RSS Feedhttp:// RSS Feeden{A6A1D92E-D3F5-4C92-96DB-E9DF7728E9EA} did your path to breastfeeding success look like?​If you really think about it, this is a very profound statement. I find most moms really worry about doing everything “exactly right” with breastfeeding. Some moms even worry if every aspect of breastfeeding isn’t going exactly as she thinks it should, she may as well give up and feed the baby formula. May I be so bold as to say there isn’t necessarily one “right way” to successfully breastfeed for moms and babies in general?<div><br /></div> <div>Most moms will likely hear many conflicting pieces of advice from their family and friends in early pregnancy, from the nurses and doctors in the hospital after delivery, and maybe even from lactation consultants in the hospital and after discharge. She may read conflicting information from what she has already learned. In my eyes, a mom’s biggest challenge is being able to trust her body and the process of learning to breastfeed her baby. </div> <div><br /></div> <div>Most people like to measure success. Unfortunately it’s not that easy with breastfeeding. So what really is breastfeeding success? And how do we get there? It’s not as cut and dried and as you might think. </div> <div><br /></div> <div>We may be doing ourselves a great disservice by putting such strict parameters and guidelines on how to “successfully” breastfeed. The truth is every mom has a different goal. Every baby presents a new set of challenges, if you will, to overcome. What works for one mom and baby may be a complete disaster for another pair. </div> <div><br /></div> <div>My best advice is this: There is more than one defined path to get to your destination of success. Listen to the tips and tricks from well-meaning friends, family, and even nurses. Take what works for you and your baby, and lovingly leave the rest behind. Please don’t wait to ask for help until you fear you are in jeopardy of not meeting your breastfeeding success goal. </div> <div><br /></div> <div>You may desire to exclusively breastfeed for six months, as recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics. Some moms plan to pump and bottle feed while returning to work or even plan on a combination of both. Maybe you even want to breastfeed for a full year (yeah for you!!) Just remember your path to success will have peaks, valleys, curves and turns. How you reach your goal is not nearly as important as actually reaching your individual goal of success.</div> <div><br /></div> <div>The three most important guidelines that will likely keep you on the right path:</div> <div><ol><li>​Feed the baby. Well-fed babies will breastfeed better!<br /></li> <li>Protect your milk supply. <br /></li> <li>Keep working with the baby while you adhere to steps 1 and 2.  </li></ol></div> <div>Do the best you can. Don’t get caught up in all of the technicalities and begin to doubt the process. Be patient with yourself and the baby. Surround yourself with others who are supportive of breastfeeding. Seek help early. Lactation consultants are here to encourage, support and cheer you on to success!</div> <div>​<br /></div> Wed, 19 Dec 2012 00:00:00 -0700{4B81B77D-0185-47DE-BD2C-D8C78C3E5047} and Everything a Mom Should Know​The most frequent causes of fever vary with the&nbsp;season. During the summer the source is usually&nbsp;a gastrointestinal virus (stomach bug) that&nbsp;<span style="background-color: window;">causes diarrhea and vomiting. The winter brings&nbsp;respiratory viruses, like colds, that are usually the&nbsp;culprit. In either case, hydration is always more of&nbsp;a concern than fever. High temperature is simply&nbsp;a symptom of illness. But first, what is a fever and&nbsp;how did we come up the magic number of 98.6?​</span> <div><br /> </div> <div> <div>In the 1860s, a guy by the name of Carl Wunderlich&nbsp;measured the temperatures of thousands&nbsp;of people, thousands of times and came up with&nbsp;<span style="background-color: window;">the average: 98.6. Some have argued that this&nbsp;number wasn&rsquo;t very accurate to start with, but&nbsp;that is the number everyone uses. Our body&nbsp;temperature normally varies throughout the day,&nbsp;sometimes by as much as two to three degrees.&nbsp;</span></div> <div><br /> </div> <div>For medical purposes, a fever is defined as a&nbsp;temperature of at least 100.4 degrees. A rectal&nbsp;temperature is the most accurate method for&nbsp;<span style="background-color: window;">children under two. For kids two and older, oral&nbsp;temperature is preferred. There are several other&nbsp;methods available, but they may not be as reliable&nbsp;</span><span style="background-color: window;">or accurate.