To pump or not to pump?

I've been pumping and donating since Ivy was 2 weeks old. Every night, I hook myself up to the pump, settle back into the couch, and pump a cup of liquid gold for my donor family. Sometimes I would be so tired when it came time to pump. I just want to go to bed...maybe I'll do it in the morning...but still every night I would sit down, plug in, and pump.

I love nursing my children, and I would be devastated if I were unable to breastfeed. That's why I pump, even when I don't feel like it.

I've wondered how long I could continue pumping after I was done nursing my last baby...months? years? decades? Some wet nurses continued to nurse babies into their 70s and 80s, so I suppose there is no absolute upper limit on lacatation.

With our upcoming move to France, however, I knew my pumping days would likely end. I don't have a 240V pump and our new apartment doesn't have a proper freezer. Two strikes, you're out. When I realized this, I was excited at the thought of freedom from pumping. When I'm tired, I can just go to bed!

My visit to Seattle two weeks ago might have answered my dilemma about when to stop pumping. I didn't bring a pump. I figured Ivy would take care of the extra milk if I gave her more opportunities to nurse. I did get a little engorged, but not uncomfortably so. I tried my sister's single manual pump (Isis Avent) and that thing is worthless! I easily express 8+ ounces with my double electric pump, but only got a half an ounce with the manual pump.

When I came home from Seattle, I didn't pump the first night...or the next...or the next.

I think I am done.

I've been working on saying no to more things. Even though I could do them, I choose not to. I'm a little wistful because this might be my last opportunity to donate. But I'm also ready to move on and enjoy a few more minutes of sleep every night, a few more minutes not tied down to a machine, a few more minutes when my body is mine and no one else's. 

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Is milk sharing like playing Russian Roulette?

Zari admiring some donor milk I'd just pumped

I was listening to an NPR report a few days ago on how the booming demand for donated breastmilk has raised safety issues. I'm always happy to hear topics such as milk banks and informal milk sharing on a national stage. However, the reporting made me all jumpy. I almost talked back to the radio.

Quick synopsis: more women want to breastfeed, and those who can't are turning to milk banks and informal milk sharing. Milk banks are swamped by high demand and can only give it to babies who need it the most. So many mothers have turned to milk donors/sellers. But milk sharing is dangerous! Don't forget, formula isn't that bad.

I've donated milk to many families after Zari and Ivy were born. It's not that hard to ensure that donor milk is safe. If the mom has tested negative for certain communicable diseases (HIV, syphilus, hepatitis, etc.) and follows commonsense precautions like freezing the milk right away, then it's not "playing Russian roulette with your child's life," as Kim Updegrove, president of the Human Milk Banking Association of North America, suggested.

To give Updegrove some credit, she was specifically referring to breast milk sold online through anonymous sellers. I'd be wary of buying milk online, too. I value the person-to-person contact involved in milk sharing.

I also take issue with the assertion that every ounce of milk donated informally or sold online is one less ounce to a milk bank. I don't have time or desire to drive my milk to the nearest bank, which is a 2 hour drive roundtrip. And while I think that milk banks are fantastic, the cost of milk is over $4/oz, sometimes much more. That's over $100/day for an average baby! I love that I can help other mothers out for free.

What bothered me the most, though, was how the report pushed formula at the very end:

In the meantime, even nursing proponents like Updegrove and Tucker maintain that when nursing fails emphasize that formula remains a good and safe choice for full-term, healthy babies. They say donor breast milk should be preserved for the babies who need it most: babies who are premature, allergic, or have digestive problems.

"Formula sometimes doesn't have to be the four-letter word," Tucker says. "Sometimes it's necessary and that's OK. And sometimes we need to let moms know that's OK, you're still doing the best you can do."

Informal milk sharing isn't a zero sum game. Milk is a free-flowing resource, and milk sharing can be very safe. Women who seek donor milk feel strongly that formula is not as "good and safe" as it's made out to be--that's why they're looking for alternatives to formula in the first place!

If you're looking to donate or receive donor breast milk, you can try:

• Human Milk 4 Human Babies (also on Facebook) 
• Eats on Feets
• MilkShare

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Not enough milk: one mother's story

A blog reader, Michelle, sent me her breastfeeding stories. She has four children and was never able to nurse exclusively, despite trying everything. I'm so glad she was willing to share her experiences. Some women cannot produce enough milk for their babies. For those who want to nurse but cannot, the regret and frustration can be overwhelming. 

