How Breastfeeding Moms can Help Ondoy's Victims

In my previous post, I shared how breastfeeding her Yohann helped young mom Yoly cope with the flooding brought about by Ondoy to her residence. This morning, I received an article from Alex of UNICEF/WHO, which was prepared by the International Code Docmentation Centre on The Code and infant feeding in emergencies. Apparently, in droughts, floods, earthquakes and other calamaties in various parts of the world, milk, feeding bottles and teats manufacturers have been actively donating their products to evacuation centers. Thus, there have been several code violations in times of emergencies, such as milk donations from foreign governments with milk products labeled in a foreign language during the Java earthquake in 2006, donation of formula by a service organization during the civil unrest in East Timor in 2002 and many more.
Donations such as these send out the wrong messages to mothers in the evacuation centers - undermining established breastfeeding programs or worse -- suggesting to moms that formula milk will be healthier for babies during the times of emergencies as moms themselves do not have enough food to eat. Click picture below to see do's and don'ts in emergency infant feeding.

In times of emergencies such as these, people are panick-y and easily believe anything. It is a myth that stressed or malnourished moms cannot breastfeed. There is also no need for huge donations of formula milk to evacuation centers. There is more reason to be vigilant during an emergency to ensure the protection of breastfeeding.
If you are a Pinoy breastfeeding mom, you can help by donating some of your breastmilk to the Philippine General Milk Bank. Dr. Mianne Silvestre, noted neonatologist and breastfeeding advocate, is spearheading the milk collection which will be pasteurized and cup-fed to babies in evacuation centers. You can call PGH at 5548400 loc. 3409 for instructions on how to donate.
If PGH is too far from you, you can also go to The Medela House - express and donate your milk there. The Medela Moms, Maricel and Beng will provide the milk bags where you can put your expressed milk for donating. Milk donations will be accepted until 4pm today, 30 September 2009. The Medela Moms has also agreed to subsidize the cost of feeding cups for donation. Feeding cups are P60 each but The Medela Moms will shoulder half the cost.
Breastmilk is clean, free and always available. Whatever few ounces each lactating mom can donate will add up and make a huge difference in the lives of the baby victims of Typhoon Ondoy.

Breastfeeding in the face of Ondoy

Last Saturday, the Philippines was hit with a storm of epic proportions -- which resulted in the worst flooding in the past 40 years. This post is so déjà vu. For this year, the theme for World Breastfeeding Week was "Breastfeeding: A Vital Emergency Response Are you ready?" I joined a blogging carnival in August and I wrote about that here. I talked about how the Philippines is always hit by typhoons which is why moms need to be informed and supported to be able to breastfeed successfully. Being able to breastfeed helps moms worry about one thing less (what to feed their baby) in the face of disaster.

Then again, when we are

thinking about donations, one of the issues UNICEF said to watch out for is the common donor impulse to send infant formula or breast milk

substitutes to disaster zones. In current news reports, among the items being asked for is milk - formula for infants.

A friend shared with me that her cousin, 9 month old niece and yaya (nanny) were stuck on the rooftop of their house in Riverside, Marikina - one of the areas worst hit by Ondoy. They had to lug containers of clean drinking water to the roof to be able to prepare formula milk. The mom and baby were eventually rescued by the US Navy. Initially, the US Navy only wanted to get the baby first - I really don't understand why there is a need to separate the mother and baby. The mom refused so both were evacuated. I wonder what happened to the yaya though?

Meanwhile, I was able to receive a text from Yoly who share that her house was totally flooded last Saturday and her family did not get a chance to cook any food. However, thanks to the magic of mama's milk, her son Yohann did not go hungry at all because he had an unlimited supply of clean milk to drink -- perfect example of the benefits of breastfeeding in times of calamities.

Death toll from Ondoy has now reached 240 people while almost 400 thousand people are now in evacuation centers. Economic damage is pegged at P1.4B ($30M). Readers who want to help can check out this Google Landing Page.

