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Breastfeeding in the Community: Wherever Moms Are - Oakland County Breastfeeding Coalition - National Breastfeeding Month 2015

8/18/2015

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As the Oakland County Breastfeeding Coalition celebrates World Breastfeeding Week and National Breastfeeding Month, we reflect on ways we, the public, can support breastfeeding mothers and babies by creating spaces that are welcoming and supportive of normal infant feeding at the breast.  So what does this mean - a "breastfeeding friendly place"?  And where is such a place even needed?  Well, to me, as a mother who has nursed 3 babies, a breastfeeding friendly place is a place where I can safely sit and feed my baby in a clean environment - bonus points for climate controlled spaces !  

We hear in the news about specific places set aside for a breastfeeding dyad, such as in airports  - this allows for a mother to seek out a private space if needed.  It also allows for a private space for breastfeeding moms who use a pump to express milk for their babies.  Some retail establishments create mother/baby spaces also - some places that come to mind for me are Nordstrom Department Store at Somerset in Troy and Modern Natural Baby Store in Ferndale.  We have to remember; however, that wherever we have people, we have nursing moms !  Libraries, sports stadiums, zoos, malls, restaurants, farmers markets, amusement parks, outdoor festivals, concerts, churches, schools, doctor office waiting rooms……nursing moms are everywhere in Oakland County !  And breastfeeding moms are hopefully not feeling as much pressure to nurse in private - their cars, a restroom stall, someplace hidden, with OR without a cover.  Moms have the choice of where to feed their babies based on their comfort level. 

Target was in the news recently for a section of their employee handbook addressing breastfeeding customers   - the policy allows for a nursing mother to be given a fitting room in order to privately feed her baby, even if others are waiting for rooms.  It tells employees NOT to approach a nursing mom unless she requests assistance.  These types of policies are needed in order to remove personal bias that employees may have or due to employees who are uneducated about the rights and needs of a nursing mother to feed her baby. 

I applaud all businesses and organizations who recognize the needs of nursing moms and work to create a breastfeeding friendly place and I encourage them to reach out to the Oakland County Breastfeeding Coalition if they want more information on how they can further support nursing moms.

I am hopeful for our mothers and babies in Oakland County, that as breastfeeding is normalized through the efforts of mothers and organizations, that these breast-feeding "couples" can go about their days not having to worry about their ability to safely feed their baby, to feel supported, to be encouraged, to be protected from harassment, to be applauded by their communities !  From Royal Oak to Pontiac, from Oxford to Bloomfield Hills, let's create communities that support mothers and babies and their right to feed at the breast.

Where's Breastfeeding? Everywhere!


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Marisa Prince is a mother of 3 who recently relocated from Ferndale to Ortonville.  She is a La Leche League Leader who provides free mother to mother information and support to expectant and nursing moms.  She can be reached at 
marisaprince@gmail.com.

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Protection, Promotion and Support of Breastfeeding - Oakland County Breastfeeding Coalition - National Breastfeeding Month 2015

8/7/2015

1 Comment

 
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In the year 2015, to be discussing the idea of protection, promotion and support of breastfeeding, is perplexing to me.  Perplexing because its hard to believe that in America we need to be fighting for the protection, promotion and support of breastfeeding.  As we continually hear news stories of woman being told to leave establishments if seen breastfeeding, or being belittled for the same reason, is disheartening.

The way to protect breastfeeding is to stand up for the right of women to feed their babies as they choose, no matter where they are.  We can start by educating the public on the lifelong benefits of breastfeeding.  We, as a nation, need to desexualize the woman's breasts and have them be seen as they are, a means to feed our babies.  I feel as breastfeeding gets promoted and supported and looked upon as a 'normal' means to feed your baby, our nation will desensitize themselves on the notion that breastfeeding is a sexual entity.  In other countries, a woman breastfeeding is not even questioned.  It is so normal to see a breastfeeding mother, that others around don't think twice about what she is doing.

Also, we as lactation specialists, of all kinds, need to support one another for our efforts.  I find we too often look at credentials of one another and fail to support one another for our efforts and work supporting the breastfeeding mother.  We are all in the realm of education and supporting breastfeeding mothers because it is our PASSION.  Any efforts we can make towards a breastfeeding mom is an effort well worth the time and energy put forth.  Supporting each other, while supporting many breastfeeding moms is only going to benefit the whole breastfeeding population.  We all come to the table with differing backgrounds and knowledge but have one goal in mind, to protect, promote and support breastfeeding. How glorious is that!!!

I do feel that our nation is turning a corner regarding breastfeeding.  I think we are in the midst of Protecting, Promoting and Supporting breastfeeding.  I think breastfeeding is becoming more normalized.  We see this in our daily news.  We have government, celebrities and media discussing it and normalizing it.  I believe the continual attention to breastfeeding will help us turn the corner and see it as a natural and beautiful way of feeding and bonding with our babies.

The best scenario would be to hear nothing on breastfeeding because it is so normal in our country that we don't think twice about seeing a mom breastfeeding anywhere.  Through continued Protection, Promotion and Support of breastfeeding, we can only hope for every mother to be breastfeeding her baby and giving her the unconditional support needed to do so.

Jennifer Lewandowski-CLC, CD(DONA), PCD(DONA), CCCE

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I am Jennifer, the proud mother of 3 children.  I have a wonderful husband, Michael, in which we are going on 20 years of marriage.  I have my Bachelor's degree (BS) in Elementary Education with a ZA endorsement (Early Childhood Education). I have taught preschool and owned my own daycare for 4 years, as I started to raise our young children.

I have been a volunteer for the Beaumont Parenting Program for 14 years, in the areas of breastfeeding support, individual family support and currently as a parenting partner.  I teach a class at our church, which is a support group for pregnant and new moms, called Infant Insight.  

I am a Certified Lactation Counselor (CLC) and a DONA trained Birth and Postpartum Doula.  My mission as a Certified Lactation Counselor is to give each mom the experience and education needed to make their breastfeeding journey a successful and joyful one. My goal as a Doula is to EDUCATE and EMPOWER you, so you can EMBRACE your new role as parents.

http://www.jenlewthedoula.com/
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    The Oakland County Breastfeeding Coalition provides breastfeeding support, networking opportunities, partnership building, advocacy and program development among community members and professionals. For more information about the coalition, please visit www.oaklandcountybfingcoalition.weebly.com or on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/OCBFCoalition or Twitter
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