Posts Tagged ‘ breastfeeding ’

Year in Review: Ignorant Legislators and Heroines of the Week 2011

December 27, 2011
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“Throughout the year, Hello Ladies features Heroines of the Week – women making headlines for all the right reason, and the Ignorant Legislators – our elected officials who are getting it all wrong. Here’s who made the lists in 2011.

To be sure, there were more candidates than we had time to feature. Betty Dukes and Gabrielle Giffords were heroic, each in their own ways. And Representative Joe Pitts deserves his place on our list of legislators who just don’t get it. Who is on your list? You can add more names to our list at The Skinny Scoop.

Pumping at Work: Breastfeeding Awareness Month

August 11, 2011
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Mother with baby at computerCorporate lactation programs. Private pumping rooms. Informed, supportive HR specialists. If you read enough Best-Places-to Work-for-Mothers articles, you might think this is the reality for mothers returning to work post-baby. But for many women, pumping at work has its challenges.

August is Breastfeeding Awareness Month, designed to remind us breast milk has many health benefits for both mother and baby. And there are benefits for businesses too. The World Alliance Breastfeeding Action (WABA) reports the benefits are significant, resulting in, “more satisfied, loyal employees and cost savings to the business” from a reduction in sick time for childrens’ illnesses and lower health insurance.  The organization recommends all businesses “create a maternity policy that supports women in their desire to breastfeed and create a dedicated space where women can express milk in privacy.”

But working women often face challenges when they return to their jobs after maternity leave. Finding the time and a private place to pump can be difficult. Storing milk and cleaning breast pump equipment can be frowned upon in employee break rooms, and working out a pumping plan can be an awkward conversation to have with an unsupportive boss. Even when a company is supportive, it can be exhausting for a new mother to pump milk, manage nighttime feedings and still perform on the job.

We’ve written about these challenges before:

Nursing: Through Rain, Spiders and Toilets

Savvy Gal Pumping

Real Stories of Maternity Leave

The Skinny on Breastfeeding

There is some good news on the breastfeeding front.  The Affordable Care Act does require employers with 50 or more employees to provide “reasonable break time for an employee to express breast milk for her nursing child for one year after the child’s birth.” And earlier this month, U.S. Representative Carolyn B. Maloney (D-NY) and U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley introduced the Breastfeeding Promotion Act of 2011 which would expand those provisions to cover salaried employees who work in traditional office environments. Just last week, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced new guidelines for women’s preventive services that require health insurance companies to cover “breastfeeding support, supplies and counseling” so that “pregnant and postpartum women will have access to comprehensive lactation support and counseling from trained providers, as well as breastfeeding equipment.”

You can help support working mothers who want to breastfeed. If you’re a manager, find out what your company’s policies and accommodations are and voice your support for a family-friendly workplace. If you’re a soon-to-be working mother, plan ahead. Think about what accommodations you might need when you return to work and schedule a discussion with your HR representative or manager to discuss options. And regardless of your work situation, call your legislators and ask them to support theBreastfeeding Promotion Act of 2011.

Washington Makes Women’s Health a Priority

August 3, 2011
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The PillMore good news out of Washington (can you believe it?). The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) earlier this week announced new guidelines as part of the Affordable Care Act that require new health insurance plans to cover women’s preventive services including breastfeeding support, domestic violence screening, and contraception – without charging a co-payment or a deductible.

HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said in a statement, “These historic guidelines are based on science and existing literature and will help ensure women get the preventive health benefits they need.” In developing the guidelines, the HHS worked with the Institute of Medicine to do a review of women’s health needs and provide recommendations on preventive measures specifically for women.

According to the HHS website, women will have access to the following services without cost-sharing starting in August of next year:

  • well-woman visits;
  • screening for gestational diabetes;
  • human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA testing for women 30 years and older;
  • sexually-transmitted infection counseling;
  • human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) screening and counseling;
  • FDA-approved contraception methods and contraceptive counseling;
  • breastfeeding support, supplies, and counseling; and
  • domestic violence screening and counseling.

An amendment to the new regulation allows religious institutions that offer insurance to their employees a choice whether or not to cover contraception services.

Not only are these guidelines key to helping women get the medical services and treatments they require, they are key to women’s professional and financial security too. Giving women access to choice, support and tools makes the challenges of managing career and family that much easier.

This is progress.