</span></div> </div> <div><br /> </div> <div> <div><em><strong>Once the temperature has&nbsp;been measured, and the child</strong></em><em><strong> has a fever, now what?</strong></em>&nbsp;</div> <p>When I get a call from a worried parent,&nbsp;<span style="background-color: window;">I am most concerned about why&nbsp;their child has a fever. Do they have a&nbsp;</span><span style="background-color: window;">simple cold or other virus, or do they&nbsp;have something more that may require</span></p> <div>treatment? The best way to decide is to&nbsp;observe how the child is acting: are they&nbsp;still playful when the fever is down and&nbsp;are they drinking enough to maintain&nbsp;hydration?&nbsp;It is also important for the&nbsp;doctor to know of any other medical&nbsp;problems the child is treated for, such as&nbsp;asthma, and the medications they take.</div> <div><br /> </div> <div>It is true that with infants​ under two&nbsp;months of age, doctors take fevers more&nbsp;seriously. This is because fever is often&nbsp;the only sign of a serious infection in&nbsp;young infants. If a newborn gets a fever,&nbsp;even if she looks perfectly well, she will&nbsp;require a very thorough workup to look&nbsp;for possible sources of infection. Once&nbsp;this critical newborn time has passed, a&nbsp;fever is no longer as concerning.</div> <p><strong><em>I admit from first hand experience,&nbsp;that fevers can be&nbsp;scary for parents to manage.&nbsp;</em></strong></p> <p>Our child is sick and uncomfortable. We&nbsp;probably have heard from other parents&nbsp;or relatives about the perceived dangers&nbsp;of fevers, so we also become afraid of&nbsp;what a fever could be doing to our now&nbsp;sick and whiny child.&nbsp;The biggest fear I have heard parents&nbsp;express is that if the fever is not brought&nbsp;down immediately, or if the fever gets&nbsp;too high, there is risk of brain damage.</p> <div>Temperature is very closely monitored&nbsp;and controlled by our bodies. We have a&nbsp;thermostat deep in the brain, called the&nbsp;hypothalamus, which controls core body&nbsp;temperature. When a child gets sick,&nbsp;whether caused by a virus or bacteria,&nbsp;one of the defenses of the body is to&nbsp;raise the temperature a few degrees by&nbsp;resetting the thermostat. This causes the&nbsp;<span style="background-color: window;">child to feel cold, to shiver and conserve&nbsp;heat. To the parent, the child feels hot.&nbsp;Medications are effective for lowering&nbsp;the temperature, but only by one to two&nbsp;degrees. Medications do not reset the&nbsp;thermostat though, so as soon as the&nbsp;medication wears off after a few hours,&nbsp;the temperature will go back up.</span></div> <p><strong><em>Once the body decides it has&nbsp;been long enough, it will reset&nbsp;the thermostat back to normal&nbsp;and the fever will break</em></strong>. </p> <p>Now&nbsp;the child will feel hot and sweaty, kick off&nbsp;the blankets and start to feel a lot better, even without treatment.&nbsp;It is also important to realize that even if&nbsp;<span style="background-color: window;">a fever is never treated, once the temperature&nbsp;reaches the new, higher preset point,&nbsp;the fever will level off. It will not keep&nbsp;rising higher and higher. The body also&nbsp;will not cause a fever to be so high as to&nbsp;cause brain damage. Temperatures up to&nbsp;105, or even 106, have never been shown&nbsp;to cause any damage to the brain. This&nbsp;is different from hyperthermia when the&nbsp;body thermostat is not in control.</span> </p> <div>Another common fear is that if we do&nbsp;not treat the fever, the child will have&nbsp;<span style="background-color: window;">a seizure. The truth is that only a very&nbsp;small percentage of children are predisposed&nbsp;to a seizure related to fevers. When&nbsp;it does happen, the seizure is usually the&nbsp;first sign of illness: the child has a seizure,&nbsp;then she is later diagnosed with a fever&nbsp;also. Treating a child that already has a&nbsp;fever with acetaminophen or ibuprofen&nbsp;for the purpose of preventing a seizure,&nbsp;</span><span style="background-color: window;">has shown to be more anxiety provoking&nbsp;for the parent and really does not change&nbsp;the risk of seizure.