Michelle commented to me: "I am very grateful that I was able to nurse my girls for however long I could. I wish I were still nursing my fourth! I am glad to that I finally decided to pursue all solutions because I needed to realize that nothing I did would help. That knowledge helped alleviate a lot of guilt. If I ever have another child, I won't beat myself up so much and just enjoy what I can give them!"

I want to encourage anyone who can to donate breastmilk to mothers in need. You can go through a milk bank, or you can donate directly. I chose the latter option because milk banks charge upwards of $4/ounce and they pasteurize the milk. I was screened for any common infectious diseases (the same ones that milk banks screen for) and shared the results with the donor family. You can visit Human Milk 4 Human Babies to connect with families in need.


My first pregnancy was very easy. The only unusual thing about it was that my breasts didn't grow, but since it was my first, I didn't notice. After a traumatic delivery with 4th degree tearing, I struggled getting my baby to latch but she eventually did. 72 hours postpartum, my milk came in and we started our nursing relationship.

At five weeks postpartum, my milk supply suddenly dropped. I thought it was because of two reasons-- the first being that at two weeks postpartum, I had gone back to school to finish my last year of college and, since I didn't have a breast pump, instructed the babysitter to feed my daughter formula when she was hungry. The other reason, I thought, may have been because my daughter was going through a growth spurt.

After two weeks of near-constant nursing and lots of crying, I realized I needed to supplement. I had been co-sleeping, drinking a lot and taking brewer's yeast (the solutions suggested to me by my lactation consultant) but I simply wasn't producing enough. I started supplementing a lot but continued nursing a little until we weaned at eleven months.

-------------

My second pregnancy was also easy and this time my breasts did grow a little. I had a much easier labor with very little tearing and nursed almost immediately after. My milk came in at 48 hours and all seemed to be going well until I got mastitis twice the second week postpartum. After that my milk never recovered and I started supplementing at three weeks postpartum. I also experienced postpartum depression, which negatively impacted my milk supply and my daughter weaned herself at 7 months. I was very sad, but my daughter was finished.

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My third pregnancy was a joyful one and healing in many ways. My breasts grew a lot and I had an easy, natural delivery. My third daughter latched easily and nursed well. My milk came in well at 48 hours. I was determined to do everything right and nurse full time, so I obtained a hand pump and for the first six weeks, I would pump one side while nursing on the other--even in the middle of the night. I got mastitis but caught it early enough that it didn't affect my supply.

At six weeks I figured that I had established a good supply and stopped pumping. At around four weeks my daughter had started crying every night for hours and was growing slowly, but I felt like I had enough. When I stopped pumping, however, I saw a very fast decrease in my supply. At seven weeks, I began taking fenugreek daily to help my supply, which I did until she was about four months old. At that point I had to start supplementing, in spite of the fenugreek. Once I started supplementing, my daughter stopped crying at night and started growing faster. We supplemented and nursed until she was 14 months old. Supplementing brought about a huge personality change in her and she turned into a happy, easy baby.

----------------

My fourth pregnancy was harder. There was a lot of stress, some antenatal depression, and I had incredible hip/sciatic pain. I would crawl to the bathroom in the middle of the night because it was too painful to walk. I was determined to breastfeed, but I started getting concerned when I couldn't express any colostrum one month before her birth. My breasts grew, but not nearly as much as my third pregnancy.

Her birth was an amazing, unassisted home birth. She started screaming as soon as she was born and didn't stop for 30 minutes. I tried to get her to latch and finally she latched at 30 minutes postpartum, but didn't nurse well or frequently the first 24 hours. I kept her at the breast for nearly 36 hours, but she struggled with her latch and bobbed on and off. She figured out her latch around 72 hours. My milk also came in about then, but I wasn't engorged. I never suffered any engorgement at all.

At 6 days postpartum, we received a call from her pediatrician stating that her newborn screening results had come back abnormal. We spent the next 3 days meeting with doctors and specialists, with a huge amount of stress and very little sleep. She was diagnosed with MCADD, a rare but fairly easy to manage metabolic disorder. One of the management techniques was frequent feeding, every three to four hours. She was a good sleeper, so I had to set alarms throughout the night to wake up to feed her.

