Free Alternative Therapy This Saturday!

Shiphrah/Bahay Paanakan is hosting a one-day Bowen Alternative Therapy class. It contains therapy strategies for moms in labor, newborns, breastfeeding problems. It's free this Sat. 9-5 - January 25, 2014. There are two Bowen trainers who are here to help with Yolanda refugees. They came out to Shiphrah just yesterday with Kalpana Gandhi. This will be a teaser for a larger event later this year. For more details, contact Jeri 660-7565 or 0906 209 3965. Shiphrah is in Tanay, Rizal.

Click HERE to learn more about Bowen Alternative Therapy.

An Infographic about the Milk Code

Thank you UP Pagsama: Pangkalusugang Samahan ng Mag-aaral for this Milk Code infographic.  It has been my wish that there will be something like this and you have granted it!!  You can see it on Facebook here.  But I decided to dedicate a whole blog post because the Facebook photo is so small :D  Please be informed!

Explore more infographics like this one on the web's largest information design community - Visually.

Safe Formula Feeding

During the OABPF9 Forum in Luang Prabang, I was happy to have the chance to meet Patti Rundall, one of the founders of Baby Milk Action and primemovers in IBFAN.  Her talk focused on the new marketing strategies being used by formula milk companies to promote their products.  My main takeaway from her talk however was how breastfeeding advocates are concerned not only with breastfed infants but also with formula fed infants as well. Most especially with formula fed infants - breastfeeding advocates are focused that these babies' consumer rights to a safe product is at all times met.

A Day at Tuwâ

One early Sunday morning, a group of friends headed 2 hours north of Manila to Cabiao, Nueva Ecija. We were out to visit Tuwâ the Laughing Fish - a green bed & breakfast inn.  I first heard of this inn from Judy and Sherrie who stayed overnight with their families.

Diwa: our home during our stay

Tuwâ the Laughing Fish is created by John Vermeulen and Penelope Reyes.  They met during a seminar in Thailand for building ecovillages.  The land was originally a rice field [Nueva Ecija is the rice bowl of the Philippines] and they built everything from scratch.

Superfood - The Philippine experience

Last week, Save the Children released their Breastfeeding Report entitled Superfood for Babies.  What made this report very interesting was that it included updates from the recent battles over the Monster Bill.  The report also emphasized on how overcoming breastfeeding barriers will save lives of children.

The report identifies 4 categories of breastfeeding barriers, namely: community cultural pressure, health worker shortage, lack of maternity legislation and the big business barrier.

Recently, I shared a photo of a mom who breastfed in the toilet because she was uncomfortable to breastfeed in public.  There was also no breastfeeding station or bench where she could comfortably nurse her baby.  Aside from community barriers, more common would be family pressure.  Filipino families are closely-knit and several new families live with their in laws.  Most of our parents were born during the time when formula marketing was most prevalent.  Hence, they grew up with the thought that formula milk is best.    Thus, I truly believe that breastfeeding seminars should properly be addressed to the people surrounding the breastfeeding mother.  Save the Children's blog summarizes it well:

The real scandal is not breastfeeding late, but that too many moms don't get the support needed to breastfeed early -- or to keep breastfeeding, should they want to.

Financial Lessons for Kids - Starting them Young

This is totally different from what I regularly post.  However, I feel that the tips given are very useful especially to parents with young kids, like me.  I did not write this article but this was shared to me as part of the Weekly Wealth Watch shared by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas through its Financial Consumer Affairs Group.  The BSP is planning to come out with a book compiling all their tips on being financially independent.  So watch out for that!