With another storm brewing, estimated to hit the Philippines later this week, there is more reason to promote breastfeeding and encourage moms to persevere. In times of emergencies such as this, breastfeeding moms don't have to worry about clean water to make their babies' milk and will always be confident that their babies will not go hungry, as experienced by Yoly.

Do you really need a pump?

Welcome to the Carnival of Breastfeeding for September. For this month's carnival, the theme is breastfeeding and working. Please check out the other contributing bloggers linked at the bottom of this post. :D

When I found out about this month's theme, I got really excited as I’ve been living and breathing breastfeeding and working for almost 2 years now. I've written several posts on this topic, from maintaining my milk supply to making breastfeeding part of my daily life. I even have an entire series on how to set up a lactation program policy in the workplace. In my 2 recent talks for LATCH and MommySense, I gave presentations on how to continue breastfeeding even after returning to work.

What to Expect During L.A.T.C.H's Best Beginnings Class

Despite having given a presentation during a breastfeeding event with 500+ moms and organizing a breastfeeding awareness festival at work, I had yet to participate in L.A.T.C.H.'s primary activity - the monthly free breastfeeding class at The Medical City. I began my training to be a LATCH peer counselor in March 2009. Since then, there had been about 5 monthly classes. However, I was always either out of town or had other family commitments. Finally, I was able to volunteer during the September class.

As expected, I was tasked to talk about the "Returning to Work" presentation. Since only 2 LATCHers volunteered to present, I was also asked to present the "Breastfeeding Treasures". Judy, my partner that day, discussed what to expect during the first week and breastfeeding myths.

There are several breastfeeding classes held by various individuals. What makes the LATCH class unique is that it is very light and spontaneous. It is also the only class which is held at a hospital and includes the participation of pediatricians. However, it doesn't mean that you need to deliver at The Medical City in order to attend the free class.

During the September class, we were graced with the presence of our pregnant President, Buding, who began the class with a brief introduction of LATCH as an organization - our vision, mission, goals and activities. I was up next, with a short game of Breastfeeding Treasures - which invited couples to identify the benefits of breastfeeding. It was my first time to do the benefits and I was really nervous. It was an interactive presentation, with prizes to boot! Luckily, I was assisted by my fellow LATCHer, Jenny (who was a veteran in attending the classes). I had my break when Judy talked about getting started - what to do before giving birth, what books to read, and how to prime yourself to breastfeed. Judy also discussed the early days -- which are the most challenging days for 1st time parents! This presentation was super helpful since it shows parents how to find an answer to their biggest concern --> is my baby getting milk?

We also showed a Breast Crawl filmed by UNICEF in India. We also have a breast crawl video filmed in Fabella Hospital - which I thought was more poignant and heartwarming. However, due to some technical problems, it would not play on the computer. Hopefully, this technical issue will be resolved in the upcoming classes.

After a short break (with yummy snacks), we broke off into small groups for LATCH's signature break-out groups. During this period, a group of 4-5 couples will be working with 1 LATCH counselor, who will show them how to properly position and latch their babies. This session is complete with props and is more intimate, allowing couples to participate in the discussions.

We went back to the classroom set-up after the break-out groups session. Since our time was limited, Judy and I had to breeze through returning to work and breastfeeding myths. During my presentation, I discussed how working moms can still continue providing breastmilk to their babies even while they are at work, how to maintain their milk supply and how to store their milk properly. Judy then busted several breastfeeding myths which still persist despite the promotion of breastfeeding awareness.

A pediatrician from The Medical City, Dr. Christina Bernardo discussed the history of formula milk in the Philippines. She was also able to address several concerns and respond to the questions of the expectant couples.

The LATCH class was not limited to first-time parents, some participants were 2nd and 3rd time parents who were not successful in breastfeeding their other babies. I was happy to see that they were still interested to learn and perserved to succeed in breastfeeding their coming babies.

Free breastfeeding classes such as this one should be staples in hospitals throughout the country. Various hospitals are now coming up with their own wellness or education classes on healthy living, women's health, geriatrics -- why not one on breastfeeding?

