Breastfeeding Today

Thanksgiving was wonderful but very busy - not much time for posting, although I have several new posts to get up soon including some thoughts about being a public health doula (vs. any other kind).

Right now I'm busy writing a paper due on Friday; we're allowed to pick our on topics, and I cycled through a bunch. I settled on one finally by picking a topic that's very current on campus right now. A rep from a student group got up in front of our Biostatistics class the other day and announced that they were raising money to provide formula (and a pot for sterilizing water to prepare it) to HIV-infected mothers in Uganda. Of course, the heads of every maternal child health student in the auditorium popped right up, and while that wasn't the moment for confrontation, someone from our department is trying to get a meeting with them to find out more about the organization they're fundraising for. While avoidance of breastfeeding does prevent some mother-to-child transmission of HIV, done in resource-poor settings it can pose a greater risk to children than HIV infection (because it increases the risk of other diseases). I decided to write my paper on the most recent research and recommendations around HIV and breastfeeding, and discuss how organizations can determine whether or not they should support formula provision in a particular setting. It's really interesting! I'll post a summary when I'm done.

After our papers are turned in on Friday, my class is having a celebration in the form of an evening cocktail party. The hostess has decided to offer door prizes for several categories, including "Best Dressed" and "Best Fun Lactation Fact". I'm hoping to win both, of course - I may have the best shot at the latter. While trying to decide which lactation fact is the most fun, I thought I'd try to spark some comments on this blog, by using my ideas to make a little quiz:

Which fun fact about lactation is NOT true (documented):

A. A woman can breastfeed up to four babies exclusively at one time.

B. Women in some cultures nurse piglets, puppies, and other domestic animals.

C. Newborn babies placed on their mothers' stomachs need no assistance in crawling to, locating, and latching onto the nipple

D. Ink from tattoos on a nursing mother's breasts can change the color of her milk.

E. Milk made by mothers whose infants were born early is different from that made by mothers of infants born at term.

I'll post the answer in a few days...