In the news:

Today’s dolls leave little to the imagination. They pee. They’re anatomically correct. And, to the astonishment of some parents, they can even breastfeed.

One such doll, called Bebe Gloton, was created by the Spanish toymaker, Berjun, to promote breastfeeding. To nurse Bebe Gloton, your child slips on a halter top that features sunflowers over the nipple area. When the doll is lifted toward the sunflowers, it makes a suckling motion and sound and must be burped before it can fall back to sleep.

Many breastfeeding advocates are thrilled by the product. After all, if it’s OK for children to mimic bottle feeding a baby, why shouldn’t they be encouraged to breastfeed a baby?

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Health care professionals say there’s an “up” side to the current downturn in the economy. More new mothers are choosing breastfeeding to save money.

Five-month-old Elizabeth Sander is one happy baby. Her mother chose breastfeeding, in part, to save money. “Not only for the cost of formula,” Megan Sander said, “but also studies have shown that there are fewer trips to the doctor, so that’s saving on co-pays and things as well.”

Sander is not alone in her practical choice to go with Mother Nature’s feeding plan. The Methodist Women’s Center reports a 12% increase in the number of women choosing breastfeeding and attending classes.

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In the news:

There is new evidence that breast-feeding is associated with a lower incidence of breast cancer among a group of younger women who are at particularly high risk: those with breast cancer in the family.

Although several studies have found that lactation is protective against breast cancer, the new report found little effect for premenopausal women over all. But for women with an immediate relative, like a mother or a sister, who had breast cancer, those who breast-fed had a 59 percent lower risk of premenopausal breast cancer. That is closer in line with the risk for women who had no disease in the family, the study found.

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“For a mother who is otherwise healthy to stop breastfeeding because she has swine flu is such a shame – for her and her baby. If a mother is ill, she should continue breastfeeding as normally as possible. If she becomes too ill to feed then expressing milk may still be possible.

“If the baby does become ill with swine flu then breastmilk makes an ideal food as it is easily digestible and will provide additional comfort for the baby too. Babies who are ill sometimes want lots of short feeds.”

Ms Backhouse said babies who are breastfed are much less likely to need hospital treatment for severe chest infections than bottle-fed babies.

“What has also been shown in a recent study of almost 16,000 babies is that, once babies stop being breastfed, this protection wears off,” she added.

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In the news:

The World Breast Feeding Day whose celebration starts today, raises important issues through its theme, ‘Breastfeeding, vital response.’

The week will be used to highlight extreme situations to which children are exposed putting their health and survival to greater risk in developing countries like Tanzania.

The celebrations come at a time when the global financial crunch has impacted on many families’ abilities to provide for their children, which nutritionists argue, could give the opportunity to low income households to exclusively use breastfeeding for their children through out the first 2 years of infancy.

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In the news:

Teaching new mothers how to breastfeed could save 1.3 million children’s lives every year, but many women get no help and give up trying, the World Health Organisation said on Friday.

Less than 40 percent of mothers worldwide breastfeed their infants exclusively in the first six months, as recommended by the WHO. Many abandon it because they don’t know how to get their baby to latch on properly or suffer pain and discomfort.

“When it comes to doing it practically, they don’t have the practical support,” WHO expert Constanza Vallenas told a news briefing in Geneva, where the United Nations agency is based.

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In the news:

A Grand Forks mother who police say was extremely intoxicated while breast-feeding her 6-week-old is to be sentenced for child neglect. Twenty-six-year-old Stacey Anvarinia pleaded guilty in June. Her sentencing was set for Friday. Anvarinia’s case has touched off a debate among moms about breast-feeding, alcohol and privacy. Authorities insist police were right to make the arrest, even if the mother had not been breast-feeding, out of concern for the child’s welfare. Anvarinia faces up to five years in prison and a 5,000 fine.

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UNICEF and the World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action are commemorating World Breastfeeding Week, 1-7 August 2009, by underscoring the vital importance of breastfeeding during emergencies. Globally, only 38 percent of infants under the age of six months are exclusively breastfed, though research shows that optimal breastfeeding is the single most effective preventive intervention for reducing infant mortality. “Breast milk offers an excellent source of nutrition for infants and, especially where clean water is lacking, helps keep young children safe from dangerous water-borne illnesses like diarrhoea,” said UNICEF Executive Director Ann M. Veneman.

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Sky News reported today on a survey of more than 1200 British mothers conducted by Mother & Baby magazine. Here are some of the highlights:

• 65% said they would not breastfeed in public because they were worried about people looking at them.
• 60% said they do not think the UK is a breastfeeding-friendly country.
• 35% claimed they were forced to feed their baby in a toilet.
• 65% said they would be more likely to breastfeed in public if societal attitudes changed.
• 54% said they had been asked to leave a restaurant or cafe for breastfeeding.

Last December I wrote about melamine in infant formula. Based on the information I had at that time, I believed that the most likely sources of melamine contamination in our food supply was probably through intentional adulteration of animal feed, and, as Dr. Stephen Sundlof of the FDA suggested, melamine-based food packaging and plasticware. New research suggests a potential source of the melamine contamination may be a pesticide used on crops and in animal feed. More on Pesticide Linked to Melanine in Infant Formula