Tag: CDC

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USBC Deputy Director Amelia Psmythe Seger’s ‘The Four Pillars of Infant Nutrition Security in the United States’

Our headlines are overloaded with tragedy, perversion, inequities, the unthinkable yet preventable.

Journalist Mary Pilon says in Throughline’s Do Not Pass Go episode “It’s a shame to waste a crisis. A crisis can also be a moment when you look at things and make changes and improvements.”   

And so, from that vantage point, we are honored to be republishing United States Breastfeeding Committee Amelia Psmythe Seger’s piece The Four Pillars of Infant Nutrition Security in the United States originally published here last month. 

“We will get through this because we must. Together we must ensure we build an infant nutrition security system worthy of parent’s trust,” she writes. 

In celebration of World Breastfeeding Week and National Breastfeeding Month on the horizon, there’s no better time than now to take action.  #TogetherWeDoGreatThings

 

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The Four Pillars of Infant Nutrition Security in the United States by Amelia Psmythe Seger, Deputy Director USBC

Throughout its 22-year history, the U.S. Breastfeeding Committee has been working towards the policy, systems, and environmental changes that build a landscape of breastfeeding support.
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The catastrophic infant formula shortage demonstrates the value of this work and the need to build a robust infrastructure for infant nutrition security in the U.S. that holds all families in care.

This infrastructure includes four pillars: Parents, Programs, Policies, and a Plan for emergencies.

Parents:

Parents are critical stakeholders in infant nutrition security. The Parents pillar includes people of all races, genders, caregiving roles, routes to parenthood, immigration status, religious or political views, and infant feeding methods. Everyone who loves and cares for a young child belongs. Welcome.

Parents deserve the full support of a robust national infant nutrition security infrastructure. Without it, many are forced onto painful and difficult paths of infant feeding and care. The U.S. needs equitable programs, policies, and a plan for emergencies that centers on the most impacted.Parents and caregivers whose infants rely on formula are the highest priority right now. They need help finding formula, advice on switching between formulas, reassurance that reliable supplies are on the way, and an answer to the question: what should I feed my baby if I cannot find formula?  With appropriate caution, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) published an article on what to feed babies of different ages and situations in an extreme emergency (such as this). Babies under six months should truly only consume human milk or infant formula. In considering very short-term alternatives, the stakes are so high that a physician should monitor the baby.

Parents who are breastfeeding or feeding human milk are in anguish right now, too. Many are feeling pressure to share their milk without acknowledgment of how hard this society has made it to establish and maintain milk supply. Few families have access to lactation support providers, paid family leave, and workplace accommodations to pump breast milk during the workday. In this context, many turn to formula as their backup plan, and it is very scary for them to see that their safety net is in tatters. To answer questions related to human milk, the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine (ABM) published a guide. This ABM guide addresses pregnancy, low milk supply, re-lactation, options for donation or safe milk sharing, and healthcare guidance and training.
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Additional burdens or blame should never be placed on the families and caregivers whose hands are literally full of babies and toddlers. When capacity allows, however, the collective potential power of parents is significant. Consider if parents insisted on being at the table with the commercial milk formula industry, playing a role in ensuring industry quality, safety, and ethics. They are key stakeholders, after all, so this should be encouraged. Parents could also insist the U.S. enhance our nonprofit milk banking system to ensure an affordable, plentiful donor milk supply for medically fragile infants and those whose parents cannot or do not wish to breastfeed. This would diversify the infant food supply and provide parents with more options.

Programs:

Federal programmatic funding needs to be expanded considering setbacks caused by the pandemic, including the current infant formula shortage.

Federal funding supports quality improvement investments to implement maternity care best practices in hospitals, especially while recovering from pandemic-induced breakdowns in those settings.

Expansion of this funding supports state and community efforts to advance care coordination and strengthen lactation support through policy, systems, and environmental change interventions to reduce or eliminate breastfeeding disparities along the fault lines of income and race.