By the time she was 10 days old, I was on Reglan to increase my supply. We were in the middle of selling our house and the stress of that, combined with the stress of her diagnosis and lack of sleep, impacted my already tenuous supply. My supply had dropped the few days we were learning about her diagnosis and I simply couldn't keep up.

In order to build my supply back up after taking Reglan, I started sleeping nine to ten hours a day, consuming about 100 ounces of fluid and about 3000 calories. I put on weight. I obtained a double electric breast pump and pumped in between nursing sessions. I co-slept, took my Reglan prescription (even convinced my doctor to give me a refill) and began taking the MoreMilk Plus tincture. I nursed her as frequently as she wanted, often sitting for three to four hours in the evening just to get her to sleep. I continued this regimen of milk-increasing tactics until she was 9 weeks old. By this point, we were getting ready to move and she was so hungry she screamed all day in my arms. I would nurse her every 45 minutes for 20 minutes, pump during or in between and do all the other things I had been doing. She would bob on and off, cry the whole time we were nursing and was not satisfied after. She would scream most of the day and nursed constantly at night. I was completely exhausted, mentally and emotionally.

In order to make our move easier, I began to pump instead of nursing so people could feed her while I was packing. I have an overactive letdown reflex and can easily pump. It was then I realized that I was only producing seven to ten ounces a day in spite of everything. I had only been supplementing with four to six ounces of formula a day up to this point. I realized her crying wasn't because of colic, but because of hunger. I was basically keeping her fed just enough to avoid a metabolic crisis.

So at eleven weeks old, six days before our move, I stopped nursing. The first day on the bottle, she ate five ounces every two hours. I wasn't even engorged. We realized that she was starving. We also realized that as part of her metabolic disorder, she was only able to use a certain amount of her food as calories and needed to eat twice as much as my other children in order to get enough calories. Even now, at four months, she is very petite but eats voraciously. I wasn't producing enough to feed a regular baby, much less one who needed extra calories.

That decision proved to be the right one. We were able to move much more easily. She started putting on weight. She hadn't smiled much but she began smiling more. I could finally take a short shower without her screaming. I could even put her down to do the dishes!

The biggest difference was her personality change. When we bottle fed her, she stopped screaming. She was still a needy baby, but she was actually content in my arms or a carrier. She slept peacefully. She cooed at me. She was a different baby.

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In the midst of the challenge with my fourth daughter, I came across some articles that talked about lactation failure and insufficient glandular tissue. I don't have all the physical characteristics, but I do have very wide set and small breasts. I found that there were almost some genetic markers in my family that could have clued me in too. In talking with my father's mother after the birth of my fourth daughter, I learned that her breasts never changed during pregnancy and her milk never came in with any of her three children. My grandmother has three sisters, and none of them had their milk come in. My great-grandmother and great-great-grandmother were also unable to nurse and relied on other things to feed their babies. My great-great had 13 children and gave them all meat broth!

It has been two and a half months since we weaned. I so desperately wanted to nurse all of my children, and, despite exploring every option, I simply can't nurse. The realization that I will never be able to nurse a baby successfully has been excruciating. I truly love nursing. I treasure the moments of closeness. Cuddling skin to skin in the middle of the night. I miss the peace that comes from nursing.

I also feel guilty. Looking back on my third daughter, I realize that I wasn't producing enough for her. I feel a lot of guilt over my selfishness in wanting to nurse her and being unwilling to see she wasn't thriving. I feel guilty knowing that I'm not providing antibodies for my fourth daughter. I feel guilt that I'm using formula.

I pleaded with God to change my body, to help me nurse my babies. I pleaded that He would give me a miracle. But it seems that this experience has been one to humble me.

Breast is best and I love to breastfeed. I am grateful for the times I was able to breastfeed my daughters. I will always cherish those moments.

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Review of Ameda & Medela breast pumps

Until recently, I've been using an Ameda Purely Yours double electric breast pump. It's an old hand-me-down pump from a friend, loaned to my sister for a while, and then mailed back to me. Despite its age, it still performs perfectly.

I have the no-frills pump only version that retails for around $160. You can also buy the pump with a backpack or carryall; both come with lots of accessories. A One-Hand Breast Pump adapter (around $20) lets you turn the pump into a hand pump.

