This bill deletes the age limitation in the statute that permits mothers to publicly breastfeed their children who are age 12 months or younger. ”

Here is a link to the actual bill: http://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/107/Bill/SB0083.pdf

Sen Faulk is the sole sponsor of this important legislation. Unless they find a sponsor in the House this bill will not be heard this year. Please contact your local House Rep and ask them to sign on as a sponsor, and at the very least support the bill when it comes before them. All bills have to be filed by next Thursday, the 17th, so we have a lot of work to do!

You can find your State House and Senate Reps here : http://www.capitol.tn.gov/districtmaps/, or by going here http://www.capitol.tn.gov/legislators/ and entering your street address.

Also, Sen. Faulk’s assistant said that they have gotten a lot of calls on this legislation and that the feedback is only slightly in favor of breastfeeding. That means that more people need to call his office and express their support. Please call Sen. Faulk’s office at (615) 741-2061 and tell them that you support SB0083.

Please share this with anyone who might help!!

From Megan Morton, Co-Leader of Nashville Birth Network

Even though breastfeeding is often referred to as the “most natural thing in the world,” rarely does it come so naturally. Which is why lactation consultants are the fairy godmothers to breastfeeding. However, I came across this web resource through a recent Science and Sensibility post and wanted to share with you. Breastfeeding Basics is a website owned by Anne Smith, a mother of 6 and an IBCLC with over 20 years lactation experience. Through her website you can find helpful answers to many breastfeeding issues, including a lengthy article on breastfeeding and different forms of birth control, and introducing bottles and pacifiers to baby. Outside of your local lactation consultant, for an easy online reference, I highly recommend you check out Breastfeeding Basics for yourself.

Thanks to the hard work of a few individuals and organizations, a State Bill, introduced by State Senator Mike Faulk, is set to eliminate the age restriction on the current breastfeeding bill (currently at 12 months). Here, an article by The Tennessean about the bill in general and a video clip about the benefits of breastfeeding.

What you can do: until the bill goes up before the health committee (probably later this February or March), contact your local state legislator and ask them to support SB0083. After the bill goes before the health committee members, we then need to contact those members directly. Stay tuned.

POST EDIT 2/9/2011: This bill needs positive support ASAP. Contact Senator Faulk’s office at (615) 741-2061 and tell him you support SBSB0083.

I love this article, “Breast Pumps, Nipple Shields, Hooter Hiders … Oh My!” from Kimmelin Hull on Science and Sensibility’s blog. As a nursing mother, I made much use of my nursing cover, and in fact will make them for friends who are driven to breastfeed but would rather nurse in a bathroom or in their car rather than in a public space due to modesty issues. In fact, my own breastfeeding pro of a sister (four breastfeed babes with a fifth on the way) had to walk me through public nursing when my little dude was two months old. We were both nursing babies at the time, and we were doing some after Christmas shopping in a very busy mall. It came time to feed both babies and I began to frantically look around for a hidden, secluded spot (a perfect time to get into our TN breastfeeding laws, but I won’t). She sat down on a circular bench in the middle of the mall, pulled out her nursing cover and her baby, and subsequently her breast, and began to feed. I took my place by her, babe in arm, and followed suit. It took my sister’s know-how and no-nonsense attitude to get me here. Never can enough be sad about having a sister who has gone before you in marriage, childbirth, or breastfeeding. I think there is particular stigma regarding breastfeeding here in the ’south,’ and I feel that if a nursing cover can give a mom the confidence she needs to feed her baby, then have at it! Yet, I fully acknowledge that there is a point in which breastfeeding ‘accessories’ overwhelm what can become (after baby has established effective suck and mother’s supply is meeting demand) the simple process of breastfeeding. Read the article linked above.

