A reader writes: Hi Hannah, I had a question in response to your last post about the formula options promoted by the Ministry of Health. I'm due to give birth to my third child in the next few weeks (in Jerusalem, G-d willing) by elective c-section. I exclusively breastfed both of my older children for over a year, but I remember from past experience that right after my c-section it was very difficult for me to get up in the middle of the night to go get my baby for breastfeeding, so, feeling left with no alternative, I told the nurses to give the babies one bottle during the night and the rest of the time I would only breastfeed. After a c-section, the nurses are willing to bring the … [Read more...]
New Mothers Get Choice — Between Two Brands of Breastmilk Substitutes
April 24, 2013 by Leave a Comment
I once heard a bit of sales advice, let's say for shoes. After a potential customer has tried on two pairs, you shouldn't ask if he likes one or the other. Instead say, "Which pair of shoes do you prefer?" With luck, the customer will accept your assumption that he has already decided to buy at least one pair. This advice came to mind when I read that the Israeli health ministry, as stated back in June, will now be requiring maternity wards to offer two competing brands of breastmilk substitutes for newborns. Shoes and powdered milk are very different products, but both are sold using manipulative marketing tactics. Until now, the companies paid huge sums for exclusive distribution … [Read more...]
Rabbi Elgazi on Breastfeeding, Fasting and Yom Kippur
September 25, 2012 by 8 Comments
In last week's Matzav Haruach, Rabbi Ben-Zion Elgazi's column is devoted to fasting on Yom Kippur. I liked his approach to breastfeeding so I am translating it here. You can find the original Hebrew text in this article I contributed to for the blog of the Israeli Association of Certified Lactation Consultants. Rabbi Elgazi teaches at the Kerem Be-Yavneh yeshiva. The prohibition against eating and drinking on Yom Kippur is more severe than all of the other commandments. One who eats and drinks more than the amount determined by the sages, nullifies the inui and is liable for karet (excision). Therefore, the basic assumption is that pregnant and nursing women fast the entire day of Yom … [Read more...]
Bullying over Breastmilk Storage
September 20, 2012 by 15 Comments
A nurse in a Jerusalem hospital returned from maternity leave and placed expressed breastmilk for her 7-month-old son in the staff room's refrigerator. One day she found a sign (pictured above) asking not to store expressed breastmilk in the refrigerator. Her complaint went all the way up to hospital management. She writes about the decision: "Every ending is a new beginning" - after a painful meeting with the head nurse of the hospital as well as the head nurse of my division, I cannot seem to get the management to agree that a maternity ward that respects the "personal sensitivities" of certain staff members who feel that breastmilk in the same location as adult food is disgusting, is … [Read more...]
Exclusion of (Breastfeeding) Women in Beit Shemesh and Hod Hasharon
September 7, 2012 by 30 Comments
Hebrew text of Navon correspondence with Israel PostPublic breastfeeding is in the news again, after a nursing mom was asked to leave a café in the Sharonim mall in Hod Hasharon. Tal Eisenberg asked a waitress to find her a comfortable seat to nurse her baby. Tal then overheard the shift manager asking the waitress whether Tal was nursing, and instructing her to find an excuse to make Tal leave. That waitress, and then a second one, approached Tal and asked her to leave without explanation. Tal and her mother took the baby, who was by now screaming at having his feeding interrupted, and left the café. She posted her story on the huge Facebook group "Mamazone," whose members left angry … [Read more...]
Why My Maternity Ward Locks Up Infant Formula
August 1, 2012 by 53 Comments
Much ink has been spilled about NYC Mayor Bloomberg's support of breastfeeding. In today's guest post, nurse and lactation consultant Noa Hirsch Choritz explains how keeping formula with medications serves the needs of both breast-fed and bottle-fed babies. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg recently announced that he will be supporting breastfeeding by encouraging hospitals to join the voluntary Latch On NYC program. Among other steps, the hospitals must agree to keep infant formula with medications instead of in mothers’ rooms. The announcement has been met with outrage and hyperbole, with columnists warning about “forcing women to breastfeed." In the … [Read more...]
New-Old Israeli Health Ministry Statement Promotes Breastfeeding in Hospitals
July 5, 2012 by 4 Comments
Remember the law, misnamed "The Law to Encourage Breastfeeding?" Unfortunately that law had nothing to do with public health but everything to do with breaking exclusivity contracts between hospitals and formula companies so that new brands could get their foot in the door. This was presented as being for the public good because more competition would mean lower costs of formula (but not as low as breastmilk). The sponsors put in a clause about a permission form, listing risks of formula feeding, for moms to sign before their baby received formula. That clause got ditched because moms argued that they would feel guilty, putting adult emotions ahead of babies' health. It seems that … [Read more...]
The Zen of Public Breastfeeding
June 3, 2012 by 16 Comments
Please welcome today's guest post by Miriam Kresh. Let it be said yet again: a woman can breastfeed in public with total modesty. Even in the middle of a bustling Middle-Eastern open-air market. Honest. I saw it myself last week in the local shuk. The scene was so modest as to be almost invisible. Trundling along with my wheeled shopping cart, I stopped at a stand selling particularly beautiful tomatoes. At the corner of my eye, I noticed a young Ethiopian woman settling down on some steps next to me. Strange place to take a rest, I thought. Right in front of a butcher's. Not the cleanest or quietest place. Maybe she's not feeling well. She adjusted her big white shawl, an … [Read more...]
Breastfeeding Preschoolers: Not Sensational at All
May 18, 2012 by 69 Comments
The caption on the Time Magazine cover under a mom breastfeeding a large-for-his-age nearly four year old asked, "Are You Mom Enough?" I'm guessing you've already seen it, so I won't link. People who think breastfeeding is weird or should only be done privately were disgusted. Even many who support breastfeeding lambasted Time for choosing a staged and provocative photo. Some have criticized the mother, Jamie Lynne Grumet, for agreeing to the shoot. They ask whether she was taking advantage of an unwilling child, and what right did she have to embarrass her son's future teenage self? Both questions relate to whether one sees breastfeeding as a normal part of parenting. Breastfeeding … [Read more...]
Why Can’t Breastfeeding Mothers Just Be Nice?
April 29, 2012 by 138 Comments
When someone posted a picture of a Jewish TV celebrity breastfeeding on the subway, it prompted a hot Twitter debate about whether breastfeeding in public is inconsiderate. Seeing a mother breastfeeding, even if nothing shows, makes some people uncomfortable. That feeling is unlikely to change, at least in the short term. I believe this happens when people grow up without seeing breastfeeding as part of daily life. Our culture associates breasts with sex, not with feeding babies. Even if the mother exposes more than necessary, the uproar over public breastfeeding exceeds concern over women who wear skimpy outfits. Clearly the breastfeeding itself sets people off. While … [Read more...]
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