airways flight attendant repeatedly asked her to hide her breastfeeding baby from other passengers on a flight earlier this month.
Kathryn Ward said she was feeding her three-month-old son, James, on a flight between the Gold Coast and Melbourne when a crew member asked her if she had a blanket to cover him.
Mrs Ward said she told the attendant that she had a right to breastfeed, but was asked again to cover her baby because a man seated near her ”might not like to see it”.
”I said to [the man], ‘Does this offend you?’ and he said, ‘No, not at all.’ [The flight attendant] said, ‘Well, people walking down the aisle might not like it.’ ”
http://www.theage.com.au/travel/travel-news/airlines-breastfeeding-bungle-20090929-gb3r.html
MUHC breastfeeding resources get pumped up
Sep. 29, 2009
The Lucie and André Chagnon Foundation donates $350,000 to support breastfeeding programs at the MUHC
As the birth rate in Quebec continues to rise steadily for the sixth year in a row, Mr. Claude Chagnon has some good news for Montrealers and it could not have come at a better time. As President and Chief Operating Officer of the Lucie and André Chagnon Foundation, Mr. Claude Chagnon announces a $350,000 donation to support breastfeeding at the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC).

Already on the path to becoming a designated World Health Organization (WHO) Baby-friendly hospital, this donation will allow the MUHC’s Women’s Health Mission to further support all breastfeeding mothers under their care. “Thanks to this financial support, we have been able to upgrade our technology and purchase state-of-the-art breast pumps to serve our most vulnerable patient populations,” explains Luisa Ciofani, Clinical Nurse Specialist in Obstetrics and International Board Certified Lactation Consultant. “We have also been able to increase the number of lactation consultants working with our new mothers.”

At the MUHC, 87% of new mothers try breastfeeding. Among them, 50% continue to breastfeed exclusively. As a result of the donation, the MUHC will be able to make a greater investment in training personnel in the hopes of further increasing rates of exclusivity.
As a Centre of Excellence for breastfeeding, the MUHC acknowledges the importance of continued research in the field. Sonia Semenic, Nurse Scientist for the MUHC’s Women’s Health Mission, has received a grant from the Fonds québécois de la recherche sur la société et la culture (FQRSC) to study the implementation of Quebec’s policies to protect, support and promote breastfeeding, As part of this study, the MUHC’s Royal Victoria Hospital will participate in an evaluation of barriers and facilitators to the implementation of the World Health Organization’s Baby-Friendly Initiative.
http://www.muhc.ca/media/news/item/?item_id=109855
Breastfeeding challenge hits Chilliwack
Each pre-registered mother and baby will receive a goody bag and commemorative certificates that makes a great keepsake for the baby book. This year participants will enjoy addresses from both Mayor Sharon Gaetz and naturopathic doctor Joanne Menard
At 11 a.m. on Saturday, mothers and children at sites across Canada, the United States and other countries will compete to set the record for the most children breastfeeding at one time. The winners of the competition will be the cities or regions with the most children participating as a percentage of the birth rate.
To level the playing field between large and small, each site will be entered into groups determined by birth rate. Last year B.C won first place in it’s birth-rate category.
Two of the biggest hurdles for mothers continue to be lack of support and marginalization by the community. In North America this lack of support is demonstrated as many women find breastfeeding in public a major barrier.
The Quintessence Breastfeeding Challenge began in 2001 in British Columbia Canada with 856 children at 26 sites. By 2008, there were 7,632 children in nineteen countries at over 300 sites with a total of over 20,000 supporters.
http://www2.canada.com/chilliwacktimes/news/story.html?id=eb1d80f4-d671-49ee-9965-0c723cdbf163
Men Urged to Help in the Promotion of Breastfeeding (Jamaica)
Parish Manager for the Manchester Health Services, Stanhope Scott, wants men to help promote breastfeeding for infants.
“A father’s support is critical to a successful breastfeeding, simply by listening to the mothers. It requires that you actively play a role in your partner’s life without being invasive,” he told a breastfeeding forum organised by the Manchester Health Department, on Thursday (September 24) at the Mandeville Park.
Mr. Scott added that if fathers spend the first weeks after a child’s birth doing some of the household chores and involving themselves in the health and well being of the child, the issue of exclusive breastfeeding will become a norm for mothers.
“Some men mistakenly believe that breastfeeding is strictly confined to women and babies. They see their role as that of a passive or neutral observer who has little influence on the process, but fathers actually have tremendous potential to either facilitate or undermine the success of breastfeeding,” he stated.
He told the audience, consisting mainly of personnel from the Health Department and young mothers, that fathers must equip themselves to actively support mothers in the breastfeeding drive, for healthier children.
The Ministry of Health, with support from the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF), is on a drive to increase the number of mothers that are exclusively breastfeeding
http://www.jis.gov.jm/MinHealth/html/20090928T070000-0500_21284_JIS_MEN_URGED_TO_HELP_IN_THE_PROMOTION_OF_BREASTFEEDING.asp
Healthy skepticism
Is there a conspiracy out there to make parents feel guilty? Don’t answer that. Just consider a recent item on UrbanBaby.com, the website that fancies itself a guide for parents in the know. “If you went to college,’’ it read, “will your daughter develop an eating disorder?’’
Seriously? Seriously. The post summarized a Swedish study of 13,000 women born between 1952 and 1989, and offered these useful facts: Girls were twice as likely to develop eating disorders if their mothers went to college, and six times more likely if their maternal grandmothers went to college. Girls who had high grades were at especially high risk. The researchers figured that girls were reacting to pressure to achieve. And the subtext was clear: Sorry, smart ladies, you messed up again!
This is, mind you, the same UrbanBaby that issued an apology in June for a post titled “Does Breastfeeding Cause Autism?’’ It was about another study, by a California neuroscientist, that examined toxins in the breastmilk of rats. The study contained a host of caveats (such as: People are different from rats). The brief UrbanBaby post did not, raising the ire of breastfeeding and autism-awareness activists – two groups that one should think twice before crossing.
http://www.boston.com/community/moms/articles/2009/09/26/look_beyond_the_headlines/
Assignment deferment extended for births, adoptions
Air Force officials here announced recent modifications to the post-birth and post-adoption assignment deferment policy will increase the time a parent can delay reporting to certain assignments, re-emphasizing the Air Force’s commitment of taking care of its people.