Federal investments enhance and deepen partnerships to integrate infant feeding and lactation support services into emergency response systems and food security programs during acute disasters and prolonged public health crises.
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This funding supports critical national monitoring and public reporting activities, including annual analysis of the National Immunization Survey (NIS), administration of the bi-annual Maternity Practices in Infant Nutrition and Care (mPINC) Survey, bi-annual production of the National Breastfeeding Report Card, and administration of the longitudinal Infant Feeding Practices Study. All of which is especially needed in light of recent updates to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which, for the first time, provides nutritional guidance for infants and toddlers.

Policies:

Due to major policy gaps, families face obstacles that make it difficult or impossible to start or continue breastfeeding. Policymakers must choose to prioritize the policies and investments for infant food security so that we never find ourselves in this situation again.

Critically needed policy solutions are waiting for Congressional action:

  • Establish a national paid family and medical leave program. The FAMILY Act (S. 248/H.R. 804) would ensure that families have time to recover from childbirth and establish a strong breastfeeding relationship before returning to work.
  • Ensure all breastfeeding workers have time and space to pump during the workday. The Providing Urgent Maternal Protections (PUMP) Act (S. 1658/H.R. 3110) would close gaps in the Break Time for Nursing Mothers Law, giving 9 million more workers time and space to pump. Contact your legislators about the PUMP Act!
  • Invest in the CDC Hospitals Promoting Breastfeeding program by increasing funding to $20M in FY2023. This funding helps families start and continue breastfeeding through maternity care practice improvements and community and workplace support programs.
  • Create a formal plan for infant and young child feeding in emergencies. The DEMAND Act (S. 3601/H.R. 6555) would ensure the Federal Emergency Management Agency can better support access to lactation support and supplies during disasters. Contact your legislators about the DEMAND Act!

Additional areas for policy development

The U.S. has not regulated the marketing practices of the commercial milk formula industry, unlike 70% of the world, which has implemented at least some part of the WHO’s International Code of Marketing of Breast-Milk Substitutes. In the absence of regulation, these marketing practices are predatory.
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Diversify the nation’s production of infant formula. Plainly it is a mistake to allow 42% of the infant formula in this country to be produced not only by one company but by one factory of that company. Infant formula companies are part of an infant food security system, but we don’t have to be so dependent on that industry.Enhance the national network of nonprofit donor milk banks. Support innovative partnerships across existing structures, taking a cue from a national model such as what exists in Brazil. Consider: Red Cross has the infrastructure to support donor screening; WIC offices or community health clinics could be donor drop-off sites; more hospitals could provide space and equipment for donor milk processing and distribution, as some have done. Models exist to create an affordable and plentiful alternative to commercial milk formula when a parent’s own milk is not available.

Plan:

All nations should have a robust plan for infant and young child feeding in emergencies that includes three phases: preparedness, response, and resiliency. The USBC-Affiliated Infant & Young Child Feeding Constellation has published a Joint Statement on Infant & Young Child Feeding in Emergencies (IYCF-E) in the U.S. context.
Emergency preparedness includes building a lactation support provider directory and a system to track the inventory of national resources such as infant formula.Emergency response for infants, young children, and their families must include priority shelter, trauma-informed care, lactation support providers in every community; access to breast pumps, and milk storage and cleaning supplies; non-branded infant formula, clean water, bottles, and cleaning supplies.
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Emergency resilience includes trauma-informed care that centers on the needs of communities that have been historically undersupported, and disproportionately impacted in emergencies.

Every system is perfectly designed to get the results it gets. The insufficient system we’ve had, led to this crisis. It was predictable, and thus it was preventable.
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Now that there’s a mass mobilization of activity – from neighbors driving many miles to find spare formula tins, to the President invoking the defense production act – we must collectively build the resiliency to support a community during a flood, a region during a power outage, or a nation during a pandemic and supply chain crisis. We will get through this because we must. Together we must ensure we build an infant nutrition security system worthy of parent’s trust.
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“She was living, but she wasn’t alive”: May 4th marks World Maternal Mental Health Day

“‘I have too much mental health and breastfeeding support,’ says no family EVER!” Felisha Floyd of The B.L.A.C.K. Course has accurately asserted. Around the world, as many as 1 in 5 new mothers experience some type of perinatal mood and anxiety disorder (PMADs).  Often, PMADs go unnoticed and/or untreated and can have tragic and long-term consequences to families and subsequently societies.

