EPIC®
The Georgia Chapter is
excited to expand its availability of breastfeeding resources to Georgia
AAP Chapter Member Benefits
As one of the benefits of being a chapter member we have Arlene Toole available to answer your breastfeeding questions. She is an IBCLC certified lactation consultant with 18 years of experience working with breastfeeding mothers and educating health care providers. She can answer questions on breastfeeding management, increasing milk supply, pumping and storing breast milk and help you access resources in your community. She is also our EPIC Breastfeeding Program Director. If you are a member of the GA. Chapter of the AAP, you may call our office for breastfeeding questions at 404.881.5095 or email her @ atoole@gaaap.org. She is available part time.
Background
Breastfeeding is acknowledged as the preferred method of infant feeding by the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology, the National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners, the National Healthy Mother/Healthy Babies and others.
Scientific research overwhelming indicates that breastfeeding is the superior method of feeding. Breastfeeding significantly lower rates of diarrhea, ear infections and lowers respiratory illness. There are a number of studies that show a protective effect of human milk feeding against necrotizing enterocolitis, sudden infant death syndrome, allergic disease, early childhood caries, insulin-dependent diabetes, and obesity. Developmentally, breastfed infants have better visual acuity, and evidence suggests that their cognitive development is very good!
Breastfeeding and H1N1
Babies that are breastfed have fewer illnesses. We know that breastfeeding is protective against the flu virus so if you are breastfeeding, you should continue. With the H1N1 we are not sure how breastfeeding is protective but we do know that mothers pass on protective antibodies to their baby when they breastfeed. It makes sense to continue to breastfeed.
The CDC has made a statement about breastfeeding and H1N1. “If you are breastfeeding, [and have H1N1] someone who is not sick can give your baby your expressed milk. Ideally babies less than about 6 months of age should get their feedings from breast milk. It is OK to take medicines to treat the flu while you are breastfeeding”.
Dr. Ruth Lawrence (chair of the AAP section on Breastfeeding) and Dr. John Bradley (AAP committee on Infectious Disease) suggest the following precautions:
1. Wash your hands prior to contact with your baby
2. Before breastfeeding, wash your breast with a mild soap and water
3. Mom should wear a surgical mask to avoid coughing or sneezing on the baby
4. Use clean blankets between contacts with infant
They also mention that, “influenza virus does not pass through breast milk”.
For more information go to the CDC’s website @ www.cdc.gov/H1N1flu/.”
Breastfeeding Benefits
Breastfeeding, Maternal & Infant Health Outcomes in Developed Countries – AHRQ Review Summary April 2007
• Comprehensive, systematic review of studies conducted in developed countries
– Screened >9,000 abstracts
– 43 primary studies on infant health outcomes
– 43 primary studies on maternal health outcomes
– 29 systematic reviews or meta-analyses covering approx. 400 individual studies
Breastfeeding, Maternal & Infant Health Outcomes in Developed Countries – AHRQ Review Summary April 2007
• Breastfeeding is associated with a reduced risk of:
– Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)
– Obesity
– Type 1 and 2 diabetes
– Childhood leukemia
– Asthma
– Acute otitis media
– Non-specific gastroenteritis
– Severe lower respiratory tract infections
– Atopic dermatitis
– Necrotizing entercolitis (NEC)
• Breastfeeding is associated with a reduced risk of:
– Type 2 diabetes
– Breast cancer
– Ovarian cancer
– Early cessation/not breastfeeding is associated with an increased risk of:
– Postpartum depression
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Special attention should be given to barriers to breastfeeding for all women especially African American and other minority women. Below are several barriers to breastfeeding that where identified in focus group findings.
- Embarrassment
- Lack of social support
- Worried about not enough milk
- Lack of support at work or school
- Worried about having to eat well
- Lack of information
Studies show that mothers who receive advice, information and encouragement from their physicians to breastfeed are more likely to breastfeed than those who do not receive such advice. The American Academy of Pediatrics Policy Statement outlines physicians’ roles in the promotion and protection of breastfeeding. View it on the web by accessing http://www.aap.org/policy/re9729.html
Maternity Care Practices Survey done by the CDC conveys that a mother’s ability to successfully breastfeed her baby is strongly affected by the practices and policies of the hospital that she delivers her baby. Previous CDC research shows that women who are subjected to the best possible in hospital breastfeeding practices are eight times as likely to continue breastfeeding for at least six weeks compared to women who have a less favorable in-hospital experience. Postponing the initial breastfeeding experience beyond the first hour of life, giving supplementary feedings in addition to breastfeeding and feeding the baby on a specific schedule all appear to strongly interfere with the successful initiation of breastfeeding. DeGirolamo AM, Grummer-Strawn LM, Fein S. Maternity Care Practices: Implications for Breastfeeding. Birth. 2001, 28: 94-100.
Studies show that returning to work after having a baby is a major barrier to mothers who want to breastfeed. Moms worry that their employer may not be supportive and provide break time that they would need to pump. They usually have questions about how to pump, how to store milk and how their co-workers will react when they need to take break time to pump.
There is now a well-researched program distributed by the Department of Health and Human Services and the Maternal Child Health Bureau to help these mothers make an informed decision. The program is called “The Business Case for Breastfeeding”. Georgia was one of 10 states that received funding through the Georgia Breastfeeding Coalition to help implement this program. This funding was to train trainers to offer technical assistance to businesses wanting to start a lactation program.
The Business Case for Breastfeeding includes comprehensive resource kits that target breastfeeding mothers, employers, human resource personnel and others. The kits or booklets help support a mother’s decision to continue breastfeeding after returning to work. The program was developed in a train-the-trainer format to assist breastfeeding educators and breastfeeding coalition members to provide information and support to local business and their employers. The goal is to increase awareness of the economic benefits of breastfeeding, increase the number of employers that provide a worksite breastfeeding support program and provide models for implementing a worksite breastfeeding support program. The information provided focuses on a company’s return on investment (ROI) in employee retention, productivity, decrease in absenteeism and job loyalty.
These resource kits are available free of charge from the US Department of Health and Human Services but it is recommended that employers receive information through those that have been trained to provide technical assistance in their implementation. For more information you may contact Mary Nicholson-Jackson, the president of the Georgia Breastfeeding Coalition @ mnj03@comcast.net. You may also contact www.ask.hrsa.gov or http://cdc.gov/hwi for a free copy of the brochures.
Help the Georgia Chapter AAP make Georgia a healthier state by scheduling an EPIC Breastfeeding Program. Let’s increase our states breastfeeding rates together. Click here to download request form or call 404-881-5095 for details.