Birth mothers and adoptive families now have a six-month-deferment period instead of four months before reporting to an assignment, including family-member restricted overseas tours, accompanied overseas tours when concurrent travel was denied, and temporary duty assignments or deployments.

This policy change brings the Air Force in line with its sister services. Only the Navy allows more deferment time, up to 12 months.

The extra two months enables behaviors that can positively impact the family later, said Lt. Col. Leslie Wilson, the chief consultant for maternal-child medicine and pediatrics at the Air Force Medical Operations Agency at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas.

“From a medical perspective, this will give the mother and infant a substantial benefit because it allows for eight additional weeks of breastfeeding, which not only helps build the baby’s immunity system, but it helps the mother return to her pre-pregnancy weight faster, reduces her risk of breast and ovarian cancer, and improves family bonding,” Colonel Wilson said.
http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123169624
Breastfeeding activities cancelled in Quebec over H1N1 worries
Quebec Health authorities have cancelled a series of breastfeeding gatherings across the province fearing the H1N1 virus could pose too much of a health risk to mothers and babies.
The Breastfeeding Challenge is held each year in October in some 20 cities across the province with the goal of having the greatest number of babies breastfeed at the same time around the world.
The activity attracts some 2,500 women and their babies in Montreal and 500 in Quebec City.
Authorities said they don’t know how the pandemic will evolve and would rather err on the side of caution.
“Statistics gathered during the first pandemic wave show pregnant women, women who just gave birth, newborns and young children are more vulnerable to the virus and risk developing major complications,” the health agency said in a press release.
Moreover, the agency said babies and toddlers can’t follow the basic hygiene guidelines such as washing hands regularly
http://www.canada.com/health/Breastfeeding+activities+cancelled+Quebec+over+H1N1+worries/2028256/story.html#
Nutrition in early life: a global priority
On Oct 14—18, Berlin will host the first World Health Summit. The prevention of adult chronic diseases through interventions in young children is one of the summit’s key topics. Promotion of good nutrition in early life is essential for health later in life because either undernutrition or overnutrition can cause lifelong, irreversible damage. This matter is especially relevant at a time when the global food and financial crises are disproportionately affecting nutrition of the poorest families in low-income and middle-income countries.
Why is nutrition in early life so important? Since the Barker hypothesis in the 1980s,1 cohort studies from high-income countries showed that fetal growth restriction is associated with adult diseases, especially cardiovascular and metabolic conditions. Over time, emphasis has shifted from low birthweight to growth during the first 2 years of life,2 and from the harmful effects of undernutrition to the dangers of rapid weight gain and of child obesity.3
Nine out of ten children, however, are born in low-income and middle-income countries where undernutrition is common. Published reports from these countries have long emphasised that maternal, fetal, and child undernutrition increase short-term morbidity and mortality in young children.4, 5 Recent long-term follow-up studies—including birth cohorts6 and intervention trials7—give convincing evidence that early undernutrition also affects adult human capital. Good nutrition in early life helps adults to become taller, stronger, and more intelligent, thus improving school achievement, economic productivity, and earnings.
If early nutrition is so important, when should one intervene? The window of opportunity is short. National surveys show that growth faltering occurs from conception to about 2 years of age. Thereafter, the average growth of children from low-income and middle-income countries is similar to that of children from high-income populations.8 Interventions to reduce undernutrition have positive effects on human capital if targeted to children aged 3 years or younger, but, except in the few countries where wasting is frequent, interventions after this age do not seem to confer benefit.7 Longitudinal body-composition studies from low-income and middle-income countries also show that growth in utero and in the first 2 years of life is essential for building lean mass, but later rapid weight gain mainly results in fat-mass deposition. Therefore the net balance between positive and negative consequences of rapid weight gain depends on when it occurs,6 and thus the concept of a window of opportunity is essential for designing intervention strategies.9 However, how to promote rapid weight gain in the first 2—3 years of life, but not thereafter, is a major challenge to policy makers.
Another major challenge is to understand the long-term consequences of nutrition in early life in populations undergoing rapid change.
Our population-based studies in Pelotas, Brazil,10 describe time trends in weight for age in 4-year-old children in the top and bottom quintiles of family income (figure) in the 1982 and the 2004 birth cohorts. Over time, both poor and rich children became fatter, especially the former. The large number of poor children in the 2004 cohort who were above 2 Z scores shows how overweight has become more common among these children, in whom undernutrition was prevalent in 1982. Within-country inequalities in nutritional status might therefore need different approaches for specific population subgroups, which is an additional challenge for policy makers.

