Born To Be Breastfed

Pregnancy is a time of waiting—with great excitement—for the arrival of your new baby. It’s also a time of preparing, filling out baby gift registries and thinking about details like where baby will sleep, what kind of baby carrier will work best, and whether you will need a breast pump. In U.S. society, new mothers aren’t encouraged to think about what the weeks after birth will mean for themselves, physiologically and emotionally. Yet the first six weeks—often all that many mothers can take of maternity leave—are vital for bonding with your baby, and for your baby’s development. Join Marie as she talks with Dr. Cheryl Zauderer, author if Maternity Leave: A New Mother’s Guide to the First Six Weeks Postpartum (Praeclarus Press, 2015), about what happens during the first six weeks, to help new and expectant mothers feel ready and put their minds at ease. Questions? E-mail radio@borntobebreastfed.com

You've heard of hypnosis. You may even be familiar with hypnobirthing (the topic of Marie's June 15, 2015 episode: http://www.voiceamerica.com/episode/85954/hypnobirthing). Did you know hypnosis can be a positive tool for breastfeeding, too? Join Marie as she talks with special guest Robin Frees, IBCLC about how mothers can use hypnosis to overcome barriers that commonly arise during breastfeeding, such as low milk supply, and inhibited milk ejection reflex. Find out about strategies such as hypnotic relaxation, imagery, and breathing, and learn how these can help whether you're breastfeeding the baby in your arms or using a pump to express milk for later feeding. This just might make the difference between surviving your breastfeeding experience and celebrating it! Questions? E-mail radio@bborntobebreastfed.com any time.

As we prepare to ring in the new year, let’s reflect on the “ups” and “downs” of breastfeeding in the US during the past 12 months. Join Marie for an episode that looks at breastfeeding in the media and sciences, from celebrity role models to new research, from resources for lactation professionals to baby-friendly hospitals for birthing and nursing your baby, from football and baseball stadiums to Congress, and more. Tune in for a conversation that aims to set the stage for what we’d like to see in the year ahead. Call in during the show to share your thoughts or experiences at 866-472-5792, or e-mail anytime to radio@borntobebreastfed.com

For years, parents of a crying baby were often told to let them “cry it out” and warned that responding to “every” cry would have only one result: “You’ll spoil that baby!” Our evolving understanding of early child development – particularly brain development in infancy and toddlerhood – highlights the problem with such thinking: Babies need and expect primal caregiving, with loving and responsive positive caregiving at its heart. Join Marie as she talks with Darcia Narvaez, PhD about why primal caregiving is important, and how you can make sure your baby’s needs are met. Questions? Marie is always available via e-mail to radio@borntobebreastfed.com

She’s flat on her back, on a gurney racing down the hospital hallway while screaming for an epidural. Or, she’s lying in a hospital bed with an IV drip of fluids and Pitocin while waiting for labor to start. That’s how women giving birth are often shown on TV. That’s not the reality of normal birth—but it is how it happens in far too many U.S. hospitals. Interventions such as induction, anesthesia, medications, IV fluids, electronic fetal monitoring, and cesarean birth have become a normal part of the landscape of labor for many women, even as research begins to show that they may be detrimental for breastfeeding. Tune in as Marie talks with birth doula and Lamaze educator Barbara Hotelling about the myths and realities of birth practices and potential effects on breastfeeding. Learn what steps may help you get off to the best breastfeeding start, and what you need to know about your newborn to meet your breastfeeding goals. Questions? E-mail radio@borntobebreastfeed.com

The holiday season is upon us! If you are feeling swamped by the must dos and wanna dos, join Marie for a show that is sure to take off some of the pressure. Are you a mom who is juggling the gift-giving of the season with giving your baby the best gift (your milk)? Are you wondering what to get that special mom in your life, but you don't know where to start? Are you trying to identify the perfect gift for an expectant mom, a new mom, an experienced mom, a working mom? Tune in for details in Marie's Second Annual Favorite Things to find out about the best gifts for new moms, and you won't wonder anymore! Listen for Marie's take on the kinds of gifts on every mom's wish list!

