Local News
Officials: Breastfeeding builds a better baby
World Breastfeeding Week begins Sunday
OTTUMWA —
Keeping baby and mother healthy and happy is a great way to grow a community.
Melissa Snook of Ottumwa believes in breastfeeding her children and really likes how it puts babies to sleep.
Missy Thomason also wanted the benefits of breastfeeding for her children. But, with daughter, Kaydence, Thomason didn’t have a supply of milk after feeding the baby one month. With her next child, she had more milk for a longer period of time.
Snook and Thomason are breastfeeding mothers who have received help and advice from the staff at American Home Finding Association’s Maternal/Child Health and WIC Clinic.
Sunday is the beginning of World Breastfeeding Week (Aug. 1-7), and American Home Finding’s Maternal/Child Health and WIC Clinic are “big promoters and supporters of breastfeeding.”
Brittany Carnahan, WIC breastfeeding coordinator, said Wednesday the clinic now has three breastfeeding peer counselors — Deborah Kleinman, Shari Lasley and Selena Jacobs — who inform new mothers about feeding their babies and support them in meeting their own breastfeeding goals.
“They give tips for how to feed their baby comfortably, return to work or school while continuing to breastfeed and offer ideas for getting support from family and friends and ways to get a good start with breastfeeding,” Carnahan said.
Snook called Lasley “a Godsend” because she offered “so much good advice and encouragement.
“At the beginning, I kept calling back and asking things like how to hold her and what to do if was sore,” she said.
Counselors also know secrets for making plenty of breast milk for their baby and address any breastfeeding concerns, Carnahan said. They contact moms during pregnancy and after the baby is born to answer any questions or concerns that a new mom might have.
Breastfeeding is natural and keeps the baby in good health, the staff said. Today’s culture promotes eating natural foods, such as fresh greens and other produce.
Even if a mother can breastfeed for six months, the baby will get a portion of the antibodies needed to strengthen the immune system, and that’s very important, the WIC staff said.
Ruth Roth is the peer counselor coordinator. She said formula can cost $2,000 a year and she encouraged women to seek employers who offer lactation support.
Carnahan said mothers “miss work less” if they can pump the milk for the baby’s use later, and breastfed babies don’t go to the doctor as often.
The benefits of breastfeeding
Officials believe breastfeeding:
• Is convenient because there’s nothing to carry, measure, heat or wash.
• Saves baby expenses due to free nutrition and fewer medical bills.
• Is superior nutrition and easily digested. Formula can’t duplicate a mother’s milk.
• Promotes brain development and contributes to a higher IQ.
• Decreases baby’s risk of bacterial and viral infections.
• Reduces the risk of SIDS.
• Promotes a quicker return to pre-pregnancy weight for the mother.
• Reduces the risk of ovarian and breast cancer in the mother.
• Is a relationship — not just a feeding method.
For more information, contact the WIC Clinic at (641) 682-8784.
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