Figure Full-size image (51K)
Changes in weight-for-age in children aged 4 years in the bottom and top quintiles of family income in Pelotas, Brazil, in 1982 and 200410
To further complicate the issue, studies from high-income11 and from low-income and middle-income countries6 strongly suggest that the worst-case scenario for several chronic diseases is the combination of undernutrition in early life and rapid weight gain during late childhood and adolescence. This situation is increasingly common in countries undergoing the nutrition transition,6, 12 in which promotion of rapid weight gain, irrespective of the child’s age, might do more harm than good. The assumptions behind school feeding programmes and growth monitoring for all children younger than 5 years, for example, should be re-examined.
Despite the importance of nutrition in early life for adult health and human capital, this topic has received little international funding, especially when compared with large investments for the control of other diseases.13, 14 Furthermore, the limited funding for combating undernutrition is dominated by programmes for food aid and micronutrient supplementation.13 Although such programmes have a definite role in some circumstances, one would also like to see strong investments in community-based approaches—eg, the promotion of breastfeeding and appropriate complementary foods—which have well-established effects on child survival and nutritional status.15
The Berlin summit will allow discussion of policy implications of these findings and of remaining research gaps. For example, how can we reconcile findings from high-income countries on the potential dangers of rapid weight gain in early life as a risk factor for chronic diseases with those of low-income and middle-income countries, which show that undernutrition not only increases short-term morbidity and mortality, but also irreversibly affects human capital?
There is still much to be learned about specific aspects of the associations between early nutrition, adult health, and human capital. Nevertheless, the importance of preventing undernutrition in utero and in children during the first 2 years of life is gaining increasing importance in light of new findings on long-term effects. The main challenge now is how to incorporate these findings into health policies, and especially how to convince governments that early nutrition programmes are long-term investments in human and social development.

http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(09)61725-6/fulltext
Gossip’ Mom Rutherford Gets Restraining Order Over ‘Threatening’ Ex
‘Gossip Girl’ actress Kelly Rutherford has been granted a temporary restraining order against her estranged husband, claiming that his presence has been threatening to both Rutherford and her nanny. In the legal filing, Rutherford claims that Daniel Giersch “has begun to follow me, my mother and my nanny and he shows up unexpectedly to threaten and scare us.” TMZ reports. Rutherford also claims that Giersch’s behavior and the stress that has been caused by it has affected her breast milk production.
________________________________________

“From time to time I have some extra milk, but I never know when…I believe that the stress Daniel has created for me is also negatively impacting my ability to produce milk,” the documents say
http://www.popeater.com/2009/09/25/kelly-rutherford-restraining-order-gossip-girl?icid=main|hp-laptop|dl2|link4|http%3A%2F%2Fwww.popeater.com%2F2009%2F09%2F25%2Fkelly-rutherford-restraining-order-gossip-girl