The Ameda Purely Yours pump runs on AC power and does not have battery backup. You can adjust both the suction and the cycle frequency. The cycle frequency can be set at 30, 40, 50, or 60 cycles per minute. (Cycle frequency, or how many times the machine pumps per minute, turns out to be crucial in expressing milk efficiently. More on this later.)

The Ameda breast pump has a sealed system. It has a silicone diaphragm that slips inside the top of the flange part. This means that no liquids, mold spores, or bacteria can get from the pump into the tubing/motor or vice-versa.

You can unplug one of the tubes and pump just one breast at a time. I sometimes did this during morning pumping sessions when Ivy is nursing on the other side. I now double pump right before I go to bed.

The Ameda pump has very few parts and is easy to clean: silicone diphraghm, pump flange, valve, and bottle. You can machine wash the flange and bottle. I usually hand wash the valves.

One of the pump flanges started to crack last month. Not bad considering many, many years of use.

Pros of the Ameda Purely Yours:

• Reliable design that lasts for many years (my own anecdotal experience and from talking with other women who've used it)
• Easy to clean with few parts
• Sealed, hygenic design to prevent contamination
• Could be a multi-user pump (not FDA-approved for this purpose, but I would be comfortable doing so)

Cons

• Cycle frequency, even at the highest setting, is fairly low

After Ivy was born, I took advantage of the new health insurance regulations that mandate breast pump coverage. I had no choice about which model or brand I received. I tried to get a Hygeia EnJoye ($239 and up), since I've heard such good things about them (very durable, FDA-approved for multiple users) but had no luck despite many phone calls to my insurance company.

I ended up receiving a Medela Personal Double Pump. It's similar to the Medela Pump In Style Advanced ($239 and up), except you can adjust the suction but not the cycle frequency. (FYI, you can't find the Personal Double Pump on the Medela website. It's sold only through medical supply companies, usually via health insurance plans. There's also an "Advanced" model of this pump that lets you select the cycle frequency.)

I tried to find a retail price for this specific pump, but had no luck. It's only available through medical supply companies and not sold directly to consumers. I've seen some listed on Ebay for around $150.

The Medela pump has slightly more parts than the Ameda, but it's still fairly simple to clean (unlike the Avent Isis manual pump, which I tried once. It had about 200* different small parts and was its own jigsaw puzzle.)

When I started using the Medela Personal Double Pump, I immediately noticed that I could pump super quickly and express a lot more volume during each session. Was it the vacuum pressure? The cycle frequency? The way a Medela pumps compared to an Ameda? I did some experimentation and concluded that it boiled down to cycle frequency.

The Medela Personal Double Pump comes pre-set at approximately 75 cycles/minute (by my highly scientific method of counting while watching a clock!). I called Medela to confirm cycle frequency, but they were unable to quote me an exact number. Ameda's customer service confirmed that cycle frequencies are 30, 40, 50, and 60 cycles/minute. I'd been pumping at 50 cycles/minute with the Ameda and hadn't thought of adjusting cycle frequency.

FYI: the Pump In Style Advance model offers a two-stage pumping action. The first stage has a range of 50-200 mmHg and 120 cycles/minute, then the second stage has 100-250 mmHg and 54-78 cycles/minute.

The Medela pumps are not sealed systems, so any number of fluids or bacteria can travel through the tubing and into the motor...and then back out into your breastmilk. This is the biggest drawback to any Medela pump. I'm still using it more than the Ameda because the higher cycle frequency is so much more effective at getting my milk to let down. But if I had a pump that offered both a sealed system AND higher cycle frequency, I'd jump on it.

Pros of the Medela Personal Double Pump:

• Motor and plug come in a carrying case
• Higher cycle frequency than the Ameda (75 cycles/minute); more efficient at expressing milk

Cons

• Not a sealed system; potential for contamination via tubing and motor
• Not suitable for mulitple users
• Cannot adjust cycle frequency, only vacuum pressure

Overall, I don't have a clear preference for one over the other. I definitely like a faster cycle frequency and wish the Ameda offered a higher range. On the other hand, I really dislike that Medela's pumps are not sealed. Either of these will do the job, so if your insurance only provides one or the other, you will be fine. But I'm still on the search for a pump that gives me both higher cycle frequencies AND the assurance that my milk will not be contaminated. Any recommendations?