The World Maternal Mental Health (MMH) Campaign’s blog features the sometimes harrowing, sometimes triumphant stories of those enduring PMADs. 

“It didn’t look anything like what the brochures told me it would look like….For me, PPD/PPA was a sneaky vixen that tricked my mind into thinking that every new mom felt like this,” one contributor writes. “That I was living in a cruel joke of a world where no one tells you that as soon as that baby pops out, you will never feel the same way again. The sneaky vixen told me that we’d made a huge mistake. We weren’t supposed to have a baby. That what I thought I wanted more than anything my whole life, was something that just wasn’t for me. I didn’t feel like this baby I was holding was mine. It belonged to the universe but I wasn’t his mom.”

Another shares, “I would look into the mirror and wonder who was the person looking back at me.  She looked like me, but did not feel like me.  There was no spark in her eyes.  She was living, but she wasn’t alive.”  

May 4 marks World Maternal Mental Health Day, time to reflect on why we need to pay attention to maternal mental health, influence policy and drive social change, reducing the stigma of maternal mental health. 

Photo by Matthew Ball on Unsplash

The MMH Taskforce has curated a hub for individuals and organizations to find information about MMH and suggest a variety of ways to get involved including a social media toolkit with simple actions. 

Last year, the Maternal Mental Health Leadership Alliance (MMHLA) compiled the Perinatal Mental Health Advocacy Toolkit,  “designed to help perinatal mental health (PMH) advocates understand the importance of their voices in raising awareness and influencing public policy to better support the mental health of women and other birthing people during the perinatal timeframe. Recognizing that advocacy and lobbying may sound scary or feel overwhelming, this Toolkit provides information and tools to empower advocates to tell their stories effectively, to build an advocacy network, and to put advocacy into action.” The document is complete with worksheets so that participants can build their own Toolkits with items like talking points, scripts for telephone calls, sample emails and letters, and more.

This work is of critical importance as we know that the health of mothers influences the health of the entire family. 

Dr. Beryl Watnick, PhD has pointed out that the “mother infant bond is of profound importance. The brain patterns in babies can mirror the brain patterns in depressed mothers, but when women with depression are taught how to engage their babies in spite of their depression, their children’s depressed brain patterns can reverse themselves. This is the power of parenting.” 

Although it is true that there is a vast amount of work to do in order to de-stigmatize maternal mental health and better support mothers and their families, there are also simultaneously a great deal of successes to celebrate. There are effective and well-researched treatment options available to help women recover, like breastfeeding. Individuals can connect with knowledgeable providers using Postpartum Support International’s database. 

One such provider is Jabina Coleman, LSW, MSW, CLC, IBCLC aka The Lactation Therapist, providing clinical support, resources and tools for the start of a successful breastfeeding journey and adjustment into parenthood. 

“Everybody Wants to Hold the Baby, Who Will Hold the Mother?” Coleman’s poignant credo. On her website, she lays out how to effectively hold mothers, with an emphasis on addressing the maternal mortality crisis that affects Black women who are dying three to four times the rate of their white counterparts.

In addition to the resources provided by the MMH Taskforce, MMHLA, and The Lactation Therapist, there are a variety of other opportunities to learn about and support MMH.

The Michigan Breastfeeding Network is hosting “Human Lactation and Mental Health: Best Practices” with presenters Tameka Jackson-Dyer, BASc, IBCLC, CHW, Rosa Gardiner, RN, IBCLC, Mistel de Varona, IBCLC, and Kara Smith, BSN, RN, CLC, PMH-C. You can register for the webinar here. 

Kathleen Kendall Tackett’s, PhD, IBCLC, FAPA presentation Does Breastfeeding Protect Maternal Mental Health? The Role of Oxytocin and Stress is available here. 

The American Heart Association, with funding support from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health program, is hosting a webinar titled “Mixing Milk + Meds: Assessing Infant Risk during Breastfeeding” on Wednesday, June 15, at 2 p.m. ET. Speakers from the Infant Risk Center will discuss how to evaluate which medications are safe for breastfeeding patients.