Oh, the holidays! It’s a time of joy and family, but also of stress and to-do lists. Decorating, shopping, baking, cooking, visiting … You’re trying to fit it all in on top of the usual “stuff” of work. And this year, while the season seems extra bright with a baby in your arms, it also feels a little overwhelming. How can you do all the “want to do” things and all the “need to do things” without going bonkers this holiday season? How can you make sure you’re meeting the needs of your baby, your family, and your own needs this holiday season? Join Marie Biancuzzo for essential tips and must-have strategies that will ensure you thrive this holiday season.

If you are an active-duty mother or mother-to-be (or a partner, support person, or health care provider), be sure to listen in as Marie talks with Robyn Roche-Paull, BSN, RN, IBCLC, author of Breastfeeding in Combat Boots: A Survival Guide to Successful Breastfeeding While Serving in the Military about how to juggle the roles of breastfeeding mom and active serviceperson. br Do you want to breastfeed and wonder how you will combine long shifts, training exercises, and/or deployment with meeting the needs of your baby? br This is a must-listen show for tried-and-true tips and how-to information that will ensure your success. Learn about the written policies many branches of the military now have in place to support breastfeeding, which direct commanders to provide time and space for pumping needs, as well as how to overcome criticism and other challenges. Questions? E-mail info@borntobebreastfed.com anytime.

“Breastfeeding” may not be the first thing that comes to your mind when you think about football, but for many women fans, finding a quiet place to breastfeed or pump at the stadium is a bigger challenge than scoring tickets to the big game. By placing a pair of Mamava lactation pods at their stadium, the Minnesota Vikings has become the first NFL team to help mothers solve this problem. Join Marie Biancuzzo as she talks with Erin Swartz, of the Minnesota Vikings, and Sascha Mayer, of Mamava, about the need to support breastfeeding mothers to nurse or pump wherever they may be.

Four years in the making, Noemi Weis’ documentary of birth and breastfeeding around the world seeks to draw attention to the politics, commercialization, and controversies surrounding birth and infant feeding. Women’s stories take center stage in this beautiful, inspiring film that Scene Creek calls “a powerful piece of poetry [with] an important message.” Insidetoronto notes that Weis “has thrown down the gauntlet in the battle of the breast,” while Weis herself notes that birth is cause for celebration but is “often interrupted by politics and industrialization. Join Marie as she talks with director/producer/writer Noemi Weis about her years-long effort to share women’s stories and shine a light on what birth often is—and what it could be.

Many mothers pump and store their milk so that another caregiver can feed it to their baby in their absence. Figuring out the details of how to store the milk and how to feed it can be daunting. A walk down the aisles of any baby goods or regular store shows a host of storage devices and options. Plastic bags. Plastic bottles. Glass bottles. Sippy cups. What sort of container should a parent choose? How will it effect the milk? How should the pumped milk be stored--where, for how long long, under what conditions? Tune in for evidence-based, need-to-know information that will help you ensure your milk meets your baby's needs, even when you are apart.

Pacifiers. Binkies. Dummies. No matter what you call them, it's likely you'll receive some for your baby before he's even born. Should you use them? You may have heard about nipple confusion, in which a baby's understanding of how to suckle from a mother's nipple is undercut by the different feel of suckling on an artificial nipple such as on a pacifier or infant bottle. How can you make sure that doesn't happen to your baby? What should you consider when deciding whether to introduce a pacifier, or how to do so? What benefits, and risks, might there be to using a pacifier with a breastfed baby? Tune in to this episode so you'll be able to make an informed decision about pacifiers.

Obesity negatively impacts the health of women in many ways; for breastfeeding mothers, obesity has been linked to decreased intention to breastfeed, decreased initiation of breastfeeding, and shorter duration of breastfeeding. While some of these effects may be cultural or related to the mother’s body image, others may be caused by metabolic and hormonal effects of adipose tissue—including decreased milk supply. What can the overweight mother do to ensure she develops a good enough milk supply to meet her baby’s needs? What steps can provide the best health and well-being for her baby? How can she best prepare to meet her breastfeeding goals? Join Marie and special guest Anne Eglash, MD, IBCLC, FABM for discussion about the particular issues overweight and obese mothers may face, and how they can best be resolved, to the benefit of both baby and mother.

