Busy Breastfeeding Promotion Month 2013

My favorite month of the year is coming up.  August is Breastfeeding Promotion Month and there are several activities lined up for this month!  This will be a long but informative (I hope) post.  I've collated different activities from various groups.  Please contact the organizers directly if you are looking to join one of the listed events.

Guest Post: Relactation is a Journey from the Heart

One of the practices that we are taught during our L.A.T.C.H. peer counselor training is the concept of YIELD. As breastfeeding peer counselors, LATCHers are the first line of breastfeeding support that mothers contact when they get discharged from the hospital. However, we do know that there are other counselors who are more experienced than LATCHers and hence, we are humble to admit our limitations and will yield to the more experienced counselor.

Mom Pop Up at the Fort!

I started my online store because I wanted to promote a natural lifestyle among fellow moms.  From breastfeeding, cloth diapering, babywearing, my new focus now is having a green or an eco-friendly period. You can see this from the variety of menstrual products I have in my store - ranging from several brands of cloth pads and menstrual cups.  

Milk Sharing on Kape at Balita

Early this morning, I dropped by Kape at Balita to talk about Human Milk for Human Babies - The Philippines.  HM4HB - The Philippines is part of an international group from 52 countries with the purpose of fostering community between local families who have chosen to share breastmilk.

The community provides a space - where donors and recipients can come together to benefit from each other.  No breastfeeding advice is given and HM4HB - The Philippines does not match up donors with recipients nor do they mediate conflicts.  More importantly, breastmilk offered in the page is always offered for free - never for sale or for barter.  You can read more FAQs here.

Summer Series 2013: HongKong with Kids

The last of my summer series is our unplanned trip to HK.  I consider this unplanned because when I do trips, I buy tickets months and months ahead of schedule (think at least 6 months ahead!).  MIL had a business trip in HK which required the presence of Mr. Ong and his sister (from Singapore).  Since SIL's kids will be on vacation then, she was thinking of bringing them to HK or dropping them off in the Philippines.  Because I wanted to have a last hurrah, I subtly suggested to Mr. Ong to have a last summer vacation/reunion for cousins.  

hello HongKong

Milk Code Violation: Gifts of Any Sort

The Milk Code has been in existence since 1986.  Admittedly, it is not an easy law to read and understand.  Further, despite being in force for almost 20 years, violations are still quite rampant.  I previously posted about how marketing of feeding bottles and teats can be considered a violation.  For this post, I will focus on samples and giveaways - how they violate the Milk Code.

Let me again emphasize - the law EXISTS.  What I am attempting to do is provide examples of violations to make the law understandable and more palatable to the general public.

Fun and Learning For the Expectant Mom

Ortigas is the happening place for pregnant moms this weekend!  First up is the Belly Blessed Festival which starts today, 12 July 2013 and runs until 8pm on Sunday 14, 2013 at the 2nd and 3rd Level Atrium of The Podium Mall in Pasig City.

Not so good weekend

I wrote this post more than 3 years ago and put it under draft. I just changed some names. But I believe it is time to post this so I am publishing it.

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A family member B gave birth yesterday, 8 January 2010 at 723pm. Her baby, A, is 32 weeks and 6 days old. She was 4.4lbs and 19inches. B was admitted to the hospital last Monday (4 January). She was given medicines to slow down contractions. The baby was also given steroids to hasten lung development. Finally, on Friday, her ob-gyne said that the baby could no longer wait and she was to deliver that day.

I took a half-day off work and went straight to Ortigas with N and B's mom (who was supposed to take the afternoon flight back to Davao City). B finally delivered on Friday evening. Baby A is still in the incubator until today. Initially, they were only giving her canula (oxygen). However, her left lung had difficulty expanding so the doctor put her on CPAP (ventilator).

Which brings me to her doctor --- the evil Dr. Q. Dr. Q was recommended by B's ob-gyne as she was a neonatologist. I first met her on Saturday morning. When she came, we were asking her about Baby A's status and she kept using these highfalutin technical medical terms. None of us were doctors there so I kept asking more questions and I could tell that she was getting more irritated. Isn't it supposed to be the doctor's duty to help the patient understand what is happening by explaining or translating medical terms into something more palatable to non-doctors.