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Breastfeeding and the environment: Guest post for World Breastfeeding Week 2020

By Donna Walls, RN, BSN, ICCE, IBCLC, ANLC

Each year the World Alliance for Breastfeeding Advocacy (WABA) chooses a theme for World Breastfeeding Week (WBW) celebrations around the world. WBW is celebrated every year during the first week in August. This year’s theme is “Support Breastfeeding for a Healthier Planet”. 

The 2020 objectives are:

  • Inform people about the links between breastfeeding and the environment/climate change
  • Anchor breastfeeding as a climate-smart decision
  • Engage people and organizations for greater impact
  • Galvanize action on improving the health of the planet and people through breastfeeding

Can breastfeeding really affect climate change and create a cleaner, healthier environment? 

Our planet’s health is closely tied to human health, and so there is a growing interest in learning how to protect the health of the environment. 

Among the many things humans can do to protect the environment, breastfeeding is one of the most important. Breastfeeding is the best example of a clean, eco-friendly action to protect and improve the health of planet Earth. 

Breastfeeding is the ultimate natural, sustainable resource. It requires no raw materials needed for processing and no energy consumption in production or transportation. It does not produce any material waste or by-products, does not require any packaging materials, water resources or electricity, and creates no pollution of the air or water. Lactation is a perfect partner for environmental health and the ultimate example of “eating local”.

Parents who express their milk and feed from bottles or other methods also provide a more planet-friendly feeding method than artificial feeding. Formula manufacturing requires energy, material and transportation. 

The carbon footprint of breastfeeding gives us another glimpse into the environmental impact of breastfeeding. Wikipedia defines carbon footprint as “the total greenhouse gas emissions caused by an individual, event, organization, service, or product, expressed as carbon dioxide equivalent.” In simple terms, it’s a measurement that shows us something’s impact  on the health of the environment. 

The carbon footprint of breastfeeding is based on the production and transportation of food for the mother based on the RDA of an additional 500 kcal/day recommended during breastfeeding. According to research from the United Kingdom, the carbon footprint of breastfeeding is estimated at 5.9 (this varies between countries). 

In comparison, the carbon footprint of formula feeding— which is based on the use of resources, animal and factory production emissions and transportation of the formula as well as supplies, preparation and storage of formula at home— is estimated at 11.0 (again varying between countries). On average, feeding breast milk substitutes had a higher impact on the climate than breastfeeding in all countries studied. This certainly demonstrates the positive impact on the environment when the infant feeding choice is breastfeeding.(Bodkin, 2019 Meade, 2008)

The International Baby Food Action Network (IBFAN) supports optimal infant feeding practices and  advocates for universal implementation of the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes, an international health strategy recommending restrictions on the marketing of all formulas and supplies intended to discourage breastfeeding. In 2015 IBFAN developed their statement on breastfeeding and the environment:

“Breastfeeding protects our health and our planet – right from the start, breastfeeding is the first step towards protecting human health, short- and long-term. It is also the first step towards protecting the health of our environment and conserving our planet’s scarce natural resources. We need to start at the beginning, with infants and young children. Our babies and children are in no way responsible for climate change and environmental degradation, but instead they suffer the disastrous consequences.” (IBFAN, 2015)

 It’s clear that breastfeeding is the most climate-friendly option for infant feeding, but does the environment have an impact on breastfeeding? The answer is yes. 

For decades scientists around the world have studied the impact of environmental contaminants on the mammary gland, and on mothering behaviors. For instance, a study from the Journal of Health Science demonstrated that rats exposed to dietary bisphenol A (BPA) in early pregnancy showed cellular injury to the mammary glands as well as lower prolactin levels. (Miyaura, 2004). 

What’s more, Rochester Medical Center studies reported in Science Daily demonstrated damage to rat mammary glands to the extent that some mother rats were unable to nourish their pups after exposure to dioxins. Researchers noted that some rats were able to recover mammary function by late pregnancy. (Lawrence, 2009). 

In 2013, a study in the Journal of Neurotoxicology and Teratology showed a decrease in maternal behaviors in Wistar rats (less grooming, protection and nuzzling), a concerning finding but not yet demonstrated in humans. (Boudalia, 2013}.

