"Alyson Hannigan Credits Breastfeeding for weight loss"

Another great celebrity breastfeeding story!!!

Busy Mom’ Alyson Hannigan Credits Breastfeeding for Weightloss

Kevin Perkins/Pacific Coast News

When it comes to returning to pre-baby form, like millions of other moms How I Met Your Mother star Alyson Hannigan credits breastfeeding. The 35-year-old actress is so impressed, in a new video for PEOPLE TV, she jokes that nursing even factors into her long-term weight maintenance plans.

“I know it’s a cliché, but I was eating just ridiculous amounts of food but still losing weight,” she notes. “I think I should just keep breastfeeding until she’s 18.”...

HERE to read the complete article

"Treatments for Asthma and preterm labour may caus Autism"

Treatments for Asthma and Pre-Term Labor May Increase Risk of Autism in Developing Fetus

ScienceDaily (Dec. 2, 2009) — Commonly prescribed beta 2 adrenergic agonist drugs for the treatment of asthma in pregnant women as well as pre-term labor may increase the incidence of autism-spectrum disorders, psychiatric pathology, cognitive problems and poor school performance in their children, according to a new study published in the December 2009 issue of the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology.

Beta 2 adrenergic agonist drugs as a class are widely used in obstetrics as tocolytics to inhibit or slow down labor and bronchodilators, but may act as functional and behavioral teratogens when given continuously in the mid to late second or early third trimesters. By correlating the basic science and clinical data, investigators observed that when given prenatally, these drugs can cause functional and behavioral disorders by permanently altering the balance of sympathetic and parasympathetic tone in the individual.....

HERE to read the entire article

"Sleeping babies need mom beside them"

Peaceful Parenting posts a great article by Dr. James J. McKenna

Recent news stories and studies are pointing out that more and more North American families are adopting some form of Co-sleeping .... though it's all very hush hush. I've started a Poll (to the right) about family sleeping arrangements. Obviously the poll is limited in the amount of options I could add to it, lol. But please post your comments:

We want to hear about how YOU sleep with your family. Do you sleep share? Co-sleep? Full time or part time? Is your bedroom permanently set up for the family? (ie: mattress on the floor, or two beds pulled together?). How old are your children and how long did they sleep with you, if they did at all? Did you move your children into their own room, or did they make the decision themselves?...

Let's talk about it! Co-sleeping and sleep sharing needs to come out of the dark and into the light of mainstream parenting. So lets talk about our experiences so that others might see that THEIR experiences aren't something to hide or be ashamed of!!!

Tuesday, December 01, 2009

Sleeping: Babies Need Mom Beside Them

"Throughout human history, breast-feeding mothers sleeping alongside their infants constituted a marvelously adaptive system in which both the mothers' and infants' sleep physiology and health were connected in beneficial ways. By sleeping next to its mother, the infant receives protection, warmth, emotional reassurance, and breast milk - in just the forms and quantities that nature intended....
...It is a curious fact that in Western societies the practice of mothers, fathers and infants sleeping together came to be thought of as strange, unhealthy and dangerous. Western parents are taught that "co-sleeping" will make the infant too dependent on them, or risk accidental suffocation. Such views are not supported by human experience worldwide, however, where for perhaps millions of years, infants as a matter of course slept next to at least one caregiver, usually the mother, in order to survive. At some point in recent history, infant separateness with low parental contact during the night came to be advocated by child care specialists, while infant-parent interdependence with high parental contact came to be discouraged. In fact, the few psychological studies which are available suggest that children who have "co-slept" in a loving and safe environment become better adjusted adults than those who were encouraged to sleep without parental contact or reassurance."

HERE to read the entire article

"Chemical spill causes Hazmat scare"

OK, Does no one else see the irony here? What's was the problem? Didn't they want a side of Mercury to go with their main course of Mercury?! Huh, imagine that.

Spill causes scare at local H1N1 clinic

Gym evacuated after mercury spills onto floor

Updated: Saturday, 05 Dec 2009, 2:39 AM EST
Published : Saturday, 05 Dec 2009, 2:38 AM EST

By Jeremy Brown

WEST WARWICK, R.I. (WPRI) - A chemical spill causes a hazmat scare at a local H1N1 clinic.

A thermometer accidentally broke Friday afternoon spilling mercury onto the floor of the gym at the Greenbush School in West Warwick.

The gym had to be evacuated.

It took crews hours to clean up that spill.

HERE to see Video footage and original story

"The Babies are Coming!!"

Today I'm not feeling very....writer-like, nor verbally creative. So, I'm going to cop out and send you to my friends blog to hear about this fantastic new movie. She has written everything I would say if I had even one drop of mental energy today, and probably said it more eloquently and succinctly than I could manage on a good day. AND.... she knows how to embed a copy of the YouTube video right into her blog... that will save us all time and energy ;>)

I will say that I'm really looking forward to this movie when it's released in April 2010. I think it will give us a very formative look at the vast differences in parenting and cultures and their effect on the 4 babies that this film will follow for 12 months.

Enjoy the film preview!!

HERE to watch the preview of the film "Babies' and to read Peaceful Parentings blog about the film

"101 Reasons To Breastfeed your child"

101 Reasons to Breastfeed your child"

Written by Leslie Burby, brought to you by ProMoM.
© 1998-2007 ProMoM, Inc. All rights reserved. (Revised May, 2005.)

1. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends breastfeeding
   According to the AAP, "Human milk is species-specific, and all substitute feeding preparations differ markedly from it, making human milk uniquely superior for infant feeding. Exclusive breastfeeding is the reference or normative model against which all alternative feeding methods must be measured with regard to growth, health, development, and all other short- and long-term outcomes. In addition, human milk-fed premature infants receive significant benefits with respect to host protection and improved developmental outcomes compared with formula-fed premature infants… Pediatricians and parents should be aware that exclusive breastfeeding is sufficient to support optimal growth and development for approximately the first 6 months of life and provides continuing protection against diarrhea and respiratory tract infection. Breastfeeding should be continued for at least the first year of life and beyond for as long as mutually desired by mother and child."
   
   A.A.P. Breastfeeding Policy Statement: Breastfeeding and the Use of Human Milk Pediatrics Vol. 115 No. 2 February 2005
   
   (http://aappolicy.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/pediatrics;115/2/496)
2. The American Dietetic Association promotes breastfeeding
   The ADA also believes that "the bonding that occurs during breastfeeding makes it a special choice." The ADA actively promotes breastfeeding, stating that "It is the position of the American Dietetic Association that broad-based efforts are needed to break the barriers to breastfeeding initiation and duration. Exclusive breastfeeding for 6 months and breastfeeding with complementary foods for at least 12 months is the ideal feeding pattern for infants. Increases in initiation and duration are needed to realize the health, nutritional, immunological, psychological, economical, and environmental benefits of breastfeeding."
   
   
   ADA Website: ADA Website: http://www.eatright.org/Public/NutritionInformation/92_8236.cfm
   

3. Breast milk is more digestible than formula
   "In recent years nutritionists have voiced concern about overly high levels of protein in the American diet. Since cow's milk contains about twice as much protein as human milk, formula-fed babies usually receive more protein than they need (much of it in the form of the less digestible casein). The stools of formula-fed babies are so bulky because the babies cannot absorb so much protein, and excrete the excess in their stool, whereas breast-fed babies absorb virtually 100% of the protein in human milk."


The Complete Book Of Breastfeeding M.S. Eiger. MD, S. Wendkos Olds, Copyright 1999, Workman Publishing Co., Inc., 708 Broadway, New York, NY 10003
4. Not breastfeeding increases mother's risk of breast cancer
   Many studies have shown that women who breastfeed have lower risks of developing breast cancer. Recently, data from 47 studies in 30 countries was re-examined. The study group concluded that the incidence of breast cancer in developed countries could be reduced by more than half if women had the number of births and lifetime duration of breastfeeding that have been common in developing countries until recently. According to the analysis, breastfeeding could account for almost two-thirds of this estimated reduction in breast cancer incidence.
   
   Jernstorm, H et al "Breast-feeding and the risk of breast cancer in BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation carriers." J Natl Cancer Inst. 2004;96:1094-1098
   
   Lee, SY et al "Effect of lifetime lactation on breast cancer risk: a Korean women's cohort study." Int J Cancer. 2003;105:390-393
   
   Collaborative Group on Hormonal Factors in Breast Cancer (2002). "Breast cancer and breastfeeding: collaborative reanalysis of individual data from 47 epidemiological studies in 30 countries, including 50,302 women with breast cancer and 96,973 women without the disease." Lancet 360: 187-95
   
   Zheng et al, "Lactation Reduces Breast Cancer Risk in Shandong Province, China" Am. J. Epidemiol. Dec. 2000, 152 (12): 1129
   
   Newcomb PA, Storer BE, Longnecker MP, et al. "Lactation and a reduced risk of premenopausal breast cancer." N Engl J Med. 1994;330:81-87

HERE to read the Rest of the reasons!!!!!

You can also download this article in PDF format!!!!

"Breastfeeding may reduce diabetes risk"

Yet more positive studies showing the positive health benefits of Breastfeeding for mothers too- it's not just about feeding our babies!! The more we learn about the benefits of Breastfeeding the more we realize that nursing our children is a biological imperative for the health of our young AND our mothers.

Breast is NOT best. Breastfeeding is the NORM. And when society realizes this, then society as a whole will benefit.

Breastfeeding May Reduce Diabetes Risk

Lactation History Linked to Less Metabolic Syndrome

By Salynn Boyles
WebMD Health News

Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD

Dec. 3, 2009 -- There is more evidence that breastfeeding benefits moms as well as their babies.

Breastfeeding was shown to significantly lower a woman’s risk for developing metabolic syndrome in a study reported today by researchers with Kaiser Permanente.

"...

Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of risk factors linked to both diabetes and heart disease, including elevated blood pressure, insulin resistance, and belly fat.

The new study is one of the most rigorously designed trials ever to explore the impact of breastfeeding on such risk factors.

Researchers examined data on 704 women who were followed for two decades, starting before their first pregnancy.

Because the women were enrolled in a larger heart disease risk study, the researchers had information on wide range of health and lifestyle factors. None of the women had metabolic syndrome at enrollment, but 120 developed the condition during the 20 years of follow-up.

In the population as a whole, breastfeeding for longer than nine months was associated with a 56% reduction in risk for developing metabolic syndrome during the follow-up period.

In women who developed gestational diabetes during one or more pregnancies, the risk reduction was 86%..."

HERE to read the whole article