Leading Lactation Insights - March 2023
A monthly newsletter called Leading Lactation Insights, which features factual and scientific information with no product promotion. It covers cutting-edge breastfeeding & lactation research, clinical news, and expert insights for IBCLCs, lactation consultants, and maternal health professionals.
IBCLC DAY
Thank you for all you do!
March 1 was IBCLC Day. Medela wants to thank all IBCLCs for the work you do to help mothers and babies meet their breastfeeding goals. You make a difference in the lives of the patients you care for every day.
DID YOU KNOW?
Colostrum is similar to the amniotic fluid the fetus has swallowed throughout pregnancy. This gustatory similarity makes it an ideal fluid for transition to life outside the womb.
Colostrum is a vital food secreted shortly after birth and gradually changes in volume, consistency, components, and appearance to transitional and mature milk.
As the infant’s gastrointestinal tract and the immune system develop, colostrum transitions over time to provide fewer immune factors and more calories and nutrients for growth.
- Exploring Successful Breastfeeding Behaviors Among Women Who Have High Body Mass Indices Sharleen L. O’Reilly, PhD - June 2022
- National Policies on Parental Leave and Breastfeeding Breaks: Racial, Ethnic, Gender, and Age Disparities in Access and Implications for Infant and Child Health
- Maternal Antenatal Depression's Effects on Child Developmental Delays: Gestational age, postnatal depressive symptoms, and breastfeeding as mediators
- USBC: The Breastfeeding Committee Provided notification of the release of comprehensive reports regarding infant feeding, including breastfeeding, and factors that influence infant feeding outcomes. These reports identify these factors for each US state and territory.
- Together with 1,000 days, the USBC published and released an open letter to Congress to draw attention to the need to lift barriers toward the continuation of breastfeeding.
- The World Health Organization: In a press release, the WHO highlighted 3 paper series from The Lancet:
- Calling for increased systems to support early and extended breastfeeding both in healthcare and throughout society while highlighting concerns regarding the formula industry.
- For children born to a mother with depression during and after pregnancy, breast milk was revealed as significantly important for cognitive development.
Information on Antenatal Breast Milk Expression
Maria Lennon, MSN, CNM, IBCLC
The United States Breastfeeding Committee has just released the 2023 State and Territory Breastfeeding Reports. These reports were developed for each of the fifty states, the District of Columbia and four US Territories.
Because breastfeeding and human milk feeding plays such an important role in public health outcomes, these reports were generated to educate the general public and policymakers on the status of breastfeeding in their local communities, compare their data to national averages and to reveal opportunities to address gaps in local breastfeeding support.
Check out the report for your state. You can see how breastfeeding rates in your state compare with other states and to national rates. Your state report also lists coalitions serving local communities, and state and community-based lactation projects that were funded with federal dollars.
For more information and to access your state report, go to:
https://www.usbreastfeeding.org/state-breastfeeding-reports.html
Understand the Psychological Impact of a NICU Hospitalization and Perinatal Loss on ParentsKelli D. Kelley Wednesday, March 15
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2023 Webinar Schedule
The 2023 Human Milk Monthly Clinical Education Webinar Schedule is now available! Download your copy today!
IBCLC DAY
Thank you for all you do!
March 1 was IBCLC Day. Medela wants to thank all IBCLCs for the work you do to help mothers and babies meet their breastfeeding goals. You make a difference in the lives of the patients you care for every day.
DID YOU KNOW?
Colostrum is similar to the amniotic fluid the fetus has swallowed throughout pregnancy. This gustatory similarity makes it an ideal fluid for transition to life outside the womb.
Colostrum is a vital food secreted shortly after birth and gradually changes in volume, consistency, components, and appearance to transitional and mature milk.
As the infant’s gastrointestinal tract and the immune system develop, colostrum transitions over time to provide fewer immune factors and more calories and nutrients for growth.
- Exploring Successful Breastfeeding Behaviors Among Women Who Have High Body Mass Indices Sharleen L. O’Reilly, PhD - June 2022
- National Policies on Parental Leave and Breastfeeding Breaks: Racial, Ethnic, Gender, and Age Disparities in Access and Implications for Infant and Child Health
- Maternal Antenatal Depression's Effects on Child Developmental Delays: Gestational age, postnatal depressive symptoms, and breastfeeding as mediators
- USBC: The Breastfeeding Committee Provided notification of the release of comprehensive reports regarding infant feeding, including breastfeeding, and factors that influence infant feeding outcomes. These reports identify these factors for each US state and territory.
- Together with 1,000 days, the USBC published and released an open letter to Congress to draw attention to the need to lift barriers toward the continuation of breastfeeding.
- The World Health Organization: In a press release, the WHO highlighted 3 paper series from The Lancet:
- Calling for increased systems to support early and extended breastfeeding both in healthcare and throughout society while highlighting concerns regarding the formula industry.
- For children born to a mother with depression during and after pregnancy, breast milk was revealed as significantly important for cognitive development.
Information on Antenatal Breast Milk Expression
Maria Lennon, MSN, CNM, IBCLC
The United States Breastfeeding Committee has just released the 2023 State and Territory Breastfeeding Reports. These reports were developed for each of the fifty states, the District of Columbia and four US Territories.
