News
Celebrating Breastfeeding Rights Pioneer, Dr. Nancy Wight MD, IBCLC, FABM, FAAP
I am dedicating this month’s SDCBC blog post to Dr. Nancy Wight, the founding and constant member of the Coalition for the past 27 years. Eight years ago around this time, I sent my first email to SDCBC, asking to become a volunteer with the coalition. I introduced myself as a journalist with 10 years…
Read MoreNew California Hospital Report on Maternity Practices in Infant Nutrition and Care
The CDC recently released results of a national survey of Maternity Practices in Infant Nutrition and Care. The survey measured care practices and policies that impact newborn feeding, feeding education, staff skills, and discharge support. We highlighted some key findings from the California Hospitals report. There is some good news with lots of room for…
Read MoreMoms Need Even More Support to Breastfeed In the Era of COVID-19
Last month, TIME magazine published an article that portrayed breastfeeding in an unflattering way. Featuring a new mother struggling to produce breast milk, the article described breastfeeding as an activity that sacrifices a mother’s well-being and blamed COVID-19 for making new moms who seek immune protection to their babies feel even more pressure to breastfeed. As a…
Read MoreThree Ways to Support Paid Leave for All
Paid leave is potentially under threat today! There is pressure to eliminate paid family and medical leave from the Build Back Better Act. We believe that anyone demanding that we choose between paid leave and other priorities is presenting us with false choices. The United States is the only industrialized country in the world that…
Read MoreCA Releases First Maternal Mortality Surveillance Report
Maternal mortality is a key indicator of population health. Deaths in pregnancy and postpartum should be rare events, so routine and accurate surveillance of pregnancy-related deaths is an essential public health responsibility. CA-PMSS is a statewide surveillance of deaths among Californians who were pregnant within the prior year. The Maternal, Child and Adolescent Health (MCAH)…
Read MoreBreastfeedLA and ACLU SoCal share a helpful lactation rights guide
We love this quick and easy guide shared by our friends at Breastfeed LA and So Cal ACLU. The guide is part of a comprehensive advocacy toolkit, scheduled to be released by October, said Arissa Palmer, executive director of BreastfeedLA. In the meantime, this guide is a great resource for Californians who want to better…
Read MorePooling Expressed Milk
A recent article in “Motherly” touted a new, unannounced change in breastmilk storage guidelines for the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). (You can find the AAP information under Frequently Asked Questions under, What are the milk storage guidelines? Evidence suggests mothers can mix warm milk and cold.) Those links direct you to a research study…
Read MoreBlack Breastfeeding Week is A Celebration of Sisterhood
BBFW 2021 Chardá Bell, CLEC, CBE, CPE, FSD Perinatal Health & Wellness Consultant Owner, Melanin Milk SD Doula & Lactation Support www.melaninmilksd.com As a Black mother, doula and lactation birthworker, I look forward to encouraging others to acknowledge groups and/or individuals for the outstanding work to support, promote and protect Black breastfeeding. In 2012, birth…
Read MoreVaccination During Pregnancy
Based on new evidence about the safety of COVID-19 vaccines, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is strengthening its recommendation for COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy. (See updated Interim Clinical Considerations for Use of COVID-19 Vaccines and COVID-19 Vaccines While Pregnant or Breastfeeding.) The increased circulation of the highly contagious Delta variant, low vaccine uptake among pregnant people, and…
Read MoreNational Breastfeeding Month 2021: Every Step of the Way
“If I could talk to myself eight years agoSeeing what I’ve seen, knowing what I knowI would tell that new motherThere’ll be days aheadWhen breastfeeding doesn’t seem to workI would tell her she can trust herselfCause now I gotta picture of landscape of infant feedingI can see with perfect clarityIt wasn’t impossibleIt was what we…
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