Breastfeeding in the News: Sept. 2nd, – Sept 9th 2009

Hello all,
Let’s talk about men and breastfeeding for a minute. Sometimes I think men “get it” better than a lot of women. The creator of the statue of Angelina Jolie breastfeeding actually seemed surprised at all the public reaction. Apparently there had been no great out cry over his last statue which portrayed Brittney Spears on her hands and knees giving birth on a bear skin rug. “I was kind of stumped because I didn’t realize people were so much against public breastfeeding. I thought, ‘How much more wholesome can you get than breastfeeding,” And then there’s the dad blogging about multiples who reports “Dads are the first line of support because they’re usually the ones present for the late night feedings after friends, families, and lactation consultants have gone home to sleep in their own beds.” Ain’t that the truth! (Be sure to vote in this week’s poll. The question this week is, “Do you think that more men are supportive of breastfeeding than women?” https://thecuriouslactivist.wordpress.com/todays-poll/ )
It’s nice to hear that some men are so supportive, but that’s nothing compared to the efforts of a young dad in Sweden. This 26 yr old student is using a breast pump every 3 hours in an attempt to induce lactation. “Anything that doesn’t do any harm is worth trying out. And if it works it could prove very important for men’s ability to get much closer to their children at an early stage.” Even more interesting is the chatter this is causing over here in America. In response to the ugly jokes going around on talk radio one male blogger wrote,” I am willing to stand as a second for anyone defending the manliness of being that physiologically devoted to your kids. And further, I argue that any male who wouldn’t be willing to lactate to feed their child, if the need arose, is NOT MAN ENOUGH to be a dad and should not have children. Period. Man up and grow a pair.” Well said!
Now let’s compare this to how women react to breastfeeding. A “Hoboken Moms” Yahoo group have been trying to decide if the kids playing ball in Church Square Park were too close to nursing moms, or as others believe the nursing moms shouldn’t be, well, nursing where kids are supposed to play ball. Apparently “one mom said she felt more threatened by a “friendly squirt.” Whether she was referring to a friendly squirt of breast milk or a young child I’m not sure.
Over in Chicago a mother was nursing her 7 month old when “a woman in her 40s–with two young children in tow–approached and asked Trost what she was doing. “And then she said, ‘Do you have a blanket?’” Trost recalled Friday. “I said, ‘It’s 90 degrees out — of course I don’t have a blanket.’ Her response was an immediate call to arms which resulted in a nurse-in with a photo-op on the front page of the Chicago Sun. Meanwhile back on the net they are still arguing at the Momlogic blog over the “Stop telling me to breastfeed” story. “All these articles do is cause the fanatical breastfeeders to come out of the woodwork and cause all the non-breastfeeders to feel like crap and for the non-breastfeeders to be endlessly trying to defend themselves. Both sides end up hurt or angry. STOP THESE ARTICLES!!!!” pleads one reader.
So what do the female experts have to say? Well let’s check in with Dr. Wendy Walsh who wants us to know that while it’s perfectly normal to have an orgasm while breastfeeding, but if you do it’s definitely a sign that need to stop sleeping so closely to your baby. “Then one night while I was sleeping, I had one of those fabulous dreams that, if a guy had had it, would have involved moisture. You’ve heard about them. I woke up from the dream to find that my tiny vampire had been doing some nocturnal suckling while I slept. Let me tell you, the experience totally freaked me out. And that was it. I had a co-sleeping bed beside me after that. I needed that bundle an arm’s length away.” Gee Doc, so you’re saying it’s normal; just don’t let it happen again? Hmmm.
But in case you think I’m focusing too much on gender perhaps it would interest you to know that according to a Supreme Court judges in Ohio (in the Totes/Isomer case I told you about last week) breastfeeding is not gender related. (“Breastfeeding discrimination does not constitute gender discrimination.”) Well, I guess that might be true in Sweden but are Ohio dads also lactating? No, it’s just that in Ohio pregnancy and lactation seem to be totally unrelated. “Pregnant [women] who give birth and choose not to breastfeed or pump their breasts do not continue to lactate for five months. Thus, Allen’s condition of lactating was not a condition relating to pregnancy but rather a condition related to breastfeeding.”
This is just making my head spin. Let’s look at what else is happening around the world. Drawing inspiration from their own industry a commercial bank in the Phillipines has created a “milk bank” (lactation room) that enables nursing mothers to express breast milk during office breaks, deposit them in the facility’s refrigerator and withdraw them at the end of the working day. I like it! Maybe some day a creative insurance company will come up with “insurance rooms” to insure the good health of their working mothers or hospitals will provide “health rooms”, or schools will have “brain power rooms”, etc. (stop me before I try to figure out what to call lactation rooms in the entertainment industry.)
Australia was a bit of a disappointment this week. Seems the government has chosen not to support a bill protecting breastfeeding mothers from discrimination. But don’t give up all hope, the government in Uganda having recognized the need for mothers and babies to be together breastfeeding mothers in prison will now be allotted more than just on meal a day. The fact that some of these mothers are still in prison even though their sentence is finished is also being looked into.
So what are our lactivists been up to lately? Well in southern California the local breastfeeding coalition is sponsoring a debate on vaccines, which I think is a great way to get a little publicity. And in England a parenting group has posted a link to a free breastfeeding instructional video (if any of you have a chance to watch the video I would love to know what grade you would give it).
And lastly in odds & ends, Nebraska University is starting the school year with dozens of lactation rooms in place. Another hospital has gone Baby Friendly in California bringing the US total up to a whopping total of 83. And reality star Michelle Duggar who is pregnant with baby number 19 confesses that she uses the “lactational amenorrhea” method of birth control. (Michelle by the way delivered 13 of her babies by VBAC!)
Again be sure to vote in this week’s poll. The question this week is, “Do you think that more men are supportive of breastfeeding than women?” (https://thecuriouslactivist.wordpress.com/todays-poll/ )
Kathy Abbott, IBCLC
http://www.BusyMomsBreastfeed.com
On Facebook: “Breastfeeding in the News”
My Blog: http://TheCuriousLactivist.wordpress.com/