* slight exaggeration

Disclosure: I was not paid to write this review, and I did not receive either of these pumps as review items. The Ameda was a hand-me-down and the Medela was provide through my insurance company. 

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360 ounces

I donated a large grocery sack full of pumped milk to my CNM's practice. I've been pumping for about 2 months and getting around 6-8 oz/session. That's at least 360 fluid ounces or close to 3 gallons/12 liters. I finally have freezer space again!

I pump once a day. I used to pump in the morning, but just switched over to pumping right before bed. Ivy has a long stretch when she first goes down at night, so it keeps me from getting too engorged.

Even though I have a lot going on, I really wanted to donate breastmilk this time. And since I'm not planning on getting pregnant again, I could probably keep pumping & donating for a long time if I wanted to (my milk supply plummets when I'm pregnant).

Here's Ivy on 2 1/2 months of breastmilk. I love her big button eyes.

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Birth Around the World: New Global Breast Milk Sharing Network

Emma Kwasnica, a mother of three and midwife in training in Canada, recently started a worldwide breastmilk sharing network. I met Emma at last year's International Breech Conference in Ottawa. The Times Colonist recently reported on her efforts in Quebec program matches breast milk donors with recipients. Below is a press release about her efforts. (Version française plus bas.)

World's Largest Breast Milk Sharing Network 

Spreads Across Facebook: 

"Eats On Feets" Goes Global

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE :

CONTACT :
Emma Kwasnica
Eats On Feets GLOBAL
(514) 656 1560
Montreal, CANADA
http://www.facebook.com/emma.kwasnica
emma.kwasnica@gmail.com

Within a matter of days, women around the world have mobilized on the social networking site Facebook to organize an international, woman-to-woman milk sharing network. Human milk is for human babies, and formula-feeding is associated with risks to both the mother and infant. Women today are aware of this fact and are taking their life-sustaining power back into their own hands --they are now converging on Facebook to freely share their breastmilk with one another.

Montreal, Canada, November 7, 2010 - The announcement last month from internet health guru, Dr. Joseph Mercola, of his plans to launch his own brand of powdered infant formula onto the US market, has spawned the Eats On Feets GLOBAL breastmilk sharing network. In retaliation against yet another needless and harmful artificial breastmilk substitute to hit the market, mothers on Facebook from around the world have come together to take a stand for infant health. They have now established the world's largest human milk sharing network, an initiative spearheaded by Canadian lactating mother and passionate breastfeeding activist, Emma Kwasnica.

The "Eats On Feets" name is the brainchild of Phoenix, AZ midwife, Shell Walker. A mother to young children in the '90s, Walker and her friends had this thought: "Hey, why don't we just become wet-nurses? Instead of 'Meals on Wheels', we can call our business 'Eats On Feets'." Walker took this idea and made it a reality in July, 2010, when she created a Facebook profile page under the same name, and began a free, community-based breastmilk sharing network for mothers in Phoenix. She has since been successful at matching up local women who have an excess, or are in need of, human breastmilk.

Meanwhile, Kwasnica has also been using her personal profile page and her large network of international birth and breastfeeding activists on Facebook, in order to match up human milk donors and recipients around the world. One such story involves a fellow Canadian friend, living in Bandung, Indonesia; the school teacher and single father to a newborn son wondered if he could source human milk for his baby instead of feeding his son a powdered breastmilk substitute. Aware of his situation, Kwasnica put the call out to her vast network via a simple status update on Facebook, and a breastfeeding peer counselor in a neighbouring city in Indonesia responded. A string of lactating women on the ground was assembled to provide human milk locally for the infant boy. Now three months old, this baby has never tasted anything other than human milk.

The announcement of Dr. Mercola's plans to market formula was the final catalyst that spurred Emma Kwasnica on to convene with Shell Walker and launch Eats On Feets GLOBAL. Regarding the inception of this initiative, she states: "Shell Walker is a friend and the midwife in Phoenix, AZ who came up with the name 'Eats On Feets'. She graciously allowed me to use her catchy name in order to launch the global initiative: a woman-to-woman, grassroots milk sharing network here on Facebook. As for Dr. Mercola, he should be injecting his burgeoning wealth into breastfeeding support, not trying to make more money off a product that is harmful to infants and their lifelong health."