 

 

 

 

 

 

News from Around the Web

July 26, 2011
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News microphoneHere’s some of the news affecting women from around the web:

The women who accused former head of the IMF Dominque Strauss Kahn of raping her in a New York hotel has taken her story direct to the media after weeks of scrutiny about her life and character. She has been accused of prostitution, had her credibility called in to question and been vilified in the comments sections of news outlets across the web. Nafissatou Diallo gave an in depth interview to Newsweek and an on camera interview to ABC News.  While we don’t know how this decision to give interviews plays into her legal team’s strategy, we do know this is the second time in recent months a woman has gone on a major news program to talk about an attack. CBS reporter Lara Logan went on prime-time to discuss her attack in Egypt. While it is common practice to protect the identity of a defendant in a rape case, often to protect them from harassment, these interviews help advance the discussion about this horrible crime and help remove the stigma of shame and blame that is often placed on the victim.

The man behind the killings in Norway revealed a hatred of women, among other things, in the manifesto he left behind. Michelle Goldberg writes about it at The Daily Beast. For a compelling read on the media’s failure to report on the role of gender and misogyny in crime, read Jennifer Pozner’s article, “From Jonesboro to Virginia Tech – sexism is fatal, but media miss the story.” While it appears the Norway killer was fueled by a hatred of many things, it is important to note the role misogyny played in addition to his other motives.

A Georgia woman faces up to three years in jail for the death of her son who was struck by a car. The woman, however, wasn’t behind the wheel. Raquel Nelson was crossing the street with her children when a van hit her son and then fled the scene Nelson, was  convicted of vehicular homicide for failure to cross in the crosswalk. The driver was sentenced to six months jail time. From anti abortion bills that could criminalize miscarriage, to Nelson’s conviction, the message, ladies, is be a perfect baby vessel and mother. Anything less is a crime.

And if in your attmept to be perfect, you choose breast over bottle, keep it to yourself. The breastfeeding baby doll is back in the news and deemed “creepy” by critics. It’s okay for young girls to play mom and feed their baby dolls a bottle. But if they pretend to nurse the baby, that’s a different story.

 

 

 

 

Heroine of the Week: Afrykayn Moon

July 1, 2011
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BusThis week’s Heroine of the Week is Afrykayn Moon who according to the  Detroit Free Press held her ground when a SMART bus driver ordered her to either cover up or get off the bus because Moon was breastfeeding her child on the public transit. When Moon wouldn’t stop, the bus driver refused to drive and had security guards board the bus to question the mother.

Michigan is one of 28 states that protect breastfeeding women from public indecency laws. However, following last week’s incident State Representative Rashida Tlaib and State Senator Rebekah Warren  introduced legislation to protect women from discrimination while breastfeeding in public. The legislation would amend the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act which prohibits discriminatory practices and policies based upon religion, race, color, national origin, age, sex, height, weight, familial status, or marital status, to protect women who are breastfeeding in public. It would also  prohibit businesses from denying a woman service or accommodation because she is breastfeeding.

 Moon, who is a member of the Black Mother’s Breastfeeding Association, is holding a nurse-in today at SMART terminals in Michigan to raise awareness for the benefits of breastfeeding and the legality of doing it in public. Moon has given several interviews to news outlets this week and she took to YouTube to tell the whole story in her own words. Watch it here.

SMART issued a statement following the incident stating, “SMART supports a mothers right to breastfeed her child.  It is our policy to permit this activity on all SMART buses. 

“We have taken the recent complaint very seriously and are investigating the full incident. The driver involved in the situation has been taken out of service pending conclusion of our investigation.”

Ohio Working Mothers Need Not Apply

September 9, 2010
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Just because it’s legal doesn’t make it right.

The Ohio Supreme Court has ruled that businesses can fire women for taking time off to give birth or for pregnancy-related leave if they haven’t worked the minimum amount of time required to earn leave. In McFee v. Nursing Care Mgmt. of Am., Inc., the court ruled 5-1 that “an employment policy that imposes a uniform minimum-length-of-service requirement for leave eligibility with no exception for maternity leave is not direct evidence of sex discrimination.” Maybe not, but that doesn’t mean it’s not terrible policy.

 Tiffany McFee, had been working at the Pataskala Oaks Care Center, a subacute and rehabilitation facility with the motto “Caring is What We Do Best” (oh, the irony!), for eight months when a doctor ordered her to stop working for a pregnancy-related condition. Soon after she gave birth. She was fired three days later because she took leave before she was eligible. Company policy requires an employee work a year prior to taking leave for any purpose.

The ruling was based on a law that allows “an employer to terminate an employee for any nondiscriminatory reason” and another that states pregnant employees must be treated “the same for all employment-related purposes.”  The court wrote in its ruling, “we do not agree with the premise that McFee was terminated on the basis of pregnancy. Instead, she was let go for taking unauthorized leave from her employment.” This is the same court, remember, that doesn’t consider breastfeeding a pregnancy-related issue.