Government won’t support breastfeeding Bill (Australia)
There has been an emotional debate in the WA Parliament over a Bill which aims to protect breastfeeding mothers from discrimination.
The Labor frontbencher Michelle Roberts introduced the private members bill earlier this year after a breastfeeding woman was asked to leave the lobby of a Perth hotel.
The Premier Colin Barnett this morning said he supported the principle of the Bill, but the Attorney-General Christian Porter has told parliament the government will not support it because the protection is already enshrined in law.
“If what we’re about is sending messages then so be it,” he said.
“But if what we’re about is actually protecting people’s rights not to be discriminated about, that protection exists.”
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/09/09/2681363.htm
Swedish dad tries to breast-feed
Ragnar Bengtsson, a 26-year-old student at Stockholm University, is regularly breaking out a breast pump to induce lactation. Bengtsson is the father of a 2-year-old child, but he has no plans to nurse his toddler. Rather he wants to breast-feed future children and inspire other dads to offer their breasts as a way to bond with their children at earlier stages of development.
“Anything that doesn’t do any harm is worth trying out. And if it works it could prove very important for men’s ability to get much closer to their children at an early stage,” Bengtsson told The Local, an English newspaper in Sweden.
Bengtsson plans to pump his breasts (watch video below) at three-hour intervals every day until the beginning of December. He’s a full-time economics student, so he won’t always be able to pump in private.
“I’m going to have to pull out the pump during lectures,” he told The Local. “But really it doesn’t bother me if it makes people uncomfortable. If they have issues with it that’s their problem.”
“Women breastfeed after they’ve been bathing in estrogen during a nine month pregnancy, so obviously it takes some time,” Werner, a professor of endocrinology at Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, told The Local. “But if he works on it regularly he’ll likely notice a layer of tissue forming beneath the areola and it should be possible to produce enough of the hormone prolactin to cause lactation,” she said.
This story brings up some questions: What if men could easily produce breast-milk? Would men welcome the responsibility of breast-feeding? And would moms even want dads to step in to help with nursing?
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfmoms/detail?entry_id=47119&tsp=1
Breastfeeding dads and what to do when you’re not
I would like to go on record at this point to say that I am willing to stand as a second for anyone defending the manliness of being that physiologically devoted to your kids. And further, I argue that any male who wouldn’t be willing to lactate to feed their child, if the need arose, is NOT MAN ENOUGH to be a dad and should not have children. Period.
Man up and grow a pair.
I would also like to point out that this is not a new idea — dads who feed their kids — and that Darwin talked about it. And that it is medically documented where fathers, often after the death of a child’s mother, due to stress and increased prolactin, were able to breastfeed their kids.
I am reminded of the saddest thing I ever saw a dad do, in person. When the Goddess was in the NICU another little baby, a boy, met his dad. Young kid. 20 if he was lucky. And with his son in the baby intensive care ward, where they put your baby if your baby needs INTENSIVE CARE, this kid wouldn’t kiss his son (in,did I mention, the NICU) because it was “gay”.
Really? Kissing your kids is “gay” and feeding them with your own body is a sign of weakness?
Good to know.
http://www.examiner.com/x-2618-Dallas-Fatherhood-Examiner~y2009m9d8-Breastfeeding-dads-and-what-to-do-when-youre-not
PacifiCord Partners with Local Retailer in a Debate on Childhood Vaccines
Dedicated to serving the private cord blood banking needs of Southern California, PacifiCord (www.pacificord.com) announced they are partnering with Milkalicious, an Aliso Viejo-based breastfeeding boutique and education center, in sponsoring “The Great Vaccine Debate.” This debate, presented by the Orange County Breastfeeding Coalition, a non-profit organization whose members are actively engaged in making breastfeeding the cultural norm, will provide information to parents and medical professionals about the pros and cons of pediatric vaccines.
Experts speaking at “The Great Vaccine Debate” include Dr. Jeremy Kaslow, MD, FACP, and a FACAAI specialist in immunology and pediatric allergies, who will be discussing the immunology of breast milk. Dr. Bob Sears, MD, pediatrician and author of The Vaccine Book, will speak on his “Alternative Vaccine Schedule,” and Dr. Harry Pellman, MD, who will discuss the danger of not following the AAP guidelines for vaccines, and the controversy of the vaccine-autism link.
http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20090908005031&newsLang=en
Ogoola calls for special law on breast feeding inmates
THE Principal Judge, Justice James Ogoola, has called for a new law to ensure that women imprisoned with breastfeeding children get special nutritional care.

Ogoola said this would address the welfare of children, who commit no crime but are confined to prison wards because of the current legal system.

“It is a fundamental question that requires Parliament to review. We need a law on how these blameless children fit in crime,” he said, adding that he would start a discussion over the matter.

He noted that the current laws only prohibit the execution of convicted pregnant women, adding that similar treatment, in terms of feeding, should also be extended to women with breastfeeding children.