A mother may breast-feed any place where [she] is lawfully present, Virginia's new law promises. Other states have similar Right to Breastfeed laws in place. Yet the media can seem to be full of stories of mothers being told you can't do that here. What's a mother to do? How does the Virginia law support breastfeeding mothers and their babies? How can you make sure you're protected where you live, or visit, too? Join Marie and her special guest Jill DeLorenzo for must-know information about breastfeeding rights so you are prepared next time you nurse in public.

In a day when healthcare professionals and hospitals encourage women to breastfeed, a strange paradox exists: Common hospital birth practices that can sabotage breastfeeding are lurking in the labor room corners. Practices such as labor inductions, cesarean deliveries, routine newborn assessments and more are so common these days that they are accepted as “normal.” Then, there are practices that seem harmless enough—like a liberal visitor policy or bathing the baby within a few hours after birth—but these, too, can affect breastfeeding success. Don’t miss this episode where host Marie Biancuzzo relies on her labor/delivery nurse expertise to clue you in about how common birth practices can affect breastfeeding, and what you can do to minimize their impact on your breastfeeding experience.

You have a plan for continuing to breastfeed after you return to work. You have made arrangements to express your milk while apart from your baby, and you have lined up a childcare provider who says she is breastfeeding-friendly. You feel confident that this is going to go well. But life has a way of throwing a wrench into even the best-laid plans, and unforeseen issues have a way of arising. Join Marie for practical tips that will help you overcome common problems such as a baby who won't take your bottled milk, a baby who prefers feeding with one caregiver over another, caregiver who offers formula inappropriately, a caregiver who overfeeds your baby, and a traffic jam that leaves your breasts full and your miles-away baby hungry. Tune in to this episode so you'll be prepared for just about anything!

More than half of U.S. mothers work outside of the home during their infants' first year. Being able to find a child care provider who understands both the importance of breastfeeding and how to support i for the baby and the mother is key to continued breastfeeding beyond maternity leave. So what do you need to know in order to make the best child care decisions for your family? Join Marie for an episode that will help you: find a breastfeeding-supportive child care team, understand laws and regulations about child care and infant feeding, figure out what and how to communicate with your provider about breastfeeding, and figure out nuts and bolts strategies that will help you meet your breastfeeding goals. Questions? You can reach Marie at radio@borntobebreastfed.com or on Facebook:www.facebook.com/BornToBeBreastfed

If you thought your pregnancy-changed body would return to a state of “normal” after your baby’s birth, you may want to think again. Even though your baby is now in your arms, you’re still going through some big changes, including engorgement. If your breasts are causing you to think of over-filled balloons or big, sore basketballs you’ll want to tune in to this episode. Find out what engorgement is, what it looks and feels like, how it differs from the development of a normal milk supply. Find out how to prevent it, and what you can do if it does occur. As always, if you have questions, you can reach Marie at radio@borntobebreastfed.com

With “you are what you eat” ringing in their ears, many U.S. parents worry their way through their children’s toddler years. Although many children experience periods of picky eating, parents can feel frustrated and concerned as their children refuse healthy meals and limit what they’ll eat. Join Marie as she talks with nutritionist and lactation consultant Melanie Silverman about kids and nutrition. Find out why children become picky eaters, what parents can do to ensure their children eat well, and when they should seek help from a pediatrician or nutritionist. Questions? E-mail info@borntobebreastfed.com any time.

How can health care providers support nontraditional families in need of breastfeeding care? Join Marie as she talks with nurse practitioner and lactation consultant Kathleen McCue, DNP, FNP-BC, IBCLC about the importance of gender neutral language and respect. Consider how to care for couples interested in co-nursing, including approaches to inducing lactation, as well as steps for identifying challenges and providing evidence-based care. Questions or comments? Reach Marie by e-mail at info@borntobebreastfed.com or on social media atwww.facebook.com/BorntobeBreastfed