Breastfeeding Matters Giveaway!
Breastfeeding Bag
"i eat at mom's onesie"
water bottle
Breastfeeding 101 Book
Set of Children's Books
Swaddling Blanket
Shape the Future Clipboard

WINNER-CHELSEA SULESKI

Vintage Remedies for Kids!
Jessie Hawkins has donated 4 copies of this amazing pre-school curriculum!
www.vintageremedies.com

WINNERS-DANIELLE DEAN, ALEX AYERS, MEREDITH RUSH, PATTI SAWYER

Bow Holder
Donated by-Rachel Sochor-Young Living Distributor and owner of Blue Willow Creations (Facebook)

WINNER-MEGAN WILSON

Maya Wrap (XS-perfect for Kids wearing their baby dolls)
International Breastfeeding Symbol Onesie
(12 Months)
Calming Foam Bath

WINNER-MORGAN EDWARDS

Donated from Melissa Jolly
Custom Earring and Bracelet Set
Email:  jollydoula@gmail.com
www.thejollydoula.weebly.com

WINNER-ERICA MARSH

The Bottom Shelf
Matchstick Shapes Lesson
Develops fine muscles & eye-hand coordination.  Includes 50 pattern sheets, colored matchsticks & glue bottle easy for small hands to manipulate

WINNER-JENNIFER EMBERTON

Custom Slot for Soft Soled Shoes or Organic Wooden Teethers
Donated by Corrie Dunkelberger

WINNER-JESSICA SHUMAKE

 I'm an American who has lived in Korea these past 4 years.  I've had 2 children here.  My first was an unplanned c-section after every possible intervention.  My second, just this past February, was a scheduled c-section.  I knew what doulas were, and wanted one for each birth.  For my first birth there were none in Korea.  I didn't even think to look for my second birth, but later found out that there were a handful.  I decided to become a doula so that women could have better support options here.  My DONA workshop was in Bowling Green, at the ALIVE Center.
 
A couple of doulas in Korea are familiar with this kind of community.  We are working to create a larger, lasting network here.  At our doula tea, this past Saturday, I specifically was talking about BabyNet KY and what they have done.  I suggested the doulas look at the facebook page for the group to see the kinds of conversations happening.  Korea has a c-section rate of 40%.  Until just the last couple of months, I never met a foreigner who had a baby here who was not pressured to have a c-section.  Planned c-sections for first-time moms are routine in some hospitals, on the grounds of preventing shoulder dystocia.  Largely because of having a few doulas helping, changes are coming quickly.  The first natural birth clinic in Korea opened last October.  The US Army hospital here 'allows' much greater input from moms in their own care.  It is now possible to have your baby immediately after birth (absolutely not possible 4 years ago), have a water birth (ditto), and generally follow the wishes of a woman's birth plan.  Birth plans themselves have only gotten much use in the last 12 months.  A challenge of the ex-pat community is the high turnover rate.  We are struggling to get the message out, so that women are aware that there are options.  Generally, a woman just asks a friend or two where to go to have a baby.  There is not a good information system here, yet.
 
Melissa Jolly and a couple of other SKY Doulas came out and met with us. I was inspired by how cohesive they seemed. I also picked up an issue of Bowling Green Parent, that had information on parenting issues that are important to me, like nursing. I saw how the Health Dept was involved with doulas, how doulas connected with moms, how there was a whole community making more choices available by suppporting each other.  I think it is so fantastic.  I get excited talking about it.  :)  I think events like the 4th trimester meet-up are great opportunities!
 
Thanks for your hard work.  It is inspiring.
 
Jessica Medford

Several nursing mothers gathered Saturday in Fountain Square Park downtown to breast-feed their babies at exactly 10:30 a.m. as part of The Big Latch On, a worldwide celebration for World Breastfeeding Week, which runs from Aug. 1-7 annually.

“This is just a great event,” nurse and midwife Lisa Dalporto said.

Saturday’s rain held out just long enough for the mothers to sit in the grass at the park and nurse their children to be part of the celebration, which took place at 10:30 a.m. local time in every city that participated.

“Breast-feeding doesn’t require any special knowledge, but it does require support,” said Dalporto, of Bowling Green.

Women from prior generations could rely on their mothers for support. But now that family members have moved away from each other, women sometimes have to rely on other mothers to support their desire to breast-feed, Dalporto said.

Dalporto is a co-chairwoman of BabyNetKy, a network of professionals and community members who actively support families during the childbearing years through education about pregnancy, childbirth, breast-feeding and parenting. BabyNetKy.com organized the local Latch On event.

The purpose of The Big Latch On is to raise awareness about breast-feeding and its benefits to babies.

“I’m a huge supporter of breast-feeding,” said Julia Belden of Bowling Green, who attended the event and fed her 7-month-old daughter, Savannah Lee. “I feel that it’s the healthiest thing for my daughter. It’s extremely easy.”

Belden attributes her daughter’s good health to breast-feeding, which has been proven to help a baby’s immune system.

“She hasn’t been sick yet,” Belden said.

Seven-week-old Daniel Rush slept soundly throughout the event while his mother, Meredith Rush of Bowling Green, nursed him. His sister, Anna Jo Rush, 7, sat beside the two with her doll in her lap.

Rush wanted to send the message to others that nursing a baby is a natural, healthy thing to do.