Ogoola made the remarks while addressing inmates at Arua prison on Friday. One of the mothers said she was finding it difficult to produce enough milk because of the poor and insufficient meals.

The prison in-charge, Patrick Masiga, said there were 597 inmates in custody with six children, who have one meal a day, due to limited resources.
http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/16/693928
Breastfeeding from a dad’s point of view
For every mother out there who makes the decision to breast feed, there’s a dad thinking “Woo hoo, no late night feedings for me!”. That’s probably mostly true for fathers of singleton children, but if you’re going to be the father of multiples you’d better think again.

Breastfeeding multiples is not a solo operation, at least not at the newborn or young infant stages. It’s not something you can truly appreciate until you try to pick up two floppy newborn babies with no ability to hold up their own heads and no control over their flailing extremities. If mom wants to feed each baby individually, that means dad’s most likely going to be providing entertainment and soothing for the unruly audience. It takes a certain amount of resourcefulness to convince a newborn that he really doesn’t need to eat until his sister is done.

Dads are the first line of support because they’re usually the ones present for the late night feedings after friends, families, and lactation consultants have gone home to sleep in their own beds.
http://www.examiner.com/x-16113-Nashville-Parenting-Multiples-Examiner~y2009m9d8-Breastfeeding-from-a-dads-point-of-view
Economics of breastfeeding
Powdered formula costs an average of $25 for roughly a 25 oz can. That’s around $0.13 for every fluid ounce (fl. oz.). It might not seem a lot. But a newborn usually consumes at least 1 fl. oz. every 2 hours or $11 a week. According to Babycenter.com, the average 6-month-old can consume around 21 fl. oz. a day, which translates to over $75 in a month. Surebaby.com even recommends budgeting $40 a week for formula, amounting to over $2,000 a year! Moreover, organic, soy-based, lactose-free and hypoallergenic formula are usually a couple of dollars more than milk-based ones.
It is worthy to note that a stay-at-home mother who breastfeeds 100% of the time, hardly has any cost except for nursing pads: around $5 for a reusable pair or at least $6 a month for disposables. Additional costs specific to breast-feeding mothers might include $35 for a nursing pillow, $12 for a manual breast pump (as low as $30 for an electric one: Ameda brand), $5 for a 10-liner storage kit, and $19 for a nursing shawl.
Although breastfeeding mothers might spend a little over $70 in incidental expenses, most of these are one-time purchases. Compared to around $2,000 for formula, the price differential alone warrants at least an attempt at breastfeeding.

http://www.examiner.com/x-18439-Newark-Working-Moms-Examiner~y2009m9d7-Economics-of-breastfeeding
Bounty Parenting Club Launches View on Demand ‘How to Breastfeed’ Video

LONDON, September 7 /PRNewswire/ — Bounty, the UK’s favourite parenting club, today launches a 4 minute ‘How to Breastfeed’ online video clip to help expectant and new mums take a real life, close up peek at how a baby ‘latches on’ to the breast when feeding.
To view the Multimedia News Release, please click:
http://www.prnewswire.com/mnr/bounty/39761/

http://news.prnewswire.com/DisplayReleaseContent.aspx?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/09-07-2009/0005089025&EDATE=
‘Milk banking’
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas has taken on a new role aside from its traditional central banking activities – “milk banking” or the banking of milk of lactating mothers in the workplace.
BSP Deputy Governor Armando Suratos, who heads the Resource Management Sector, recently approved the construction and maintenance of a “milk bank” for BSP working mothers. The “milk bank” (lactation room) enables nursing mothers to express breast milk during office breaks, deposit them in the facility’s refrigerator and withdraw them at the end of the working day.
Of course, the deposits do not earn any interest. But certainly, they yield high returns in terms of the improved health and general well-being of the mothers, their babies as well as improved employee morale.
The milk bank project, according to Suratos, is a special tribute to the unsung heroes of the workplace: Women who choose to work to help ensure the future of their families and continue to care for their young ones at the same time.
The recent BSP two-day “Breastfeeding Awareness Festival” has helped increase the appreciation of breastfeeding as a way of promoting a healthy life. The event also demonstrated that it is possible for mothers to provide the best nourishment to their children even after their maternity leaves end.