The case never should have gone to court. Pataskala Oaks Care Center and its parent company, Nursing Care Mgmt. of America, Inc., should have a maternity policy in place for employees with short tenure. It is ridiculous to expect that hopeful or expectant mothers can fully control when they get pregnant. Miscarriages, infertility and a whole host of other factors can interfere with a woman’s plan (Not to mention the move in this country to restrict a woman’s access to the full spectrum of reproductive health options.)

The United States ranks poorly for maternity leave policies, infant mortality rates and maternal death rates. More than two women die every day in the United States from pregnancy related causes and the incidences of “near-miss” complications, where a woman comes close to dying from pregnancy or childbirth, have increased since 2005. What would Nursing Care Mgmt. of America have preferred, that Ms. McFee give birth at work during her lunch hour? Did they really want that responsibility? (My coworkers didn;t even want me to leave breastmilk in the company refigerator never mind leave an afterbirth mess on the office floor.) More likely, they would prefer to hire childless women and not assume the burden of a workforce with uteruses. Maybe they’d even pay a childfree workforce fair or better wages.

The courts may feel restricted by the laws when deciding case like this, so our lawmakers need to wake up too. According to Moms Rising, having a baby is a leading cause of poverty in the U.S. Women represent 51 percent of the population and the majority of our national workforce right now. Women are breadwinners in two-thirds of all U.S. households. Can our national economy really afford to continue to discriminate against such a large segment of the workforce? It’s time corporate America and our legislators recognized these facts and created work/family policies that truly work.

It’s World Breastfeeding Week

August 3, 2010
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 It’s World Breastfeeding Week sponsored by the World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA), a global network of individuals and organizations concerned with the protection, promotion and support of breastfeeding worldwide.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), “breastfeeding contributes to a lifetime of good health. Adults who were breastfed as babies often have lower blood pressure and lower cholesterol, as well as lower rates of overweight, obesity and type-2 diabetes. There is evidence that people who were breastfed perform better in intelligence tests.” And, “Breastfeeding also benefits mothers. … It reduces risks of breast and ovarian cancer later in life, helps women return to their pre-pregnancy weight faster, and lowers rates of obesity.” WHO recommends women have at least 16 weeks off from work after giving birth in order to adequately rest and breastfeed their child. However the organization reports many women abandon breastfeeding before the recommended six months because they lack the time and a place to breastfeed or pump at work.

Here in the U.S. women definitely struggle to find the time and space to breastfeed. Most women are lucky if they can take 12 weeks maternity leave. I pumped in an electrical closet full of spiders when I returned to work 12 weeks after my son was born. My supervisor, who suggested I quit when I told her I was pregnant, told me it was up to me to figure out how and where to pump at work.

When I returned to a different job following eight weeks of unpaid leave after my daughter was born, I pumped in a common area bathroom. That boss told me she was withholding my bonus because I got pregnant and only had this to say about my breastfeeding, “You’re not going to put that milk in the fridge, are you?” I didn’t. I brought my own cooler to the office.

Women hear such a mixed message when it comes to having children. Embrace motherhood, raise good and healthy children, earn a living (because we need your income) but manage it all on your own time behind closed doors.  Just last week The Mama Bee was harassed by a conductor on the Long Island Railroad because she was breastfeeding her baby on the train.  Her story is upsetting and sadly still too common. Read it here.

The Mama Bee writes about the fact there are men who are comfortable viewing women’s breasts for pleasure but not for nourishment. I wonder where the support for breastfeeding is from the people who made pregnancy a preexisting condition, don’t want women to have control over when they have children and fail to implement family-friendly policies in the workplace?

Visit the WABA website to learn more about the benefits of breastfeeding and what we can do to support nursing mothers.

Blog for Choice

January 22, 2010
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Every year on the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, NARALPro-Choice America asks bloggers to blog the answer to a question.  This year’s question is in honor of the late Dr. George Tiller who was shot and killed at church one Sunday morning last May. Dr. Tiller often wore a button that read, “Trust Women.” So today, we answer the question: What does “Trust Women” mean to you?

Let me tell you about trusting women. I trust women because a woman gave birth to me, nursed me, cared for me and raised me. She made sure I was well fed, adequately clothed and got enough sleep each night. She got me to school on time and made sure my homework was done. She comforted me when I suffered rejection and then pushed me back out to try again. She made me feel safe when life got scary and she let me go when the time was right. I trust women, because the woman who raised me, trusted me when I moved 3,000 miles away and built my own life.

I trust women because I have worked for women. Women who mortgaged their homes to sustain their business. Women who had the courage to start their own companies in the midst of recession, with no funding, no loans, only their determination and Rolodex. I trust women because I have seen those women not only survive, but thrive. I watched them serve their clients, support their families, reward their employees and earn a profit –all at the same time.

