Author: B. Jody Segrave-Daly, RN, IBCLC

In The Name Of Breastfeeding – An Article About How Finnish Newborns Are Starved in Baby-Friendly Hospitals

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Kati Pehkonen, YLE Finland 2018

A translated article  from YLE (Finnish national broadcasting network, owned 99% by the Finnish state) has published an article on how Finnish newborns are starved in Finnish hospitals, how midwives are holding back formula and then finding that the baby is hypoglycemic.

Elias was less than 24 hours old when his father noticed the jitters. Already the night before at the Katiloopisto Maternity Hospital. Elias had cried a lot. During the early morning hours he finally settled after he had been syringe fed some donated breast milk. He was given 10 ml of milk, a total of 2 teaspoons.

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During mid-morning Elias had started to cry again angrily. It appeared to his father as if the baby was also having muscle spasms. Continue reading →

Consideraciones Durante una Emergencia

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(en Inglés ) 

Para familias que alimentan a sus bebes con formula, suplementan, hacen lactancia mixta o alimentan a sus bebés con leche maternal extraída.

Durante una emergencia, el perder la electricidad, el agua corriente y los servicios de asistencia de manera repentina, puede hacer imposible conseguir leche de formula o guardar leche maternal o de formula de manera apropiada. También puede pasar que no sea posible calentar agua. Estos son algunos consejos que te ayudarán a estar preparado en caso de desastre: Continue reading →

I Was Able To Breastfeed My Third Baby Thanks To The Fed Is Best Foundation

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During my pregnancy, I began reading the Fed Is Best Foundation’s feeding educational resources and feeding plan pertaining to breastfeeding and combo feeding. I didn’t have successful breastfeeding experiences with my previous children and wanted to try one more time. I went into labor when I was 37 weeks pregnant. My labor progressed extremely quickly. By the time we got to the hospital almost an hour later, it was already too late to set up an epidural. I struggled for hours with laboring and pushing, and both my daughter and I were profoundly exhausted after delivery.

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Jillian Johnson: My Message To Parents During World Breastfeeding Week-Just One Bottle

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By Jillian Johnson

It took all of the courage I had to put aside the debilitating amount of guilt I carried for five long years to tell Landon’s story—his birth, the first days of his life, and how he died. In fact, I still don’t know where I found that courage, but I am convinced Landon gave me the strength. I wasn’t prepared for the intense scrutiny my story received. I was utterly shocked because people came out of nowhere to discredit my story with a vengeance, but I quickly learned how to be gracious in such a vulnerable time.

After all, nothing anyone could say to me could hurt me more than the death of my newborn baby.

I can remember a very specific time, when I was sitting in the waiting room of the hospital and Landon was on life support. My dad was there with me and we were talking about Landon’s prognosis and I won’t ever forget him telling me what a special little boy he was and that he would do great things. I couldn’t quite wrap my head around what his words meant because Landon was most likely going to pass away, and my dad was talking about how he’s going to do great things. I never dreamed that his death would change the lives of so many people across the globe. Continue reading →

My Lactation Consultant Slapped My Nipple And Called My Nipple Shield A Cheater

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I’d heard pretty much since starting puberty that breast is best. It’s in movies, books, social media, health class, and even in my own family. So, you can imagine my surprise to be sitting across from a very concerned doctor with a starving infant hearing that my breast milk wasn’t enough.

My baby gained only 7 ounces in 1 month.

I wanted to breastfeed because I wanted to do what was absolutely best for my son, no questions asked. But before he was born, the intense pressure to exclusively breast feed was causing anxiety attacks, frequently. I have flat nipples but I was assured breast feeding would be no problem.

Then I had my beautiful baby boy. We immediately had issues with breastfeeding. One lactation consultant slapped my nipple trying to get it to poke out and called the nipple shield a “cheater”. So I didn’t use one after that. We were not allowed to give him a pacifier. It was four days of pure hell in the hospital with both of us crying.

I was told over and over my body would produce enough milk for my baby and to just keep breastfeeding.

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