http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/219394/milk-banking
Stop Telling Me to Breastfeed!
Last week, momlogic brought you the story of one mom-to-be who was sick and tired of people telling her to breastfeed. Whether you agreed or disagreed, everyone seemed to have some more advice to give our blogger.
Please STOP the breastfeeding articles! Enough is enough! There has been article after article and all it ends up doing is causing catfights. Please, move on from this issue. All these articles do is cause the fanatical breastfeeders to come out of the woodwork and cause all the non-breastfeeders to feel like crap and for the non-breastfeeders to be endlessly trying to defend themselves. Both sides end up hurt or angry. STOP THESE ARTICLES!!!! New moms have enough to worry about. Reading the judgmental remarks from commenters is the kind of stuff that kept me up at night in tears of stress when I was pregnant. Enough already Mom Logic!!! — Enough!
Great article! That’s exactly what I have been saying … nobody should ASSUME anything about the way a mom chooses to feed her baby. Breastmilk or formula … who cares!? And seriously, formula doesn’t kill your child!!! – RachelAZ
There is nothing wrong with a doctor pointing out the health benefits of breastfeeding … and there are many. After all, that is his/her job! I know for some mothers, it is difficult or not at all possible. But, I have heard of many moms that couldn’t with the first and had no problems with the second. So, being educated and knowing all the benefits, why not try? What do you have to lose? I work full-time and managed to BF & pump for my child’s first 7 months. It was difficult, annoying, uncomfortable … but on the advice of my trusted medical professional, it was the best thing to do … so I did it for my child. —
http://www.momlogic.com/2009/09/stop_telling_me_to_breastfeed_1.php
Angelina Now a Fertility Goddess; Bronzed Breastfeeding Twins (VIDEO)
Connecticut sculptor Daniel Edwards, who is known for his unusual celebrity creations molded the piece and has been showing off the unfinished clay and bronze statue.
Edwards says the statue, called “Landmark for breastfeeding,” is nearly life-sized and shows a nude Jolie holding two of her children like footballs. (Somehow, it doesn’t seem to be done this way.)
“It was a highly charged issue, and I was kind of stumped because I didn’t realize people were so much against public breastfeeding. I thought, ‘How much more wholesome can you get than breastfeeding,” Edwards said.
His other celebrity statues haven’t be quite as straight forward. Celebutard Paris Hilton is sculpted dead, naked with her legs wide open and her intestines exposed. Pop star Britney Spears on hands and knees giving birth on a bear skin rug.
http://www.theimproper.com/Template_Article.aspx?IssueId=17&ArticleId=3986
Kaiser South, Birth Center designated as “Baby Friendly”
Kaiser Permanente South Sacramento Medical Center and The Birth Center in Fair Oaks have earned a designation likely to increase their credibility with expectant mothers.
Kaiser is the first hospital in Sacramento County and one of only 83 facilities in the nation to receive the designation. The Birth Center bills itself as “the only freestanding, midwifery-operated birth center” in the Sacramento area. Sutter Health’s hospital in Davis was already on the list.
http://www.bizjournals.com/sacramento/stories/2009/08/31/daily93.html
Breastfeeding moms rally to support hassled woman
You knew the demonstration was under way Friday because, all of a sudden, it got very quiet.
A dozen or so babies suckled in silent, unwitting support of a Rogers Park mother hassled last month for breastfeeding in public.
» Click to enlarge image

Dozens of mothers came out to Lincoln Square Plaza Friday in support of a breast-feeding mom who was harassed earlier this week for nursing in public.

(Rich Hein/Sun-Times)

Mothers and infants, and a few dads, gathered in Lincoln Square’s Giddings Plaza–the same spot where mom Lauren Trost says she was accused of being indecent and breaking the law for feeding her seven-month-old son Hank in public.
“Breasts are men’s toys, don’t you know,” said a sarcastic Colette Bernhard, protester and mother of three. “They’re not supposed to be for your baby.”
Last month, Trost, 33, was in Lincoln Square helping her sister open a jewelry store. At some point, Trost sat down in Giddings Plaza and began feeding her baby. That’s when a woman in her 40s–with two young children in tow–approached and asked Trost what she was doing.
“And then she said, ‘Do you have a blanket?’” Trost recalled Friday. “I said, ‘It’s 90 degrees out — of course I don’t have a blanket.’
Trost and her supporters were mostly preaching to the choir Friday. The patio lunch crowd at nearby Cafe Selmarie rarely looked up from their hot panini and home-made quiche.
“In the 1930s, they would unbutton their (dresses) and pull the whole thing aside to nurse their babies, according to my 96-year-old great-aunt,” said Bernhard. “And that was the 1930s. I thought we were more enlightened in the 21st Century.
one passerby–who missed the demonstration–said he disapproves of a women breastfeeding openly.
“I just don’t think it’s proper for women to show their breasts out in public unless they’re on the beach,” said Jeff Hooker, 47, recently unemployed and living in Lincoln Square.
Meanwhile, Trost says she hasn’t seen the woman who heckled her and doesn’t know her name. What would Trost do if she saw her again?
“I think I’d smile at her and breastfeed my baby,” Trost said. “Maybe I’d give her a little knowing wink.”
http://www.suntimes.com/lifestyles/1754176,rogers-park-breastfeeding-party-090409.article
Hoboken football mom takes on breastfeeding moms over park space…
In the latest minor tiff, some folks complained in the popular “Hoboken Moms” Yahoo group that kids were playing ball in Church Square Park too close to nursing moms, but others believe that the nursing moms shouldn’t be, well, nursing where kids are supposed to play ball.