</span></div> <div><br /> </div> <div>The best advice I could give&nbsp;is do not treat the fever, treat&nbsp;the child! I would never wake anyone&nbsp;who is sleeping just to medicate a fever. The&nbsp;<span style="background-color: window;">most important reason (maybe the only&nbsp;reason) to treat a fever is for the comfort of&nbsp;the child. If the child is happy, playing and&nbsp;otherwise seems okay, do not bother treating.&nbsp;Let the body do its thing and fight&nbsp;the infection. It is perfectly acceptable to&nbsp;let it burn. If, on the other hand, the fever&nbsp;is causing the child to be very miserable&nbsp;and uncomfortable, go ahead and treat.</span></div> <div><br /> </div> <div>Acetaminophen and ibuprofen are two&nbsp;medications that have been in use for a&nbsp;very long time, and found to be safe and&nbsp;effective for treatment of fevers. I prefer&nbsp;ibuprofen because it lasts longer and has&nbsp;good anti-inflammatory effects, which are&nbsp;helpful especially for illnesses like ear infections.</div> <div>But remember that if the child is&nbsp;less than two months old, call the doctor.</div> <div></div> </div>Fri, 14 Dec 2012 00:00:00 -0700{B3214A41-5059-4946-B453-AFCB2934D80E} to RSV Season ​People of any age can get RSV, but in adults and children over age two it generally causes mild cold symptoms. RSV can be more serious in infants and babies. In children under age one, RSV is a common cause of bronchiolitis and pneumonia, and occasionally requires hospitalization.<br /> <div><br /> </div> <div>RSV generally begins like a regular cold with symptoms that may include a cough, runny nose, fever, sleep apnea, or wheezing.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Most infants and <a href="">children with RSV​</a> can be treated at home. The most effective course of treatment is suctioning the nose. I tell parents to get the biggest bulb syringe they can find. Put a few drops of water, breast milk, or saline in each nostril, wait a few seconds for the mucus to soften, and then use the bulb syringe to suction it out.&nbsp;<br /> </div> <div><br /> </div> <div>Babies who still have difficulty breathing, who show signs of dehydration, who have ear pain, or who have a temperature of more than 102.5 degrees should be seen by a healthcare professional. Watch for signs that they are having difficulty breathing, including flaring of the nostrils, a purple tinge around the mouth, extreme paleness, grunting at the end of every breath, or using extra muscles to help breathe.</div> <div><br /> </div> <div>Your baby&rsquo;s physician may refer you to the bronchiolitis clinic at Valley View Medical Center or Dixie Regional Medical Center. Caregivers at the clinic can provide breathing treatments. They evaluate each child and make a treatment plan that may include a return visit in a few hours, or, if oxygen levels continue to be low, admission to the hospital. The length of stay in the hospital is dictated by when the child no longer needs supplemental oxygen, and averages five days. Occasionally a child with RSV may need to be admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit or require a respirator.</div>Wed, 12 Dec 2012 00:00:00 -0700{BD4727C2-7CBC-4402-86D7-840BB57639D8} Your Newborn<ul><li>​Breast milk provides perfect nutrition for growing babies<br /></li> <li>Breastfeeding protects babies from infections<br /></li> <li>Studies have shown that breastfeeding is linked to improved intelligence<br /></li> <li>Nursing lowers a mother’s risk for breast cancer, diabetes, and osteoporosis<br /></li> <li>Breastfeeding can help new moms lose their pregnancy weight by burning an extra 500 calories daily<br /></li> <li>Breastfeeding is free and convenient<br /></li></ul> <div><br /></div> <div>More information on the benefits of breastfeeding and tips can be found on <span style="background-color:window"></span><span style="background-color:window">.</span></div> <span></span><div></div> <div></div> <div><br /></div> <div>The decision to breastfeed is a positive one for both you and your baby. By choosing to breastfeed, you are giving your baby the healthiest start possible. But it isn't always easy. Sometimes mothers need help with breastfeeding, no matter how many times they have done it. </div> <div><br /></div> <div>At Intermountain hospitals a lactation consultant is available to help while mom and baby are in the hospital. After discharge, Intermountain Lactation Clinics provide consults for a small fee. Here are the locations and phone numbers for the clinics. Info is also available <a href=""></a>.