With the help of nearly 200 women online from the global mothering Facebook community, the initiative has taken off. Donor and recipient milk matches are being made right now all over the world on the pages of Facebook. There are now 87 Eats On Feets chapter pages spanning 18 countries (a quick Facebook search for "Eats On Feets" yields dozens of results). This movement is proof that Facebook can, indeed, be used for the good of humanity. By encouraging the biologically normal way of feeding babies, and reviving an age-old practice of human milk sharing, it is clear that social networking has the power to revolutionize infant health.

ABOUT Eats On Feets GLOBAL - The Eats On Feets GLOBAL network chapter pages on Facebook provide an online space to facilitate woman-to-woman milk sharing. We assert that women are capable of making informed choices and of sharing human milk with one another in a safe and ethical manner. Eats On Feets GLOBAL does NOT support the selling or corporatism of human breastmilk.

For a current list of all of the Eats On Feets chapter locations in operation around the globe, or to find your local Eats On Feets Facebook chapter page, please see this document at the following URL: http://tinyurl.com/EatsOnFeetsGLOBAL

To listen to the radio show podcast (from October 30) where Emma Kwasnica discusses the events that lead to the launch of Eats On Feets GLOBAL, and how the ethics of Dr. Mercola were the catalyst for this initiative, visit: http://kopn.org/archive and click on "Momma Rap".

~~~~~

Le plus grand réseau mondial de partage de lait maternel 

se propage via Facebook: 

"Eats On Feets" devient Global

POUR DIFFUSION IMMÉDIATE:

CONTACT:

Emma Kwasnica
Eats On Feets GLOBAL
(514) 656 1560
Montréal, CANADA
http://www.facebook.com/emma.kwasnica
emma.kwasnica@gmail.com

Depuis quelques jours, les femmes du monde entier se sont mobilisées sur le site du réseau social Facebook pour organiser un réseau international de partage de lait maternel, de femme à femme. Le lait humain est pour les bébés humains, et nourrir au lait infantile est associé à des risques pour la mère et le nourrisson. Aujourd'hui les femmes sont conscientes de ce fait et reprennent à nouveau dans leurs propres mains leur pouvoir de survie - elles se retrouvent maintenant via Facebook pour partager librement leur lait avec d'autres.

Montréal, Canada, le 7 novembre, 2010 - L'annonce du mois dernier faite sur Internet par le "gourou" de la santé, le docteur Joseph Mercola, de son intention de lancer sa propre marque de lait en poudre pour bébés sur le marché américain, a engendré la création du réseau de partage de lait maternel "Eats On Feets GLOBAL". En réaction contre cet énième substitut artificiel de lait infantile inutile et néfaste à venir attaquer le marché, des mères du monde entier se sont réunies sur Facebook pour défendre la santé des nourrissons. Elles ont maintenant mis en place le plus grand réseau mondial de partage de lait maternel, une initiative dirigée par la Canadienne, mère allaitante et militante passionnée pour l'allaitement maternel, Emma Kwasnica.

Le nom de "Eats On Feets" est une idée originale de la sage-femme, Shell Walker, de Phoenix, Arizona. Alors qu'elle était mère de jeunes enfants dans les années 90, Shell Walker et ses amies ont discuté : "Et pourquoi ne pas simplement devenir nourrices? Au lieu de « Meals On Wheels » (traduit "la popotte roulante", c'est le nom d'un service de repas apportés à domicile pour les personnes âgées en Amérique du nord), nous pourrions appeler notre entreprise « Eats On Feets»”. Shell Walker a eu cette idée et en a fait une réalité en juillet 2010, quand elle a créé une page de profil Facebook sous le même nom, et a commencé un réseau communautaire et gratuit de partage du lait maternel pour les mères de Phoenix. Depuis, elle a réussi à apparier localement des femmes qui ont un excès, ou qui ont un besoin, de lait maternel.

Pendant ce temps, Emma Kwasnica a également utilisé sa page de profil personnel et son vaste réseau international de militantes pour la naissance et l'allaitement sur Facebook, afin de faire correspondre des donateurs et des bénéficiaires de lait maternel dans le monde entier. Une de ces histoires concerne un de ses amis, un compatriote canadien vivant à Bandung, en Indonésie; instituteur et se retrouvant père célibataire d'un tout jeune nouveau-né, il s'est demandé s'il pourrait trouver du lait d'origine humaine pour son bébé au lieu de nourrir son fils avec un substitut artificiel en poudre. Informée de sa situation, Emma Kwasnica fit appel à son vaste réseau à travers une simple mise à jour de son statut sur Facebook, et l'une de ses pairs, conseillère en allaitement maternel dans une ville voisine en Indonésie a répondu. Sur le terrain, une chaîne de femmes allaitantes a été mise en place pour fournir du lait humain au niveau local pour le petit garçon. Maintenant âgé de trois mois, ce bébé n'a jamais goûté à autre chose que le lait humain.

