To-wen Tseng Blogs
How San Diego County Breastfeeding Coalition Made a Difference This Year
This is the time of the year when my inbox is filled with fundraising emails—from MSF, WWF to my local Y and San Diego County breastfeeding coalition, everyone is asking for support. No, I’m not complaining. I’m grateful to read about all the great work being done around the world and across the country. In fact, I feel too many non-profit…
Read MorePracticing Your Rights of Breastfeeding At Work
Earlier this month I received a letter from a nursing mom through my Chinese-language breastfeeding page. Here was the scenario: The baby was now nine and a half months old. The mother got to pump milk every four hours, twice a day at work. The mom has added solid foods to the baby’s diet, but breastfeeding…
Read MoreBreastfeeding Actually Saved Me Lots of Work
Between my two kids, I breastfed for a total of six years. I exclusively breastfed for the first six months of each of them, and we extended the breastfeeding relationship to 2.5 years with my older one and 3.5 years with my younger one. I was often asked, “Isn’t that a lot of work?” True, breastfeeding…
Read MoreBreastfeeding is a One-Of-A-Kind Experience
This National Breastfeeding Month, I invited the followers of my Facebook Breastfeeding Page to show their breastfeeding experience with five emojis. The results were truly fascinating and really reflect how unique each mother’s breastfeeding journey can be. Here are some most impressive responses: From a mom who did not attend prenatal breastfeeding class, “I couldn’t believe that…
Read MoreWhat do these breastfeeding guidelines tell us?
Last month, the American Academy of Pediatrics released an updated policy statement on breastfeeding that suggested increasing the duration of breastfeeding to two years or more from one year or more. This is the first update to the breastfeeding recommendations in a decade.
Read MoreIt Is Not Kindness For Employers To Support Breastfeeding Parents At Work; It’s The Law.
May is my favorite month. It’s warm, but not too warm. The Lilacs and lilies of the valley bloom. Both Mother’s Day and Chinese Breastfeeding Awareness Day (which is May 20th) are in this month. It’s also AAPI Heritage month. This May, I was lucky enough to tell my breastfeeding story with a video produced by StoryCenter in collaboration…
Read MoreLactation is Maternal Health. Let’s Support Black Lactating Mothers this Black Maternal Health Week.
April 11th marked the first day of Black Maternal Health Week this year. I think it is a great time to talk about how lactation is a crucial part of maternal health. Breastfeeding can reduce a mother’s risk of breast and ovarian cancer, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and all these conditions affect black women at…
Read MoreWhat is Exploitative Marketing of Formula Milk?
One month before giving birth, I received a “gift box” from the formula milk company Enfamil. Inside the box were formula and nipple samples, and a card with my name and parenting support information (which actually leads to an industry-sponsored helpline) on it. I was shocked that the formula company knew that I was going…
Read MoreNo, Green Breast Milk is NOT an Indication that You Have COVID-19
There has been a viral picture going around the Internet of a mother saying that her breast milk turned green when she and her baby tested positive for COVID. So is green breast milk really an indication of COVID? First, a mother’s breast milk has nutrients that are specifically made for her infant. That is especially true…
Read MoreDads, Not Just Moms, Need To Start Shouting For Paid Family Leave
In a 2019 piece for Family Values at Work, my husband shared his thoughts about the need for paid family leave for men. Since then, we’ve seen some changes—the Biden administration’s social spending bill, which includes a provision for four weeks of paid family and medical leave—not exactly robust but better than nothing—passed the house narrowly last November.…
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