WBW

Hey, in case you're wondering, WBW is not World Boxing and Wresting Week, It stands for World Breast feeding Week which just ended.  I just saw the rainbow multi-colored poster, where there's a list of Just 10 steps that every hospital can take to increase breastfeeding rates. These 10 steps are a great start to helping more moms start and continue breast feeding.  In my hospital, which by the way, has a 96% breast feeding rate, what works is to have:
#1, A trained nursing staff that help moms get the baby latched on in the delivery room.
#2  Round the clock breast feeding  assistance every 2 1/2 to 3 hours.
#3  Lactation consultants at the ready.
#4 A drop in breast feeding support center that's free of charge.
#5 Plenty of pumps for moms who can't breast feed, for whatever reason.

This all adds up to an extraordinary rate of breast feeding, and last time I checked, we were #1 in the state of California.  I think breast feeding is the way to go for lots of healthy reasons. There were a few other pieces of advice on the poster that I didn't find particularly helpful though.

In my experience, if a mom is breast feeding a newborn infant on demand, and the baby is making plenty of wet and poopy diapers, then pacifiers do not interfere with breast feeding.  Some babies need more time to suck, not to eat, but for pleasure.  If pacifiers work for you, then use them.  I understand that the advice on the poster is meant to be rigid, but that doesn't account for lots of individual variations.

I also know that despite all the advice and helpful hints the one most critical way to help more women breast feed longer, is to extend maternity leaves. When women do have to return to work, they need to know how to use a pump, have time in their schedule, a private place and something to store the milk in.  They also need information on how to prepare formula so that if they don't have enough breast milk, then their baby will have the next best thing, infant formula as a supplement.

If moms can breast feed exclusively for 6 months, I think that's great, and if they can't, for whatever reason, I want them to feel good about using formula and not that it's "artificial".  I understand that in order to promote breast feeding, it seems that demonizing formula is the strategy, but what happens is that the moms who do use formula, feel bad, feel that they have to justify what they're doing and may feel "less than."   I'd rather have my patients feel good about whatever breast feeding they can do, even if it's just 1 or 2 sessions/day and continue that as long as they can. I also don't want women to see the advice on the poster and feel bad if they're not able to follow the advice, as well intentioned as it is.