Breastfeeding Under Siege (As Usual)

If you had the option to feed your baby a substance that is, “associated with fewer ear and gastrointestinal infections, as well as lower rates of diabetes, leukemia, obesity, asthma and sudden infant death syndrome”, chances are you’d immediately start feeding it to your child. Well such a substance exists, always has. It’s called breastmilk. Why then did the Department of Health and Human Services bow to the formula industry and water down ads that promote breastfeeding. Oh wait, I know, it’s because donors to the Republican Party are much more important than infant health!

And what is the deal with Applebee’s telling a Lexington, KY woman that she had to cover up while she discreetly breastfed her baby at a table at the back of the restaurant??

Memo to Applebee’s:

1. It’s against the law.
2. Remember how you got here.

Kudos to mama Brooke Ryan who is, “organizing a “Nurse Out” on Sept. 8 with posters and breast-feeding outside the Applebee’s in Lexington where she was confronted. She’s also asking for a public apology from Applebee’s and training for its employees about the rights of breast-feeding mothers.” Any mamas in other cities who want to join in?

And here’s a great call to action from MomsRising:

Dear MomsRising member,Doctors agree that breastmilk is best for infants, but their own licensing board isn’t following doctor’s orders. Sophie Currier recently learned that when it comes to supporting breastfeeding, many of our leaders–whether they are in the medical establishment (as in Sophie’s case), business sector, or elsewhere–still don’t “walk the talk.” You see, Sophie was denied breast pumping breaks during her nine hour medical licensing exam. She’s not alone. Even in this day and age when the medical evidence is clear that breastfeeding is best for infants, women are regularly denied the time and location to pump.

SUPPORT THE BREASTFEEDING PROMOTION ACT! Sign the Statement of Support for breastfeeding moms everywhere now: “Healthcare professionals inform us that breastfeeding is the best possible way to ensure that babies thrive. In turn, we must ensure that breastfeeding mothers are able to breastfeed, and given the time and environment to pump at work or during other professional obligations.” Congress and the National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME) need to hear that breastfeeding must be supported for all moms, and that we support the Breastfeeding Promotion Act which is currently before Congress.

*To sign the Statement of Support for breastfeeding moms, just go to: http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/organizationsORG/momsrising/signUp.jsp?key=2614&t=petition.dwt
After you sign the Statement of Support, please forward this email to friends and family so they can sign on as well! Your voice can make a difference: When a subsidiary of Delta Airlines kicked a woman off an airplane for breastfeeding, we sent them a petition with more than 20,000 MomsRising signatures, and shortly afterwards the airline apologized and instituted a new training program for their employees.

STAND WITH SOPHIE, JANEE, AND MOTHERS ACROSS THE NATION! Women like Janee McConnell could also use the Breastfeeding Promotion Act. Janee worked in a grocery store that had a health consciousness she admired. She was such a committed employee that she rose to a management job quickly and was called a “rock star” by the other employees. After her third child was born, she tried to pump at work but there was no private place to go other than a dirty, windowless electrical room. When her milk supply dropped she spoke up but store management was unsympathetic. She resigned from her management position and eventually from the store all together.

Frankly, we all lose when we don’t support mothers?businesses lose excellent employees, infants lose important nutrients, and women lose needed jobs. No mom should have to choose between keeping her job and feeding her baby and protecting her own health.

SHARE YOUR STORY: Many of us mothers know personally what it’s like to juggle breastfeeding babies and work. Some of us have also experienced the pain of engorgement and the risk of mastitis when feeding or pumping doesn’t occur every few hours. Stories like this are common. You may even have experienced something similar yourself. *Share your story on our blog at: http://www.momsrising.org/node/573

All too often women aren’t able to breastfeed their babies even though the American Academy of Pediatrics tells us it’s one of the most important things we can do for a child’s health. Let’s send a strong message together that it’s time to “walk the talk” for healthy infants and mothers.

*Don’t forget to sign the Statement of Support to tell the National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME) and Congress that we want breastfeeding to be supported for all moms?and to forward this email to friends so they can sign on too. Just click here to sign on now: http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/organizationsORG/momsrising/signUp.jsp?key=2614&t=petition.dwt

Best — Anita, Nanette, Kristin, Mary, Joan, Ashley, Katie, and Donna
P.S. THE LOWDOWN ON THE BREASTFEEDING PROMOTION ACT: Representative Carolyn Maloney’s Breastfeeding Promotion Act would amend the 1964 Civil Rights Act to protect breastfeeding by new mothers by providing tax credits to employers who provide a place to breastfeed and/or provide breast pumps. This makes it a lot easier for women who want to give their babies breastmilk and keep their jobs. As you may know, 82% of American women become mothers by the time they are forty-four years old, so this issue is critically important to a large portion of our nation. To read the bill, go to: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c110:H.R.2236: SOURCES:
1. Boston Globe article on Sophie Currier: http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/06/23/board_wont_relent_for_breast_feeding_mother/

2. Data about breastfeeding: http://www.aap.org/publiced/BR_BFBenefits.htm See also http://www.aap.org/breastfeeding/