Great Success! MMA and CLC

I have two pieces of excellent news. First, The Midwifery Modernization Act passed and was signed into law! This is a big sigh of relief for midwives and their mamas-to-be everywhere.

Second, I recently became certified as a Lactation Counselor! In the training, I learned fascinating, fascinating things about breastfeeding. Here are some of my favorite nuggets of knowledge:

• During pregnancy, your breasts secrete an anti-bacterial oil that protects your baby from germs when he/she begins nursing. This oil appears as the absolute first sign of pregnancy, before you can test positive for pregnancy on a urine or blood test
  
• Newborn babies do not differentiate between feeling full and sucking. As long as they are sucking, they feel full. It is reason, more than "nipple confusion", why pacifier use is discouraged until at least two weeks of age- before this, they might suck and suck and suck, and never cue to you that they are hungry, putting them at the risk of under-feeding
• "Good" babies are weird babies. Ever hear a mom say, "my baby is so good, she never cries, she nurses every four hours for ten minutes exactly, and sleeps 5 hours during the night"? Either this baby is a freak, or this mom is a liar. Because human milk is very dilute (like us, it's about 70% water), babies need to nurse frequently, ideally, every two hours. And if one day, your baby is nursing more than usual, or for longer sessions, your baby is not being "wrong" for getting off "schedule." Babies are like real people: some days, we eat more than others, and sometimes, we eat slower or faster.
  
• The best way to achieve the first latch on is to let the baby self-attach. None of this "shape your breast like a cone and shove the baby's mouth at it" stuff. Self-attachment leads to a better latch, meaning less pain for the mom and more milk for the baby and more chances of breastfeeding success later on. On the rare occasions when mama and baby are left alone after birth, I've seen beautiful self-attachment. Watch the "breast crawl"
  
• Breastmilk is magic. We know that already, but I thought I'd say it again. In many ways, breastfeeding is so crucial to baby's and mom's health that it is quite risky (and medically expensive, later on) to not breastfeed. Here's a recent NY Times article touting its magic
  
• DOULAS! A study found that the more stroking, smiling, and talking a woman receives during labor, the more she strokes, smiles at, and talks to her newborn, leading to more successful hunger-communication and thus, breastfeeding

A Metro Minis co-worker and doula friend of mine, Koyuki Smith, also became a CLC. A drop-in breastfeeding group led by us CD(DONA)s/CLCs is in the works at Metro Minis...