Studies like these are the basis for ongoing research looking into possible negative impacts on human lactation. The studies are also the basis of much education related to how to create a safer environment while protecting lactation.  

An unpublished study from Wright State University looked at mothers with self-described low milk supply and the relationship between environmental contaminants. The 78 mothers in the study were four  weeks to eight  months postpartum and were all given education on reducing exposures to environmental estrogens (personal care products, food hormones and plasticizers). 

Results were seen in one to five weeks and ranged from the mothers stating her “breasts were fuller,” the “babies seemed more satisfied,” and fewer needed supplementation. Some found a doubling of supply (noted with pumping during work hours). Seven had no noticeable increase in milk supply, and of those only two weaned from breastfeeding. The rest continued supplementation. (Walls, presented 2009). 

In a Mexican study of young Yaqui tribe women, those who moved from native land  to new chemical based agriculture, had less alveolar tissue compared to the young women who remained with the tribe and practiced  traditional, non-chemical farming techniques. 

Many of the agri-chemical exposed young women were found to have larger than normal breasts, but less glandular tissue (referred to as “empty breast” syndrome) and many were unable to breastfeed their infants which is viewed as an integral part of mothering in their culture. (Hansen, 2010).

On the surface, these studies can seem discouraging until we really weigh the risks and benefits of breastfeeding in a polluted world. 

First, human milk contains properties that have been shown to mitigate some negative, environmental effects. (Williams, Florence, NYT) 

For instance, human milk contains bio-active components which specifically control and resolve inflammation, promote a thick, healthy gut lining to support an optimum functioning immune system and provide the most nutritious food for optimum general health for infants and children.  

Emeritus Director of the Carolina Global Breastfeeding Institute Miriam Labbok, MD, MPH, IBCLC stated “The fact that studies of child [health] outcomes in highly polluted areas are still better for the breastfed infant . . . would seem to indicate that certain factors in the production of human milk and in the milk itself, immunological and other, may mediate the potential harm of the ambient pollution.”

She went on to say, “… No environmental contaminant, except in situations of acute poisoning, has been found to cause more harm to infants than does lack of breast-feeding. I have seen no data that would argue against breastfeeding, even in the presence of today’s levels of environmental toxicants.”

Sandra Steingraber, biologist and author of Living Downstream and Having Faith: An Ecologist’s Journey to Motherhood agrees: ”We haven’t yet compromised breast milk to such an extent that it’s a worse food than infant formula…..”

The American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) has also published that certain components of human milk act to increase the infant’s elimination of some toxins and to protect the infant’s developing brain, central nervous system, and body as a whole.

WABA’s statement  on breastfeeding and environmental contaminants echoes this sentiment and  encourages breastfeeding as the safest feeding choice despite maternal exposure to contaminants. 

Their statement reads: “Is the presence of these chemical residues in breastmilk a reason not to breastfeed? No. Exposure before and during pregnancy is a greater risk to the fetus. The existence of chemical residues in breastmilk is not a reason for limiting breastfeeding. In fact, it is a reason to breastfeed because breastmilk contains substances that help the child develop a stronger immune system and gives protection against environmental pollutants and pathogens. Breastfeeding can help limit the damage caused by fetal exposure.” (WABA, 2005.)

The World Health Organization’s (WHO) review on contaminants and human milk states definitively, “The benefits of breastfeeding far outweigh the toxicological disadvantages that are associated with certain POPs” (persistent organic pollutants). 

To reiterate, considering the safety of human milk even when contaminants have been detected, neonatal intensive care researcher Fani Anatolitou (2012) states, “the detection of any environmental chemical in breast milk does not necessarily mean that there is a serious health risk for breastfed infants. No adverse effect has been clinically or epidemiologically demonstrated as being associated solely with consumption of human milk containing background levels of environmental chemicals”. 

It is important to understand that many of the measurements of POPs in human milk are not clinically meaningful, hence are not a cause for alarm. Even more importantly, as mentioned earlier, a number of components of human milk act to counter potential risks of contaminant exposure (Anitolitou, 2012). The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) points out that effects of exposure have only been detected in a breastfeeding infant when the mother was extremely ill.

As lactation care providers we are in a unique position to not only support the optimum health of infants and children, but also be a part of creating a healthier environment for the children to grow and thrive.