L'annonce des projets du Dr. Mercola au sujet du marché des laits artificiels a été le catalyseur final qui a incité Emma Kwasnica à se réunir avec Shell Walker pour lancer "Eats On Feets GLOBAL". En ce qui concerne la création de cette initiative, elle déclare: "Shell Walker est une amie qui est sage-femme à Phoenix, en Arizona. Elle a inventé le concept et le nom de "Eats On Feets". Elle m'a gracieusement autorisée à utiliser ce nom accrocheur pour lancer cette initiative au niveau mondial : un réseau de partage de lait maternel de femme à femme, ici, sur Facebook. Quant au Dr Mercola, il devrait attribuer sa fortune naissante au soutien à l'allaitement, et ne pas chercher à faire plus d'argent avec un produit qui est nocif pour les nourrissons et leur santé à long terme."

Avec l'aide de près de 200 femmes en ligne de la communauté mondiale de Facebook sur le maternage, l'initiative a pris son envol. Des rencontres entre donateurs et bénéficiaires de lait maternel sont en cours actuellement dans le monde entier sur les pages de Facebook. Il y a maintenant 87 pages de "Eats On Feets" de chapitres dans 18 pays (une recherche rapide de "Eats On Feets" sur Facebook donne des dizaines de résultats). Ce mouvement est la preuve que Facebook peut, en effet, être utilisé pour le bien de l'humanité. En encourageant la façon normale et physiologique de nourrir les bébés, et la relance d'une pratique séculaire de partage de lait maternel, il est clair que le réseau social a le pouvoir de révolutionner la santé infantile.

A PROPOS DE "Eats On Feets GLOBAL" - sur Facebook, le réseau des Chapitres "Eats On Feets" offre un espace en ligne pour faciliter le partage du lait d'une maman à un bébé d'une autre maman. Nous affirmons que les femmes, que les familles, sont capables de faire des choix éclairés et de partager du lait maternel de manière sécuritaire et éthique. "Eats On Feets GLOBAL" ne soutient pas la vente ou le corporatisme de lait maternel.

Consultez la liste à jour de tous les Chapitres "Eats On Feets" mis en place dans le monde entier, ou trouvez la page de votre Chapitre "Eats On Feets" local, via le document à l'adresse suivante: http://tinyurl.com/EatsOnFeetsGLOBAL

Pour écouter le podcast de l'émission de radio (du 30 octobre), où Emma Kwasnica discute des événements qui ont abouti au lancement mondial de "Eats On Feets", et comment l'éthique de Dr. Mercola a été le catalyseur de cette initiative, visitez le site: http://kopn.org, dans la section "archives" et cliquez sur "Momma Rap".

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Breasts in Mourning

Giving birth to a stillborn baby or losing an infant is something I hope I never have to face. On top of the emotions of grief and mourning that accompany losing a child of any age, a mother's body also must learn that her baby is gone. Her hormones are primed for mothering and nurturing and lactating, but there is no baby to comfort, no infant to nurse.

In a piece called Breasts in Mourning, Penny Lane writes about how pumping and donating her milk became her lifeline when her third baby died soon after birth. She has since given birth to two more living children.

Five years ago this Saturday, I gave birth to my son Lyric, who eleven days later would leave this earth. During his short life, I pumped milk for him knowing he would have limited use for it; however, lactating was what I needed to do. I needed to smell sweet milk, feel the fullness of motherhood, have my mind distracted by the responsibility pumping requires, and I needed to care for something, even if only my electric breastpump. After his death, I seemed too focused on my loss to focus on weaning or changing my routine. Lactating was a constant for me, a reminder that this nightmare was reality. I was not loosing my mind. Yes, I was a new mother with empty arms.

Month after month, she kept pumping. She donated her milk to mothers whose milk supply had dwindled, to women dying of cancer, to a paraplegic law student wanting to help his immune system, to mothers receiving radiation therapy.

