Birth Documentary Contest: $1000 Prize

Birth Matters Virginia (an organization that works to promote an evidence-based model of maternity care) is soliciting 4-7 minute educational videos about birth. The first-place winner will receive a cash prize of $1000. Second place $500 and an "honorable mention" prize of $100 will also be awarded. The deadline for entering the contest is Mother's Day, May 10, 2009.

Guest judges include: Ricki Lake and Abby Epstein, acclaimed producers of The Business of Being Born and Sarah J. Buckley., MD , international birth expert and author of Gentle Birth, Gentle Mothering. Ricki, Abby, and Sarah will join a consumer-based panel of judges who will be evaluating the tone, educational content, creativity and more. You don't have to be a professional to enter and you don't have to be from Virginia . We'd love to get videos from mothers, fathers, filmmakers, film students, birth advocates, and anyone else who is interested in birth or film or wants to win $1000.

As the national rate of c-sections surpasses 30% and the U.S. ranks 41st in terms of maternal mortality, it is more important than ever for women and their partners to be educated about the options they have during pregnancy and birth. Birth Matters Virginia advocates "evidence-based" maternity care, which simply means using the best available research on the safety and effectiveness of specific practices to help guide maternity care decisions and to facilitate optimal outcomes in mothers and newborns. There are a lot of ways to approach that topic, and we're looking forward to the variety of entries.

For rules and to see how to enter, please visit www.birthmattersva.org/videocontest.html>

You can also join our Facebook group to get updates about the contest and exchange ideas with other participants
And if you have questions, email Sarah at mailto:Richmond@birthmattersva.org

Hospitals should eliminate supplementation of healthy newborns

Hospital Practices and Women's Likelihood of Fulfilling Their Intention to Exclusively Breastfeed See link to article here
Eugene Declercq, PhD, Miriam H. Labbok, MD, MPH, Carol Sakala, PhD, MPH and MaryAnn O'Hara, MD, MPH

Objectives. We sought to assess whether breastfeeding-related hospital practices reported by mothers were associated with achievement of their intentions to exclusively breastfeed.

Methods. We used data from Listening to Mothers II, a nationally representative survey of 1573 mothers who had given birth in a hospital to a singleton in 2005. Mothers were asked retrospectively about their breastfeeding intention, infant feeding at 1 week, and 7 hospital practices.

Results. Primiparas reported a substantial difference between their intention to exclusively breastfeed (70%) and this practice at 1 week (50%). They also reported hospital practices that conflicted with the Baby-Friendly Ten Steps, including supplementation (49%) and pacifier use (45%). Primiparas who delivered in hospitals that practiced 6 or 7 of the steps were 6 times more likely to achieve their intention to exclusively breastfeed than were those in hospitals that practiced none or 1 of the steps. Mothers who reported supplemental feedings to their infant were less likely to achieve their intention to exclusively breastfeed: primiparas (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 4.4; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 2.1, 9.3); multiparas (AOR = 8.8; 95% CI = 4.4, 17.6).

Conclusions. Hospitals should implement policies that support breastfeeding with particular attention to eliminating supplementation of healthy newborns.

If you would like to read the full text, email me and I can send it to you as a pdf.
blue.sky[at]gol.com

WHO's Infant and young child feeding model chapter for textbooks

Infant and young child feeding: Model Chapter for textbooks for medical students and allied health professionals

The Model Chapter on Infant and Young Child Feeding is intended for use in basic training of health professionals. It describes essential knowledge and basic skills that every health professional who works with mothers and young children should master. The Model Chapter can be used by teachers and students as a complement to textbooks or as a concise reference manual.

http://www.who.int/nutrition/publications/infantfeeding/9789241597494.pdf

Does Breastfeeding Reduce the Risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome?

Breastfeeding is beneficial for infants and their mothers. Breastfeeding reduces the risk of gastrointestinal and respiratory infections. In some, but not all, countries SIDS prevention campaigns include breastfeeding.

This study shows that breastfeeding reduced the risk of sudden infant death syndrome by ~50% at all ages throughout infancy. We recommend including the advice to breastfeed through 6 months of age in sudden infant death syndrome risk-reduction messages.

PEDIATRICS Vol. 123 No. 3 March 2009, pp. e406-e410

"Breastfeeding is... making lunch for your child"

"Breastfeeding is nothing fancier than making lunch for your child. Maybe you need a specialist’s help to do that – maybe something makes it hard for you to open the jar, for instance – but mostly you just need to see other mothers, all making lunch in different ways, from different ingredients, all feeding their children, as mothers always have."

Beautiful quote from Diane Wiessinger's web siteCommon Sense breastfeeding

Come to La Leche League on April 10th 2009 in Shibuya, and see how much more the real world has to offer breastfeeding mothers...things you cannot learn from books or online!!

Expressing milk: how to maximise output

This video is reproduced from Stanford School of Medicine web site:
Click on the video to start it.



This material was developed by Jane Morton, MD Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at Stanford University,and produced for educational purposes only. Copies of the full video "Making Enough Milk, The Key to Successful Breastfeeding. . . Planning for Day One " may be purchased. Please visit www.breastmilksolutions.com for more information.