Activist Lactivist

I'm an activist. I am extremely passionate about a lot of thinks. Jesus, Breastfeeding, baby wearing, natural child birth, Abortion, Adoption, Home-schooling... I could go on. But, this week a study came out that backed one of my passions.

I'm definitely not the first to write about it. Right now, in most circles, it's a huge controversy. I'm okay with being controversial. Here's the gist of the article.

Breastfeeding saves lives.

Period. Exclamation point. In fact, the article that was published in the journal "Pediatrics", and then later reported by CNN on Tuesday, stated that an estimated 911 babies die each year because they were not breastfed.

"Well." You might say to yourself, "That's all fine and well, but what can you expect from third world countries? People die there from diseases and starvation all the time!"

I'm not talking about a third world country. I'm talking about America. Where we have all the medical advancements and technologies, we still lose 911 babies a year. Because of one thing, their mothers don't breastfeed. These babies are dying from SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome), pneumonia, and necrotizing enterocolitis (a condition that causes the intestines to die).

If you want to talk numbers, we can do that too. $13 billion. Is that a big enough number? According to Pediatrics, that's the amount of money that could be saved every year if mothers breastfed for the minimum amount of time (which they suggest as being 6 months). The AAP (American Academy of Pediatrics) recommends breastfeeding for one year. The World Health Organization recommends two. I plan on breastfeeding for two years.

We have a rise of "I tried to breastfeed, but I didn't make milk" in this country. A lot of this, I believe, is because starting at the hospital, formula is shoved down new mom's throats. In our hospital room was a free Similac sponsored bag for new breastfeeding moms. It included a few bottles and a insulated bag to keep the bottles cool. Because it's such a crime to breastfeed in public that you have to pump and take bottles with you everywhere you go. Oh, and formula samples and coupons. Just in case you want to supplement in the first few weeks and possibly wreck your supply.

The biggest cause, in my humble opinion, that women don't succeed at breastfeeding? I think there are two. Lack of support and fear. It becomes an endless cycle. The mom doesn't have the support they need to feel confident in their bodies and confident in their bodies ability, and they become afraid that they are starving the child, then they don't have the support to reassure them that they're doing fine, and the cycle just continues and continues.

Did you know a baby only needs to receive a teaspoon of colostrum per feeding for the first few days? You heard me right, a TEASPOON. God knew what he was doing when he created the mother/baby relationship.

And I'm not saying this should be on the mothers shoulders. I think the medical community as a whole has sabotaged breastfeeding for a LOT of moms. I'm sure there are lots of moms who would have liked to have breastfeeding, but were told they shouldn't, or couldn't.

I'm also not trying to make you feel guilty if you did exclusively formula feed your child. I'm just trying to make it a more socially acceptable behavior to do what's best for your baby. To feed them how God made you to feed them.

Finally, want to be totally selfish for a minute? Do you know the benefits for Mom that breastfeeding provides? Not many do. In 2007 the AHRQ (Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality) released a study that said that Mom's who breastfed had lower rates of type 2 diabetes, heart disease, breast cancer, and ovarian cancer.
c
So, be sure to research your options. Even working mothers can successfully pump enough milk to feed their babies. Seek out that support! Contact lacation consultants, the La Leche League, or just ask your friends. My Mom was my biggest support when I started because she had breastfed me. You CAN do this!

A referral

No real post from me right now, maybe soon. I've rediscovered my love of reading, and its taking over my soul right now.

However, I invite and implore you to go and read MckMama's recent post, entitled "In which I rant about socialism and chicken" it sums up my thoughts on the matter of new health care reform VERY nicely.

That's all for now folks (I didn't even manage to get a newspaper article out this week. It's been CRA-ZAY.)

Lets get Political

First, I want to state that this was the first Presidential election that I was eligible to vote for. I was not for Obama. In fact, I wasn't really for McCain. I did like Palin, but given the choice, Mike Huckabee was my top pick. I tend to be very Conservative, and in fact, I usually answer with Conservative instead of Republican or Democrat. I am a supporter of Small Government. I guess this counts as my explanation for the rest of this post.

I'm going to be perfectly honest. I'm scared. I'm scared about what our Government has in store of us, and I'm petrified of the total control that our Government is slowly trying to implement. What also scares me is that we are being called to be citizen informants on our fellow Americans. Doesn't this sound like some history lesson from the German Nazi era? Yeah, it does to me too. And don't take my word for it. Macon Phillips, a White House Representative is the person who sent out the plea, as you can see in the following paragraph. I'm even providing a link so you can see for yourself. Notice the address of the link, it's the White House blog! This is real people! Read the rest of this article here.

"There is a lot of disinformation about health insurance reform out there, spanning from control of personal finances to end of life care. These rumors often travel just below the surface via chain emails or through casual conversation. Since we can’t keep track of all of them here at the White House, we’re asking for your help. If you get an email or see something on the web about health insurance reform that seems fishy, send it to flag@whitehouse.gov."

Okay, so, say I'm having a conversation with my friend...or say I'm emailing a friend who has asked my opinion, or say, I'm writing a blog about Health Care... well, then, you should report me.

Does that seem right? Does that seem like Freedom? Does that seem like Free Speech? No. This seems to me like Government control. It seems to me that even our small thoughts and oppositions to the Government are beginning to be seen as a bad thing. What about our system of checks and balances? That's basically out the window as well, considering that the House, the Senate and the Presidency are all controlled by the same political party.

This health care bill scares me as well. I fear for my parents lives, as well as the lives of friends and family. In the bill there are sections that require Senior Citizens to have end of life counseling on a yearly basis, and to discuss very controversial things like the restriction of antibiotics. In England, after the age of 59, no person can have a stint placed in their hearts, nor can they receive life saving procedures if they have a heart problem. This is the type of health care system that is being purported for America. Heart disease is one of the greatest killers in our country, so we're just going to stop treating it? It all comes down to the restriction of coverage, and our Government have already proved this to be the case in how they handle Medicaid.

Under this new bill, a young family may have to undergo counseling before they are "allowed" to have a child. They will discuss the proper wait time between children, and may even force abortions for healthy children. Does this sound like China to anyone else? To a communist nation to anyone else? If they're going to do this for HEALTHY children, can you imagine what might happen to someone who is pregnant with a child who has Downs Syndrome? Or worse, someone who is pregnant with a child with a disease like Trisomy 18, or Cerebral Palsy? Those parents may never get to meet their children, simply because our Government doesn't think they have the right to live. Because they are nor productive to society.

What scares me the most however, is the lack of involvement our Senators and Congressmen are having in the decision of this bill. Many have stated that no, of course they haven't read the 1,000 page bill, and that they have no intention of doing so. They say that if they did try to read it, they wouldn't understand it, so whats the point? Sound unbelievable? I'm merely paraphrasing John Conyers (D-MI), who happens to be the Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. And John Conyers is not alone. Regardless of what the bill says, or doesn't say, I want the people who are voting on it to read it, so at least they know what they are voting on. We're a country in an Economic Debt Crisis, isn't that what they keep telling us? So, shouldn't our elected politicians read a bill, that if passed, will put our country another couple of Trillion dollars in debt?

So, before you jump on the bandwagon of socialized- oh wait, I'm sorry, universal health care, take time and research it. Take time and write or call your senator or legislator and request that they take the time to read the bill. Raise your voice, the only way we're going to get change is if we start from the ground up.