“Breastfeeding Mothers are Shamed in Public, while Bottle feeding Mothers are too – Clearly We Cannot Win!”

September 13, 2016September 21, 2016Leave a comment

Written by Laura Lee Palmer

The breastfeeding debate. It’s something I feel very strongly about, and for obvious reasons it has been preying on my mind an awful lot recently. So I really feel the need to say my piece.

During my pregnancy I started following a lot of the ‘mum’ pages on Facebook. I was mortified by the amount of stories I would see on a daily basis about mums who had been abused for breastfeeding in public places. Although it disgusted me, it also made me feel nervous in case a similar thing happened to me – I consider myself to be a fairly strong person but I’m not sure I could have handled the ‘breastfeed bashers’ in my post-birth hormonal state. So I bought a hooter hider (fabulous name!) to avoid such an event, and even googled breast-feeding friendly places for my days out in town. Continue reading →

The Scientific Evidence on the Effects of Underfeeding on the Newborn Brain

September 9, 2016February 25, 201729 Comments

A Review of the Literature by Dr. Christie del Castillo-Hegyi

We have received some questions here at the Fed is Best Foundation regarding the science of infant feeding and preventing accidental newborn starvation from insufficient breast milk intake. Some have said there is no evidence that insufficient milk intake in newborns causes brain injury, developmental delays and disabilities. We’d like to take the opportunity to open up a discussion on this very important topic.

The general body of medical and scientific literature largely supports that babies who are not fed enough calories and fluid through breastfeeding can develop excessive jaundice, severe dehydration and hypoglycemia – all complications that can cause brain injury if not corrected. This isn’t exclusive to humans. In fact, the basic rule of nature is that no creature, particularly mammals, can live without food. Continue reading →

Power Pumping: Does it Work?

September 6, 2016September 19, 201910 Comments

Written by Jody Segrave-Daly, RN, IBCLC, The Momivist & Co-Founder of The Fed Is Best Foundation

What is power pumping?

Power pumping refers to when a breastfeeding mother uses a breast pump to remove as much
breast milk as she can in rapid (concentrated) intervals, in an attempt to stimulate her milk supply.

The theory behind power pumping is that it hyper-stimulates the prolactin hormone cascade that stimulates breast milk production, by completely emptying the breasts. Mothers report that this process takes 4-7 days to begin seeing any results and some report not seeing a difference at all. The science on this theory is as split as the results are. Continue reading →

“It Was a Subject that No One Touched”

August 29, 2016August 29, 2016Leave a comment

Written by Alaina Brown, and adapted from Facebook. You can see (and like!) the original post here.

I’m sharing my story, not for sympathy but to bring awareness to a topic that was never shared with me. Something I had heard of, but knew little about. Among all the advice and personal stories moms had shared with me, it was a subject no one touched. It is something I wish I would have been more educated on going into my pregnancy. Continue reading →

An Open Letter To Elizabeth Grattan

August 22, 2016August 23, 20161 Comment

Readers, we were made aware of a public attack on the Fed Is Best Foundation. We’d like to provide a response to the commenter, and in the spirit of transparency and accountability to you all, we’re providing you with both her original letter and our response:
Continue reading →