Plus - aside from putting the baby on IV drip with glucose water, she told us that for A's first 2 feedings, they were going to give glucose water. I asked her what about colostrum? She told me -- no - she was not going to give colostrum to A, lest she choke. I told her that we were able to collect a couple of drops of colostrum which she told me to throw away because it was too little! I was really unhappy with what she said but I held my tongue as I'm not a doctor.

But in my blog space -- let me rant!! B's mom told me that she was a pioneer in the "neonatology" field. I told B's mom that I don't like old doctors who were set in their ways and did not want to consider change or listen to opinions of others. Dr. Q was such a doctor. It really frustrates me that much as I want B to breastfeed, she ended up with a neonatologist who was not breastfeeding friendly. Since baby A is still in the NICU, I didn't want to pressure B although she does continuously pump every 3 hours. I just wish we found a more supportive neonatologist like Dr. Z (who was no longer connected to the hospital where B gave birth). To think that this hospital prides itself as being breastfeeding friendly!

I also hope that Dr. Q did not read this article I got from my news feed last week. According to Prof. Sven Carlsen of Norwegian University of Science and Technology, breastmilk is not better than baby formula -- he claims that the studies showing that breastfed babies were healthier than formula fed babies are actually because the moms who were able to successfully breastfeed had a healthier pregnancy as compared to moms who failed to breastfeed (due to an "unhealthier pregnancy").

Most concluded that the longer a child is nursed, the healthier it will be. The professor said this may be the case, but it was because of a healthier pregnancy, not the breast milk. His research shows that high levels of the male sex hormone testosterone in the womb affect a woman's ability to produce milk and to breast-feed.

With testosterone levels affected by the health of the placenta, which ferries oxygen and nutrients to the baby, the professor believes high amounts indicate poorer conditions in the womb overall.

This means that any differences in the health of a baby bottle-fed because its mother finds breastfeeding difficult are set before birth, rather than afterwards.

You can read more about this here:

1. Daily Mail

2. BBC

3. Telegraph UK

For another blogger's take on this article, read this.

ERGO Review: Performance v. Sport

I purchased my Ergo Performance in Brandsfever Singapore before the brand was brought in the Philippines by Richwell Phils, Inc.  However, when Richwell brought Ergo in, they brought in Original, Organic, Designer and Active.  Performance is not locally available.  Basically, the Original, Organic and Designer all have the same features - the difference is just the material used.  In this page, you can find a technical comparison of the Ergo Original (Standard), Performance and Active.

For this review, I will focus on the specific functions or features that we liked or didn't like about each carrier.  I took the measurements of the body of the carrier. There is a minimal difference - the body of the Performance is a little bit bigger than Active.

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Countdown to August

August is my most favorite month of the year and I am sure you can guess why.   It is breastfeeding awareness month and it is the month when I get to promote the reason for why this blog exists.   This year's theme for World Breastfeeding Week is Breastfeeding Support: Close to Mothers and you can read more about that here. 

I am pleased to share about kick-off activities that support breastfeeding month that will be starting this July!  There will actually be more activities in August and I am excited to share them with you in a future blog post.  But for this month, let us focus on a peer counsellor training and a milk sharing activity.

National Savings Consciousness Week 2013 - Teaching your Kids to Save

This week, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas not only celebrates its 20th anniversary but more importantly, BSP has partnered with the Department of Education for National Savings Consciousness Week.
Financial education is one of BSP's important advocacy and BSP believes that the value of saving is best taught during the formative years.  BSP resolves to help create a new generation of financially literate savers - starting with school children.

Summer Series 2013: Cebu Discoveries

The 2nd of our back-to-back weddings was in Cebu for my college friend, Kelie.  Kelie sang my wedding march (in Italian!) and gamely rendered more songs during our wedding reception.  So there was no way I was going to miss his wedding!

Since Stan's mom is Manila-based, we usually stay in hotels when we go to Cebu.  Staying in his house would require a thorough general cleaning - too much work for 2-3 nights stay.  Previously we stated at Waterfront Lahug.  However, during our Christmas 2012 stay, we found that the smoke from the casino permeated the entire lobby.  After breakfast at Cafe Uno, our hair and clothes smelled like cigarette smoke.