</div> <div><br /></div> <div><ul><li>A Mother’s Touch, Orem, 801-714-3324<br /></li> <li>Breastfeeding Matters, Ogden, 801-387-4132<br /></li> <li>Logan Regional Hospital, Logan, 435-716-2560<br /></li> <li>Dixie Regional Medical Center, St. George, 435-688-4496<br /></li></ul></div> <div><br /></div> <div>The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends breastfeeding for at least the first year of your baby’s life. In fact, the AAP recommends that for the first 6 months, mother’s milk should be the only food your baby receives. After the first year, breastfeeding should continue for as long as mother and baby wish.</div> Thu, 29 Nov 2012 00:00:00 -0700{E706AAB7-FAF0-4759-A01A-8286123648A3} PerceptionsAs I approached this young mother, I could see the faces of each grandmother turn leery. I think they fully expected me to chastise their daughter for breastfeeding in a public place. Instead, I simply told her how proud I was of her for breastfeeding her baby there. I wanted her to know how helpful it is for other breastfeeding moms to see. Thankfully each of their faces softened as I spoke to them, and I think my little talk was a good thing. <br /><div><br /></div> <div>But I wonder how often breastfeeding moms get comments that are negative or hurtful.</div> <div> </div> <div>The truth is the scientific evidence is overwhelming: breastfeeding is best for moms and babies. Breastfeeding also benefits our economy, and lowers the ever-increasing cost of health care. And yet our society and many medical professionals still have a level of discomfort with the whole idea of supporting breastfeeding. </div> <div><br /></div> <div>Several years ago, a popular baby magazine featured a breastfeeding mother on their cover. The public response was not good. They received many letters stating that the cover was “gross” or “inappropriate”. With this type of opinion surrounding breastfeeding, is it any wonder moms in the United States give up early? Is feeding a baby the way Mother Nature intended really gross?</div> <div><br /></div> <div>Interestingly, this opinion is not shared by many other cultures outside of the United States. For instance, in Mongolia, breastfeeding is expected and celebrated by everyone in their society. Breastfeeding moms in this third world country are cheered on by every stranger they meet. Eyes are not averted when a mom breastfeeds her baby, instead they are given a loving smile of approval. When a breastfeeding mother enters a store, the owner offers a chair for the mom to feed in and encourages her to stay as long as she needs. The entire culture embraces every part of breastfeeding for as long as the mother feels comfortable.  </div> <div><br /></div> <div>What would it be like in the United States if breastfeeding mothers where encouraged, supported, and even cheered on by the majority of society around her? Would this type of encouragement and support make a difference for you? </div> <div><br /></div> <div>In my perfect little lactation world I hope that one day our society will encourage and promote the success of each and every breastfeeding mother, whatever her idea of success is.</div> Thu, 29 Nov 2012 00:00:00 -0700{BAC7719E-F0E9-40D9-AB85-139CC0861F2D} for Self-Awareness​Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer among women.  One in eight women will be affected by breast cancer in their lifetime. The good news is that we have great screening programs and the ability to decrease our risk for breast cancer. First, women should know that breast “awareness” is very important and easy to do. On a monthly basis, every woman should feel her breasts, familiarizing herself with how they look and feel. This allows her to identify changes that then should be reported to her physician. Additionally, women who are age 20-39 should have a clinical breast exam by her physician every 1-3 years. Women who are 40 or older should have a breast exam and mammogram annually.<div><br /></div> <div>Many women breast feed for the benefit that it offers their newborn child. Fortunately, breast feeding is a great way to decrease one’s risk for breast cancer also. Additional ways include eating a low fat diet, avoiding or minimizing alcohol consumption, and exercising regularly.  Some women, regardless of their lifestyle will develop breast cancer. Women in high risk groups, identified by family history, should discuss this with her doctor. </div> <div><br /></div> <div>The month of October is over and breast cancer awareness will fade until next October. During these next few days, take the opportunity to jump start your breast health by making good lifestyle choices and getting up to date with your breast cancer screening. </div>Wed, 28 Nov 2012 00:00:00 -0700