I trust women because I have watched my friends nurse their babies all night, go to work, care for their families after work and begin the cycle all over again. I trust women because I have watched these friends when their babies needed stitches, spinal taps, and brain surgery. I trust these women who exhibited strength, grace and determination under pressure.

I trust women because I watch them serve my community. They hold elected positions, volunteer and fight for that which they believe. I trust women because I watch them challenge the status quo, build consensus, and motivate their constituents. I trust women because I watch them work tirelessly even when they don’t get any credit or public recognition.

And so, I trust women to know what is best for them. I trust women to make their own decisions. And I know that no one but a woman should control her body, because I trust women.

The Skinny on Breast-Feeding

November 13, 2009
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brownieMajor eye-rolling ensued when I read the article in The New York Times this week about breast-feeding and weight loss. Now that women have surpassed men on the national payroll shouldn’t we be talking about the obstacles women face pumping at work? (FYI, you can check out Moms to Work and The Savvy Gal for those stories.)

To be fair, the Times has written several articles this year on breast-feeding. They’ve covered the health benefits for mothers and babies, a link between breast-feeding and lower breast cancer rates, and the challenges of working, travelling and pumping.  But I am more interested in changing work/life policies that favor working parents than I am in changing my waistline.

The eye-rolling started at this sentence:

These days, more than ever, a mother is expected to bounce back from pregnancy and be a “yummy mummy” in no time.

And really got going here:

Earlier this year, Rebecca Romijn, who wore a shrink-wrapped outfit in “X-Men,” called breast-feeding her new twins “the very best diet I’ve been on.” After Angelina Jolie posed for the November 2008 cover of W magazine nursing one of her twins, she said that it had helped her regain her figure.

Come on, NYT. We expect People Magazine and US Weekly to feed us that load of BS. But the Gray Lady? Surely, you suspect nutritionists, trainers and eating disorders play a role in postpartum celebrity body bounce backs, don’t you?

Maybe I’m bitter because even though I nursed, I’m still trying to shed the weight I gained while pregnant with my daughter. (She’s five.) And certainly, I’m not above wanting to look good postpartum. At my 12 week checkup following the C-section delivery of my firstborn, my doctor asked me how I was healing.

“I’m bleeding,” I said.

She looked concerned. “That doesn’t sound right. Your scar was healing nicely.”

“It’s not my scar,” I confessed. “It’s my stomach. I tried to wear my pre-pregnancy jeans and my fat got caught in the zipper.”

But it was this quote that really got my eyes-rolling:

Ms. Walker thinks breast-feeding mothers shouldn’t feel guilty for loving the calorie burn. “We deserve it,” she said. “She ought to get into those skinny jeans after 9 months of pregnancy and 20 hours of labor. That’s what I tell mothers. Go for it.”

Hey Ms. Walker: You know what I deserve after 9 months of pregnancy and 36 hours of labor? A pass on how I look and a big fat fudge brownie!

 

Why I Hate Breasts

October 2, 2009
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breast cancerBreasts. I hate them. They are nothing but trouble.

A few months ago, I found a lump in my right breast. As I waited to see my doctor, I imagined what might happen. Best case scenario: there would be no lump. I’d have imagined it and would get felt up for no good reason by some man who couldn’t even remember my name. It wouldn’t be the first time. Pretty darn good scenario: It would be a cyst and I would have to lie topless on a table surrounded by strangers with big needles who wanted to aspirate it. Aspirate, you see, is a fancy word for lance. Worst case scenario: my breasts would kill me. After all, breasts killed my aunt and they killed an estimated 40,000 American women last year alone.

I was lucky. It was a cyst. But may I just say I think it sucks that I have these two potentially deadly inconveniences hanging off the front of me. I didn’t ask for them. And had I been given a choice, I would have said, “No thanks.”

No thanks, I don’t want to spend money on bras at $30 a pop for the rest of my life. My idea of accessorizing isn’t a sports bra, a lace bra, and a bra that works under white t-shirts. I’ll spend my money on shoes thank you very much.

No thanks, I don’t want men looking at my chest instead of my face when I talk to them.

No thanks, I won’t miss getting mammograms. I can always just walk naked into a crowded room if I have an overwhelming need to experience discomfort.

No thanks, I think I have enough PMS symptoms. Moodswings, pimples and cramps are good enough for me. I don’t need tender breasts every month too.

And no thank you, I don’t need my body parts to relocate after I have children. My c-section scar is memento enough.

Now before La Leche comes after me, let me just say that I nursed my children. I am both appreciative and awed by the fact that my body could grow and then nourish a human life. But why did it have to be breasts?

But breasts it is. So please, remind the women in your life to get an annual mammogram and give them a hug. Just don’t try to cop a feel while you do it.

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