For more on WBW check out this action folder by BPNI. 

Resources/References

American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP). (2018). Breastfeeding, Family Physicians Supporting (Position Paper). Downloaded 17. Jan. 2018 from https://www.aafp.org/about/policies/all/breastfeeding-support.html

American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), Section on Breastfeeding. (2012). Breastfeeding and the use of human milk (Policy Statement). Pediatrics 129(3), e827-e841. DOI: 10.1542/peds.2011-3552.

AMERICAN ACADEMY OF PEDIATRICS The Transfer of Drugs and Other Chemicals Into Human Milk Committee on Drugs  https://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/108/3/776/T7

Anadón, A., Martínez-Larrañaga, M. R., Ares, I., Castellano, V., Martínez, M. A. (2017). Drugs and chemical contaminants in human breast milk. In R. C. Gupta (Ed.), Reproductive and Developmental Toxicology (2nd Ed., pp. 67-98). London, UK: Academic Press.

Anatolitou, F. (2012). Human milk benefits and breastfeeding. Journal of Pediatric and Neonatal Individualized Medicine 1(1), 11-18. DOI: 10.7363/010113.

Arnardottir,H. et al. Human milk proresolving mediators stimulate resolution of acute inflammation. Mucosal Immunology, October 2015 DOI: 10.1038/mi.2015.99

Bodkin, H. Breastfeed to save the planet, scientists say as study exposes infant formula damage to environment https://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2019/10/02/breastfeed-save-planet-scientists-say-study-exposes-infant-formula/

Boudalia, S. et al.  A multi-generational study on low-dose BPA exposure in Wistar rats: Effects on maternal behavior, flavor intake and development. Neurotoxicol Teratol 2013                      Nov 20. pii: S08920362(13)00217-1. doi:10.1016/j.ntt.2013

Climate Change and Health June 2015 https://ibfan.org/docs/climate-change-2015-English.pdf

Dadhich, J,  Lellamo, A. Report on Carbon Footprints Due to Milk Formula: a Study from Selected Countries of the Asia-Pacific Region

BPNI/IBFAN Asia, New Delhi (2015). http://ibfan.org/docs/Carbon-Footprints-Due-to-Milk-Formula.pdf, Accessed 24th Jan 20

Eidelman AI. Environmental Impact on Maternal Breastfeeding Behavior. Breastfeed Med. 2018 Jul/Aug;13(6):397. doi: 10.1089/bfm.2018.29096.aie. Epub 2018 Jul 5.PMID: 29975551 

Goldman, A. Anti‐inflammatory Properties of Human Milk. September 1986.  https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1651-2227.1986.tb10275.x 

Hoffman K, et al. Lactational exposure to polybrominated diphenyl ethers and its relation to social and emotional development among toddlers..Environ Health Perspect. 2012 Oct;120(10):1438-42. doi: 10.1289/ehp.1205100. Epub 2012 Jul 19.PMID: 22814209 

Joffe, N. Support for breastfeeding is an environmental imperative. Oct 2, 2019. www.bmj.com › content › bmj

Karlsson, J.O. The carbon footprint of breastmilk substitutes in comparison with breastfeeding. Feb 2019. Journal of Cleaner Production. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.03.043

Kowalewska-Kantecka B. Breastfeeding – an important element of health promotion. Dev Period Med. 2016;20(5):354-357.PMID: 2839125

Mead, N. Contaminants in Human Milk: Weighing the Risks against the Benefits of Breastfeeding Environ Health Perspect. 2008 Oct; 116(10): A426–A434PMCID: PMC2569122 PMID: 18941560

Murínová, P et al. Partitioning of hexachlorobenzene between human milk and blood lipid..Environ Pollut. 2017 Oct;229:994-999. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2017.07.087. Epub 2017 Aug 1.PMID: 28778790

Natural Resources Defense Council. 2005. Healthy Milk, Healthy Baby. Chemical Pollution and Mother’s Milk. New York, NY: National Resources Defense Council. http://www.nrdc.org/breastmilk/chems.asp