Because breastfeeding and human milk feeding plays such an important role in public health outcomes, these reports were generated to educate the general public and policymakers on the status of breastfeeding in their local communities, compare their data to national averages and to reveal opportunities to address gaps in local breastfeeding support.
Check out the report for your state. You can see how breastfeeding rates in your state compare with other states and to national rates. Your state report also lists coalitions serving local communities, and state and community-based lactation projects that were funded with federal dollars.
For more information and to access your state report, go to:
https://www.usbreastfeeding.org/state-breastfeeding-reports.html
Understand the Psychological Impact of a NICU Hospitalization and Perinatal Loss on ParentsKelli D. Kelley Wednesday, March 15
|
2023 Webinar Schedule
The 2023 Human Milk Monthly Clinical Education Webinar Schedule is now available! Download your copy today!
Breast Compressions to Improve Colostrum/Milk Intake
Maria Lennon, MSN, CNM, IBCLC
Nurses helping mothers breastfeed in the early days of breastfeeding often ask how to keep a sleepy newborn actively sucking at the breast. The use of breast compressions is a helpful technique that is easy to teach and gives good results.
In the first few days after birth, newborn infants are often sleepy and fall asleep while feeding, especially when the flow of colostrum is low. They may latch and suck a few times then close their eyes and fall asleep. Compressing the breast during the feeding can help to increase the flow and encourage the infant to continue to suck and swallow.
The technique of Breast Compressions:
When the infant stops sucking at the breast, have the mother make a "C" shape around her breast behind the areola, fingers on one side of the breast and the thumb on the other. Then, have her bring her fingers and thumb together to compress the breast gently but firmly - like a “squeeze”. She should watch closely and will notice her infant begin sucking again and can hear/see swallowing. This compression helps trigger a milk ejection and pushes the milk forward to the infant.
When to Use Breast Compressions:
- To encourage a sleepy infant to continue feeding at the breast
- Poor infant weight gain
- Frequent and/or long feedings at the breast
- Recurrent blocked ducts and/or mastitis
- To help increase a mother’s milk supply
When using breast compressions with an older infant, the mother should observe when the infant closes his eyes and is sucking non-nutritively, Once the mother begins breast compressions, the infant should start to have longer sucks with swallows. The mother should hold the compression until the infant pauses. Once the infant has had a quick rest, the mother should move her hand to another location on the breast and repeat the compression.
Breast compressions not only help with milk intake, they also help the mother have more milk ejections and drain the breast more effectively, all of which signals the body to make more milk.
This technique is not meant to be used all the time with all babies. If breastfeeding is going well, it is not necessary to use breast compressions. However, it is very helpful in the early days to increase colostrum intake in sleepy newborns and for older infants who need to increase their intake of milk.
For more information click the links below.
https://ibconline.ca/information-sheets/breast-compression/
https://breastfeeding-problems.com/breast-compression/#when-are-compressions-needed
This month we are spotlighting Victoria Norton, RN, BSN, IBCLC
Megan Quinn
Victoria Norton, RN, BSN, IBCLC, is an experienced nurse and lactation consultant with over 30 years of experience in various fields, including medical/surgical, perinatal, and birth center deliveries. Residing in the Severna Park, Maryland area, Victoria became involved in healthcare because she wanted to help and encourage people while having a flexible job and raising her two children. As a full-time night shift IBCLC at The Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Victoria manages their after-hours warm line, precepts new RNs, develops and implements a monthly lactation skills clinic for all RN staff, ensures Baby-Friendly compliance through regular chart audits, teaches lactation skills to medical students during shadow times, ensures NICU parents initiate their milk supply through hand expression or pumping as soon as possible, and much more.
Victoria was inspired to become an IBCLC after attending a seminar that included a WHO presentation explaining why breastfeeding is so important for babies, parents, the environment, and humanity. “It was so compelling,” she says. “And I have been dedicated to this cause ever since.” Victoria has also written informal lactation columns for local health-focused magazines, helps lead unit-based community outreach projects through her hospital, and works with the parents she serves to ensure proper latch and lactation success through regular assessments and one-on-one assistance.
Victoria is proud to share that her hospital is Baby-Friendly and recently re-designated. Located in an urban area with one of the highest delivery rates in Maryland, she notes that it would be ideal to have more lactation consultants available on evening and night shifts when babies are cluster-feeding, and less resource staff is available. Victoria shares that one of the biggest professional challenges right now is the turnover rate of RNs, which makes it increasingly challenging to educate and maintain Baby-Friendly staff proficiency.
In her free time, Victoria enjoys activities with her now-adult kids, including traveling, biking, swimming, gardening, attending church, listening to music, and participating in animal rescue activism and local community outreach projects. Thank you, Victoria, for dedicating your career to helping families, babies, and the community you serve thrive!
Thank you to this issue's contributors!
Maria Lennon, MSN, CNM, IBCLC
Nurse-Midwife, Perinatal Education Consultant - Sedona, AZ
Katie McGee, RN, BSN, IBCLC
Education Consultant - Westchester, IL
Kim Colburn, BPC
Medela U.S. Medical Education Specialist.2022-05-09-13-47-38.jpg)