For example, an expectant mother purchases a breastpump because, well, everyone knows that if you’re planning on breastfeeding you’re going to need a pump. After baby arrives mom cannot stand not knowing (this mom knew one way- measuring ounces) how much milk her baby is getting. So mom begins to pump and then feed baby bottles for every single feeding. Perhaps a consult with a lactation consultant could have let this mom know that the BEST way to know how much a baby is getting is by baby’s output: wet and poopy diapers. So, back to mom, this pump then bottle feed arrangement doesn’t sound so terrible (besides adding a middle man and taking more time to nourish baby), until, mom’s supply is going down because the pump doesn’t put as much demand on the breast as baby does. Remember, supply=demand. Then perhaps mom develops mastitis because no matter how great the pump, it just doesn’t drain a breast like a baby does. So what happens to this breastfed, then bottlefed with breastmilk baby? He becomes a formula fed baby. Who won? Perhaps the breastpump manufacturer? Which also happens manufactures bottles?

DO NOT GET ME WRONG. I believe that many of our accessories have a happy place somewhere in the breastfeeding continuum, including, especially, breastpumps. But as part of the flock to fill that retail need to be able to buy something that is the counterpart to our formula fed friends, do we purchase these accessories? Do ill-informed, though well-meaning, friends, family members, or dare I say childbirth educators or lactation consultants lead us down the rosy retail breastfeeding path?

Just as in childbirth and parenting choices, only you are looking out for what is best for your family. Evaluate what is on the market, consider what your goals are for feeding your child, and make your best decisions with carefully weighed research and advice.

Of course, National Breastleaking is a flashier title, but of course not as politically correct or official sounding.

And so, as a small tribute to the monumental art of breastfeeding we have new research to encourage weary moms through breastfeeding: BREASTFEEDING MOTHERS GET MORE SLEEP. Often doctors and families trying to keep postpartum mood disorders at bay encourage breastfeeding mothers to not nurse at night or to formula feed at night, or to completely switch to formula feeding. The thought is that sleep deprivation is a risk factor to postpartum depression. And so, if we can get this new mother any more sleep, let’s do it. And the best way is to stop nursing at night, by hook or by crook. So this is where the research is so important. It proves that breastfeeding moms get more sleep than their formula or mixed feeding counterparts.

Yes, this has been a loosely written, non factually based article. I encourage you to go to science&sensibility.org to read the factually sound, well-researched article Nighttime Breastfeeding and Maternal Mental Health.

I learned these from the book “Pregnancy, Childbirth, and the Newborn,” by Simkin, Whalley and Keppler.  If you enjoy reading, I would recommend this hefty over 400 page book for women early in their pregnancy.  It is comprehensive and loaded with information pertinent to the pre, peri, and postnatal periods (as the title might suggest). However, if having gobs of information in your head isn’t for you during this important phase of your life journey, a doula is always a wealth of knowledge and a terrific support.  We may just be able to scrounge one up somewhere around here…

Here are just a couple of items that were new points to me from this book, you may also find them interesting.

“Breast milk and formula provide nutrients for the baby’s gain in weight and length.  Breast milk, however is the only source of nutrients that also contribute to the rapid and healthy growth of the baby’s brain and nervous system, the maturation of his digestive system, and the development of his immune system.”

On a more lighthearted note, did you know those small bumps on a female’s areola have a name and purpose?  They are known as Montgomery glands, and they secrete a lubricating substance that keeps the nipple supple and helps to prevent infection.

Another testament to the miraculous connection between and mother and her child: a mother’s milk changes in composition to suit her baby’s needs.  In kind, a premature baby’s mother’s milk is different in substance vs. a term baby’s mother’s milk.

And speaking of the composition of milk, here are some of the major components: water, fats, carbohydrates, proteins, and vitamins and minerals.

It is very important to maintain a nutritious diet while breastfeeding, as with a weak diet your nutritient stores may become depleted.  Drink fluids to keep hydrated; contrary to popular belief, fluids will keep you from feeling thirsty, but are not directly associated with producing more milk.

These are just a few interesting tidbits.  I cannot emphasize enough the importance of initiating contact with a lactation consultant (preferably an IBCLC; Internationally Board Certified Lactation Consultant), or with a breastfeeding support group before your baby is born so that if or when you encounter breastfeeding difficulties or have questions about nursing your newborn you already have someone whom you trust that you can call.  You can always ask a care provider, a doula, or your nurse for referrals for these resources.