I'm currently in talks with a pediatrician to organize a similar class in another hospital in the Manila area. Since Dr. S is very very busy, she hasn't had time to lay down the administrative groundwork for her hospital. I'm really interested in volunteering for classes in this hospital since this is much closer to my house than The Medical City. Hopefully, by 2010, monthly breastfeeding classes will already be organized, not only in this Manila hospital but in more hospitals in other parts of Metro Manila.

Why Breastfeeding Awareness Should Be Directed To Everyone Aside From The Nursing Mom

All of the breastfeeding workshops, trainings, seminars or information sessions I attended are always targeted towards moms and their partners. But it is really the people around the nursing mother who influence or affecther decisions in breastfeeding. However, it is difficult to include these people/family members in seminars as they do not see the need or realize the importance of promoting breastfeeding within their family.
When I was a fun-loving single, my brother (J), his girlfriend (M) and their son lived with me and my sister. M moved in with us while she was still pregnant. Upon Nephew's birth, Sister and I were very excited to take care of him. M tried to breastfeed Nephew but found that she had little or no milk. I was not too concerned with breastfeeding at that time as I wanted to be the one to take care of Nephew. So Sister and I happily gave Nephew the bottle and never encouraged M to continue breastfeeding Nephew. When I became pregnant with Naima, I was likewise bombarded with "formula-friendly" gifts and advice. I received all the small bottles of Naima's older cousins with the advice to purchase new nipples for these bottles. The book "What to Expect When You're Expecting" (notorious for giving bad-BF advice) was also handed down to me. I was also not yet sure that I would really be breastfeeding (for long) as I had heard about the difficulties of sustaining it. So I bought myself a set of BPA-free bottles and studied what brand of formula to give Naima. I did not buy any single breastfeeding-related item and did not even think about checking out breastfeeding information on the internet.
My mom told me - hey you should breastfeed - without any other information on how to do it, or the difficulties to be encountered (my siblings and I were all formula-fed). She knew about the benefits of breastfeeding but not having done it herself, she couldn't give me any concrete information about what to expect, what to watch out for, etc. etc. One of my aunts also told me that it was ok to give formula to my baby - that I shouldn't really feel bad if I can't breastfed because formula-fed babies still turned out great.I was lucky that I didn't have to deal with my mother-in-law. My husband's sister was an exclusive pumper for 6 months and whenever my mother-in-law said something contrary to breastfeeding, I just keep silent, talk to my sister-in-law and my sister-in-law will call her mother and explain why breastfeeding is best. I know a lot of nursing moms whose breastfeeding goals are cut short (especially when they go back to work) because of mother-in-laws who are too eager to give formula to their grandchildren.
Unsupportive family members are not the only people that need to be educated. Even the nursing mom's friends need to be targeted. More often than not, during baby showers these well-meaning friends give the mom-to-be anti-breastfeeding presents like bottles or formula containers, sterilizers, etc. There are several websites with suggestions on how to create a "Breast Basket" or breastfeeding friendly baby shower. Friends would definitely be doing the pregnant honoree a favor by choosing to be conscious about the gifts to purchase for the baby shower.As for the general public, there have been steps to increase awareness such as public information messages by L.A.T.C.H. and MommySense Davao. But more needs to be done to combat the P1B budget that formula companies allocate for their marketing/advertising expenses. In fact, in recent news, the aggressive marketing tactics of formula milk companies (e.g. giving health workers commission for each can sold, targetting low paid doctors) have reported to be the main cause of the lowering of Vietnam's breastfeeding rates to 17% (even worse than the Philippines, at 34%). Meeting these formula companies head-on through ads will be a huge challenge, considering that budgets for breastfeeding advertisement are miniscule compared to the advertising budgets of milk companies. Thus, it is all the more ideal to start small - by encouraging the pregnant mom and her family to support breastfeeding. A dedicated supporter of the advocacy is indeed a formidable foe to combat the huge advertising budgets of the milk companies.