Advocates Hope To Convince Women That Breast-feeding Not Only Is Good For Children But Also Is Socially Acceptable.
By Anita Clark, Wisconsin State Journal
For Fran Weintraub, breast-feeding her babies makes sense from every point of view.
As a physician, she knows the statistics that show breast-fed babies are healthier.
As a volunteer who helps other mothers, she knows that practical tips can help.
And as a mother, she wants the best for her 10-month-old daughter, Rena.
"Why would you not breast-feed when you know that you want to do the best for your baby? And it's so wonderful to do this with your baby, and so convenient," she said. She also nursed Rena's brothers, who are 3 and nearly 6 years old.
Renewed interest in breast-feeding comes as public health leaders worldwide are promoting the oldest but sometimes out-of-fashion way of feeding infants.
"There's so much evidence that breast-feeding is the best thing for babies," said Dr. Anne Eglash, a family physician for UW Health in Mount Horeb.
The Madison Birth Center in Middleton and Meriter Hospital have won a prestigious "Baby-Friendly" ranking sponsored by UNICEF and the World Health Organization, which said they provide the highest level of support for breast-feeding mothers and their babies.
A 2004 report from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said about 69 percent of Wisconsin children had been nursed at some time in their lives. The national rate was about 70 percent.
In the Madison area, it's closer to 85 percent, said Eglash, who's also medical director of the outpatient lactation clinic at Meriter Hospital and co-founder of the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine.
"People are really researching what's best for their babies," said Kathie Russell, a lactation consultant at Meriter Hospital.
Donating breast milk Belief in the benefits of breast milk for babies has inspired volunteers to create a milk depot that has collected more than 23 gallons of donated breast milk.
"Breast-feeding provides substantial benefits to mother and baby," said Aszani Kunkler, founder of the Madison Birth Center, where 150 babies have been born since it opened in 2003.
Still, breast-feeding mothers sometimes face difficulties.
"It's a bottle-feeding country," Kunkler said. "I think the biggest thing is lack of breast-feeding support and lack of understanding."
Meriter and the birth center, as well as St. Mary's Hospital, offer prenatal classes on breast-feeding, help in the hospital and troubleshooting for new mothers after they go home. All three offer services to anyone, regardless of where their babies were born.
Their efforts are bolstered by the mother-to-mother approach of the La Leche League.
"We don't tell anyone what to do," said Jeannie Manthe, a Cottage Grove mother of three and league leader. "We try to offer support and information, accurate information, the most up-to-date."
That information is exactly what Eglash emphasizes, so that families can make their own decision, just as they would about circumcision or removing tonsils.
She tells expectant parents that babies are born with immature immune systems that leave them susceptible to life-threatening infections. Breast milk provides immediate and lifelong benefits, she said, and bolsters brain development.
National public health goals for 2010 call for 75 percent of women to be breast-feeding their babies, at least initially, with 50 percent still nursing when the babies are 6 months old.
That sounds like an uphill climb to Jill Innes, a Madison public health nurse who sees a lot of factors that interfere with breast-feeding.
Back to work "The big one is work," she said. "Anecdotally, what I hear from women is they're afraid when they return to work the baby won't eat."
Those problems can usually be solved, she said, and "many people who want to pump (breast milk) at work and make arrangements with their employers to have the time and the space do fine."
Meriter Hospital offers advice to employers on how to help nursing mothers and holds a class called "Got Milk?" to help mothers prepare for going back to work, Russell said.
Many larger companies have set aside space for breast-feeding employees, she said, and smaller places tend to work out individual arrangements.
CUNA Mutual Group, for example, since 1987 has had private rooms in two of its buildings with chairs, sinks and breast pumps.
St. Mary's Hospital offers its employees a large room with curtained private spaces and breast pumps.
Despite encouraging breast-feeding of the 3,600 babies who arrive each year at Meriter, hospital staff members don't pressure women into it, Russell said.
"It's not an expectation. It's an individual family decision on how to feed your baby," she said. "We try to support that decision."
What a woman needs, in addition to information and practical help, is support from her family and community, Russell said. That community support might include friends who don't descend immediately to visit the newborn but give the family time to adjust. Perhaps they offer to deliver a meal or mow the family's lawn instead, she said.
The Mother's Milk Association of Wisconsin has created a breast milk collection depot, which is a freezer in Eglash's office, and accepts donated milk from screened donors. Milk is donated to a bank in Columbus, Ohio, where it is pasteurized and tested.
It is given, by medical order, to babies who need breast milk, perhaps premature infants whose mothers can't nurse or to newborns whose mothers are too ill to feed them.
"I equate it to donating blood," Innes said. "It's driven by that same feeling: I want to help people who need this special thing."
REPRINTED FROM:
Wisconsin State Journal
June 4, 2006