Pan IJ, Paediatr Perinat Epidemiol. 2010 May;24(3):262-71Lactational exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls, dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane, and dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene and infant growth: an analysis of the Pregnancy, Infection, and Nutrition Babies Study. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-3016.2010.01114.x.PMID: 20415756

 Poore and Nemecek, 2018.  Reducing food’s environmental impacts through producers and consumers. Science, 360 (6392) (2018), pp. 987-992. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aaq0216

Stigum H, et al. A novel model to characterize postnatal exposure to lipophilic environmental toxicants and application in the study of hexachlorobenzene and infant growth..Environ Int. 2015 Dec;85:156-62. doi: 10.1016/j.envint.2015.08.011. Epub 2015 Sep 19.PMID: 2639804339

Terri Hansen, Today correspondent. Pesticide exposure deprives Yaqui girls of breastfeeding – ever,  Feb 28, 2010. https://www.sej.org/headlines/pesticide-exposure-                              deprives-yaqui-girls-breastfeeding-ever

Toxic Release Inventory http://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/sis/htmlgen?TRI

Tran CD, Dodder NG, Quintana PJE, Watanabe K, Kim JH, Hovell MF, Chambers CD, Hoh E  Organic contaminants in human breast milk identified by non-targeted analysis.Chemosphere. 2020 Jan;238:124677. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2019.124677. Epub 2019 Aug 26.PMID: 31524616

United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and Breastfeeding https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/blog/tag/breastfeeding/

Vermeulen, B.M. Campbell, J.S.I. Ingram. Climate change and food systems. Annu. Rev. Environ. Resour., 37 (1) (2012), pp. 195-222

WABA Towards Healthy Environments for Children Q. Frequently asked questions (FAQ) about breastfeeding in a contaminated environment https://www.waba.org.my/whatwedo/environment/pdf/faq2005_eng.pdf

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Suggested Covid-19 resources for pregnancy and lactation

Lactation care and breastfeeding support are always essential, but perhaps even more so during crises like the one we’re facing today, dazed by social isolation.

Photo by Sasha Freemind on Unsplash

Like many states responding to the Covid-19 pandemic, The Academy of Lactation Policy and Practice (ALPP) is required to comply with Massachusetts Governor Baker’s emergency order and stop in-person operations. Healthy Children Project, Inc. has also been required to halt in-person operations, including the Lactation Counselor Training Courses (LCTC) for the time being. ALPP is continuing to process Certified Lactation Counselor (CLC) recertification requests remotely.  

Despite the current situation, the spirit of CLCs shines. In the CLC Facebook Group, lactation care providers are engaging in conversations about telemedicine, HIPAA compliance, and protective equipment and how to best serve families amidst the unknown. 

ALPP Executive Director Ellie MacGregor, MPH, CLC mentions that there are other important exchanges happening in  ALPP’s Community of Practice portal like current research and practice recommendations.

“We’re doing our best to share all of the evidence-based information although it’s changing every day,” MacGregor says.  

Photo by Luiza Braun on Unsplash

Healthy Children Project’s Cindy Turner-Maffei, MA, ALC, IBCLC has compiled resources for maternal child health care providers to reference when helping their clients navigate life during a pandemic. 

General Statements and Resources

For formula-feeding families

For expectant parents 

  •  Ready Set Baby curriculum produced by The Connecticut Department of Public Health (CT-DPH) in partnership with the Carolina Global Breastfeeding Institute (CGBI)

For personal sanity 

  • The meditation app, Ten Percent Happier, has made a set of meditations entitled “Coronavirus Sanity Guide” available to the general public.  In addition, they are making their full app available at no charge to healthcare workers who are responding to the virus outbreak. They invite health workers to email them for instructions at care@tenpercent.com. 
  • Yale’s Dr. Laurie Santos will host a Coursera Live Q&A event featuring ways to cope and process our emotions during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Photo by Greg Rakozy on Unsplash

Going forward, the United States Breastfeeding Committee (USBC) and MomsRising are inviting health care providers, pregnant and breastfeeding families, and all public health stakeholders to share how the pandemic is impacting the infant feeding experience. MomsRising points out that with the situation constantly evolving, personal experiences can make an impact on decision-making and help elected leaders understand how to best meet the needs of families.

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