You are what you eat…and so is your baby

Asian baby drinking breastmilk

“As a mother of a baby born in 1973 when nobody was breastfeeding, I didn’t know why, but I instinctively knew breastfeeding was the best thing to do.” After my first son was born, I went back to school to become a nurse. During my interview I said, “I’m not interested in sick people, but I want to work with new moms and babies.” So, I worked in labor and delivery for 10 years. During my time on the labor and delivery floor I dedicated all of my free time to helping new mothers initiate breastfeeding. I realized this was my true passion, so I became a certified lactation consultant and have been helping mothers and babies ever since.

Today, I want to share four things you might not know about breastfeeding.

Breastfeeding is good for your baby (and you!)Do what’s best for mom and baby

  • Breastmilk has cells, hormones, and antibodies that help protect your baby from illnesses. Babies who are breastfed are less likely to have asthma, ear infections, diarrhea and vomiting, and lower respiratory infections.
  • Breastfeeding can help your baby feel more secure, warm, and comforted. Physical contact also increases a mother’s oxytocin levels, which can help breastmilk flow.
  • Breastfeeding helps a mother heal after childbirth. It also reduces the risk of type 2 diabetes, certain types of breast cancer, and ovarian cancer.

Breastfeeding is adaptable

  • Your baby’s saliva transfers chemicals to a mother’s body that causes breastmilk to adjust to meet the changing needs of your baby as they grow.
  • The first milk that a mother’s body makes during pregnancy and just after birth is called colostrum. It is a deep yellow color and is very rich in nutrients that helps your newborn baby’s digestive system grow and function.
  • Mature breastmilk has the right combination of fat, sugar, water, and protein so your baby continues to grow.

Breastfeeding can save your baby’s life during a natural disaster

  • Breastfeeding can protect your baby from illnesses caused by dirty water, including diarrhea. It can also help prevent respiratory illnesses.
  • When you breastfeed your baby will always have milk available without have access to additional supplies.
  • Breastmilk is always at the right temperature and can help keep your baby’s body temperature from dropping too low.

Breastfeeding benefits societyWorld Breastfeeding Logo

  • Babies who are breastfed usually go to the doctor for sick visits less often, need to take fewer prescription medications, and are less likely to go to the hospital.
  • Mothers who breastfeed miss less work to take care of their sick babies, compared to moms who feed their baby formula.
  • Milk is a renewable resource that does not create trash and plastic waste from things like formula cans and bottle supplies.

Learn more

August 1 – 7 is the 25th anniversary of World Breastfeeding Week. This year the campaign is focused on “sustaining breastfeeding – together” and the important role of support at all levels for successful breastfeeding.

Neighbors Helping Neighbors

Busy Gym Testing for TB

When the Fairfax County Health Department (FCHD) in Virginia put out a call for volunteers to help conduct a tuberculosis (TB) contact investigation, Rosalia Parada, a long time Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) volunteer, jumped at the chance to serve her community.  The investigation was sparked when news of three students from Robert E. Lee High School acquired TB around the same time.

As a nurse and a resident of the Lee High School community, Parada saw firsthand the need for care and support throughout her neighborhood.  With a variety of ethnic groups and languages, the community is very diverse, lending itself to some challenges during a public health response of this scope.  For example, many families living in the community were from Spanish-speaking backgrounds.  In the same situation herself, , Parada felt that volunteering was an opportunity to provide interpretation, as well as nursing services for the contact investigation – when contacts like teachers, other students, and people who interacted with the students would be tested for TB.  “Many people don’t have access to health care,” Parada expressed, adding to the need for proper communication about the situation through interpretation. 

In the second phase of the contact investigation, screening and testing was provided at many sites around the community, one of which was located at Lee High School.  During the second phase, Parada volunteered as a screener.  She gathered information, distributed learning materials about what to do if someone has TB, and provided encouragement to those with concerns.  Her skills as a nurse permitted Parada to assist with TB testing, such as performing tuberculin skin testing (TST)

Although Parada is a practicing nurse, this was the first time she was involved in a response of this size.  During screening and testing, Parada saw the importance of providing comfort and reassurance for families, making them aware and helping build their knowledge about TB and the broad size and scope of signing upthe investigation.  Parada also stressed community awareness about TB vaccinations as a preventive measure for acquiring TB – and making the community aware of the consequences of not being tested, especially for those who were in close contact with the students who had acquired the active TB disease.

Among the many projects that Parada worked on as an MRC volunteer and as a practicing certified nurse, she says the Lee High School TB contact investigation is the largest and most unique. Parada explained that the gymnasium was very well organized for the screening and testing process, as volunteers kept the flow of students steady.   As a mother of three boys who graduated from Lee High School, she understood the worry, questions, and concerns from parents whose children may have been exposed to TB; but as a volunteer nurse, she knew the importance of making parents aware by gathering and providing accurate, helpful information while still being able to ease their worry.

Parada was extremely encouraged by the involvement of the community during the TB response.  She said the  investigation was a great learning experience for her community.  It combined the responsibility of the health department, along with the school and community, to help make people aware of good public health practice.