I was recently hired to be a breastfeeding peer counselor for my local county. I breastfed my three children and want to help new moms because let’s face it, pregnancy, delivery, care of a newborn, and nursing after delivery don’t always follow the textbook and can be scary, especially as a new mom. I think support is key to being successful with breastfeeding. I am in Minnesota, but this is a great resource put out by WIC in Texas.
Breastfeeding infants can benefit health of the entire family, and these benefits to baby and mom can last a lifetime. A new set of online resources specifically designed for mothers of infants has been launched. These resources can be found at http://www.breastmilkcounts.com/working-moms.php and cover topics such as returning to work, storing breastmilk, where to pump, introducing a bottle and talking to employers about providing support for breastfeeding employees.
In Texas alone, three out of four women start out breastfeeding their infants, but at 3 months less than 30% are still breastfeeding and most stop before returning to work. Breastfeeding provides infants with all the nutrients they need for healthy development and contains antibodies that help protect them from common childhood illnesses. It also benefits the mother by reducing her risks of breast and ovarian cancer, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and other chronic conditions. Public health officials recommend women breastfeed their infants through a baby’s first year of life and provide nothing other than breastmilk for the first six months.
Visitors to Breastmilkcounts.com can learn important breastfeeding tips, create customized birth announcements that can be shared with friends and family, sign up for the Baby to Belly Newsletter and watch videos from other moms talking about the importance of breastfeeding. They can even share their own advice for other new mothers at http://www.breastmilkcounts.