Ten months I pumped and donated. I wrote prayers on the bags of milk that were shipped throughout the Midwest, east coast, and southern states. I felt as if I were given opportunity to nurture and Lyric was given a legacy. In no way did I feel a hero. I needed to lactate. My body longed for it. I believe today that this allowed my body to grieve on a different time table than my heart and my mind. I don't know that had I weaned immediately and lost the comfort provided by my mothering hormones, that I would have survived this tragedy. As my pump died out at ten months, I was ready to set it down and move on into the next phase of my life.

Penny is not just any woman, no stranger whose online writing caught my interest. She was the midwife who witnessed my son's birth four months ago. I wonder what kind of strength it must take to be a midwife after losing your own newborn. Or to become a mother again, knowing that you can never take life for granted.

Other links on milk donation & lactation after loss:

• Rowan's Milk, a story of milk donation after loss
• Freya's Gold
• KellyMom: Lactation after loss

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Mmmmmilk! and other pictures

What I pumped a few mornings ago...I often get 6-8 oz during my morning pumping session, after Zari is done nursing.

Doing pushups

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Pumping!

I have been pumping extra milk starting in early January, after I received a request for breastmilk for a mom going on some temporary medications. I didn't have any milk set aside at the time, but thought it would be a good idea. Since then, my freezer stash has been growing slowly. Since breastmilk stays good for 3-6 months in an upright freezer, I have been wanting to find a home for it soon. I looked into donating via Milkshare, but it would be a huge hassle to ship.

On Sunday, my problem was solved! There's a couple in our church who have been trying to adopt, and they just found out they're getting a baby, and soon. The birth mother is due in early April, but her other 2 kids both came six weeks early. So it could be any day now. I had talked to the woman a few weeks ago about donating my milk if she wanted it. She approached me yesterday and said they'd love to use it!

So I am motivated to keep pumping. I'd like to get at least 8 oz extra per day if I can.

By the way, does anyone have an idea of how much breastmilk a newborn eats per day? When you're breastfeeding you don't think about those kind of things!

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Holidays

Holidays always wreak havoc on things like journal writing and blogging. I hosted my entire family for the past 9 days. That added up to 12 people in our house. Last Christmas we had my husband's family: 22 people (and there were still a few who couldn't come). When you have 7 kids, and those kids all marry early and start multiplying, it makes for a lot of people very quickly. Zari was the 12th grandchild on my husband's side, and his parents are just 52 and 56 years old!

We like to cook, and luckily my family is fairly adventuresome food-wise. For the final dinner before everyone left, my husband and I made:

• Baguettes with 4 different toppings: goat cheese rolled in olives and pimentos, foie gras, caviar, and Camembert
• Sushi (California rolls and fish egg rolls)
• Mussels in butter & garlic sauce
• Escargots on puff pastry with a mushroom, cream, and shallot sauce
• Chocolate tart

Zari's smile switch activated about 3 days ago. We've seen smiles since she was born, but nothing interactive. Now she's grinning back at us all the time. Time to capture that smile on camera...

I've been expressing extra milk over the past day. A woman in our church had a neck injury and the doctor told her she couldn't breastfeed while taking her meds. She was frantic because she didn't want to put her baby on formula. Her mom called me to see if I had any extra breastmilk. I said I'd start collecting. It turns out that she won't need it; she double-checked with another doctor, and the medications are okay for breastfeeding, especially at the small levels she's taking. But I figured it won't hurt to have some extra milk stored away for other such emergency needs. I'd love to donate to adoptive moms or to moms having nursing difficulties.

Now, time for the fun stuff: more pictures!

Tub Party:
Zari and her cousins splashing around in our tub.


Thumb Sucker:
My sisters thought it would be funny to show Zari how to suck her thumb. I just hope she doesn't catch on...I have memories of trying to get my sisters to stop sucking their thumbs. We tried everything--hot pepper flavored nail polish included.

Camouflage:
Her matching blanket and pajamas are hand-me-downs from different people.

Story Time:
Reading with her cousin and grandpa

Self Portrait:
Zari with one of her aunts (my youngest sister).

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