And one mom said she felt more threatened by a “friendly squirt.”
http://hudsonreporter.com/pages/full_stories_home/push?article–Hoboken+football+mom+takes+on+breastfeeding+moms+over+park+space-%20&id=3522937–Hoboken+football+mom+takes+on+breastfeeding+moms+over+park+space-&instance=up_to_the_minute_lead_story_left_column
Women Who Orgasm During Breastfeeding
You don’t have to feel ashamed — it’s perfectly natural. An expert tells us.
Dr. Wendy Walsh:
Then one night while I was sleeping, I had one of those fabulous dreams that, if a guy had had it, would have involved moisture. You’ve heard about them. I woke up from the dream to find that my tiny vampire had been doing some nocturnal suckling while I slept. Let me tell you, the experience totally freaked me out. And that was it. I had a co-sleeping bed beside me after that. I needed that bundle an arm’s length away.
http://www.momlogic.com/2009/09/women_who_orgasm_during_breastfeeding.php
Public Scolding Infuriates Breastfeeding Mother
Lauren Trost Is Planning A Public Lincoln Square Nurse-In
Trost says she always nurses her 7-month-old son discreetly in Lincoln Square. That’s why she says she was stunned when a woman recently threatened her by saying:

“‘I’m going to call the police, and then I said, ‘please call the police,'” Trost said. “She said, ‘what you’re doing is indecent, there are children here.’ And I said, ‘I’m just feeding my baby.'”

Nursing a child in public is not against the law in Illinois. Trost says she’s telling her story to reinforce that fact. She also plans to hold a public nurse-in with other mothers to get her point across.
http://cbs2chicago.com/topstories/breastfeeding.public.mother.2.1160900.html
Working moms need a break from lactation regulations
If you think breast-feeding is a gender-specific ability, then you are so out of step with Ohio’s Supreme Court.
Last week, in a 5-1 ruling, the highest court here ruled that an Ohio law that bans discrimination against pregnant women does not protect them from punishment for taking unauthorized breaks to use a breast pump after they birth those babies.
In 2005, LaNisa Allen was the lactating mother of a 5-month-old son. She was also employed at the Totes/Isotoner Corp. in suburban Cincinnati – the same manufacturer that pitches those handy little umbrellas, gloves and slippers to women.
Allen was fired after her supervisor caught her pumping breast milk during an unscheduled break. Had Allen gotten permission, the court said, she could have asked the justices to decide whether Ohio’s pregnancy law protected lactation. But no, she had to go pump when nature called. She blew it, even though there was no evidence that employees had to check with a boss before taking an unscheduled visit to the bathroom.
As Salon.com’s Kate Harding pointed out, the justices affirmed a lower-court decision that included this little gem:
“Pregnant [women] who give birth and choose not to breastfeed or pump their breasts do not continue to lactate for five months. Thus, Allen’s condition of lactating was not a condition relating to pregnancy but rather a condition related to breastfeeding. Breastfeeding discrimination does not constitute gender discrimination.”
Whoa. Wait a minute. If breast- feeding discrimination has nothing to do with gender, does that mean we’ve got men lactating in Ohio and nobody told me?
Or are we saying it’s a mother’s fault if she gives in to all that pressure from children’s advocates and public health officials who insist that nursing is the No. 1 way to improve infant health?
http://www.cleveland.com/schultz/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/living-0/1251880456243420.xml&coll=2
Michelle Duggar pregnant with baby #19
Michelle Duggar recently found out that she is pregnant with her 19th child. The Duggar family does not use traditional birth control methods–they space their children naturally through lactational amenorrhea.
She began to suspect pregnancy when she could not loose weight (she and husband Jim Bob Duggar are on weight watchers) and her baby was fussy while breastfeeding. From her past experience with 18 kids, Michelle Duggar knows that a fussy baby trying to nurse means that you might be breastfeeding while pregnant.
Michelle has successfully delivered 13 of her children by VBAC’s.
http://www.examiner.com/x-6258-Huntsville-Natural-Parenting-Examiner~y2009m9d1-Michelle-Duggar-pregnant-with-baby-19
Breastfeeding on UNL Campus
Lactating spaces billed as Family Friendly
Beginning Sept. 10, dozens of lactation spaces will be available to nursing mothers campuswide.
“The University of Nebraska-Lincoln recognizes the importance of supporting new mothers who want to continue to breastfeed while they work or attend school,” said Chancellor Harvey Perlman.
Two types of lactation rooms are located around campus, so that a person wanting to use a room is always within a 5- to 10-minute walk from a designated room. Several spaces on campus are semi-private lactation rooms. These are located in areas that through the use of screens and other devices, are semi-private but do not require a key or any form of permission for entry. Each space is equipped with a comfortable chair, a table, and an electrical outlet.
Ultimately, there will be 14 semi-private and 38 private rooms available on campus. Lactation room locations and a list of contact individuals for the private rooms will be available online soon. As new buildings are constructed, UNL will identify rooms that can be scheduled for lactation rooms as part of the planning process.
http://nebraska.statepaper.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2009/09/04/4aa0fb10ab20d