“It’s good for your children,” she said.

“Our bodies were created to grow our babies and feed our babies,” said Melissa Jolly of Bowling Green, who participated with her 7-month-old daughter, Dehlia. She also breast-fed her oldest daughter, Maggie, who is 6 years old and never gets sick, she said.

Lactation education
New mothers interested in breast-feeding offered supply bags filled with information, goodies

By ALYSSA HARVEY, The Daily News, aharvey@bgdailynews.com
Friday, July 29, 2011 9:41 PM CDT

Print this story | Email this story | | Text Size   Miranda Pederson/Daily News
Ellyson Sloan McIntosh models her new T-shirt, which came in a breast-feeding supply bag provided to her mother, Nichole McIntosh.  
advertisement When Nichole McIntosh gave birth to her daughter, Ellyson, on Wednesday, she knew she wanted to breast-feed.

The Bowling Green woman had successfully breast-fed her son, Eli, who is now 5, for about six months.

“He was born four weeks early. He was not as good an eater,” she said as she nursed Ellyson in her room at The Medical Center on Thursday. “I know a lot more this time. I have more information. Breast-feeding is more common now.”

BabyNet - a local group that provides education about preconception, pregnancy, childbirth, postpartum, breast-feeding and parenting - and Women, Infants and Children, a national supplemental food program administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, want to make sure moms such as McIntosh get all the information they need by providing bags with breast-feeding supplies and information.

“Formula companies have historically given out discharge bags with a can of formula,” said Dana Bennett, a registered dietitian and certified lactation consultant at the Allen County Health Department and regional breast-feeding promotion coordinator for the state. “The problem is that even the presence of any kind of artificial nipples undermines breast-feeding success.”

The bags have been helpful to the moms, said Marilyn Thomas, a lactation consultant at The Medical Center, which had a 64 percent breast-feeding initiation rate for June.

“We’ve had some moms who are offered a bag from a formula company and they state that they’re not going to use that,” she said. “This helps them.”

McIntosh said the bag is really nice.

“I like that it has the video,” she said. “There’s a book where you can keep track of feeding times. When you’re up all night long, you forget the last time you fed the baby.”

Bennett said 125 bags have been done in the Barren River Area Development District, mostly at The Medical Center.

“They have been well-received,” she said. “The lactation consultants have been great about encouraging (the nurses) to give the bags.”

The bags - which come in pink, blue and yellow - are given to mothers who are exclusively breast-feeding before they are discharged from the hospital. They contain a coordinating changing pad, swaddle blanket, breast-feeding book, washable breast pads, a breast-feeding log and the video “Breastfeeding: You Can Do It!”

“It’s filled with things we thought would be of value to breast-feeding moms,” Bennett said. “With the DVD, they can see pictures of how the babies latch on.”

The bags also have a card on which mothers can write an evaluation of the bag. Those who fill them out receive a T-shirt for the baby that reads, “I eat at mom’s.” They can also submit evaluations at the BabyNet website, babynetky.net.

“We’re hoping to get some feedback from around the state,” Bennett said.

Bennett has also been supplying reusable, washable canvas bags with the international breast-feeding logo at southcentral Kentucky farmers markets to raise more awareness for World Breastfeeding Week, which starts Monday and continues through Aug. 7. The bags will be handed out to the public at Bowling Green-Warren County Farmers Market, Southern Kentucky Farmers Market and Community Farmers Market Bowling Green on Aug. 6.

“Vendors put the produce in them,” she said.

Various health organizations - including the American Academy of Pediatrics - support breast-feeding. At its website at www.aap.org, the organization recommends exclusively breast-feeding for about the first six months and supports breast-feeding for the first year and beyond as long as mutually desired by mother and child.

Studies have shown that benefits of breast-feeding include reducing the risk of various illnesses, enhancing brain development and developing stronger facial muscles for the baby and, in mothers, reducing the risk for breast and ovarian cancer and helping them get back to their pre-pregnancy weight quicker.

“Formula is much harder for the baby to digest,” Bennett said. “Breast milk is perfectly designed for baby. They only eat until they are full and then they stop.”

On Saturday August 6th, 2011 at 10:30am local time in locations across the USA, nursing mothers will gather to celebrate World Breastfeeding Week and try to break the record for the most women breastfeeding simultaneously!

At each registered location, witnesses will count all the mothers that have latched their babies on for one minute at 10:30am.

Join us at Fountain Square Park to meet other breastfeeding moms and supporters!

Registration begins at 10 am

WIC Breastfeeding Peer Counselor Training with Potential for Part-time Contract

The Barren River District Health Department is accepting applications for WIC Breastfeeding Peer Counselor Trainees.  Four to six women will be selected to attend a five-day training to learn how to give basic breastfeeding information and support for WIC mothers who are pregnant or breastfeeding.  The training will be held September 26-30, 2011 for four hours per day.  Trainees will be paid $160 for attending all five days of training, and lunch will be provided.  The minimum requirements are:  must have successfully breastfed (6 months exclusively) at least one baby and have been a WIC participant. Preference will be given to bilingual candidates who are fluent in both English and Spanish.  The successful applicant will be required to pass a pre-employment drug test and background check.  Applications may be picked up at any Barren River District Health Department or by clicking here.  Return completed application to: Human Resources Director, P.O. Box 1157, Bowling Green, KY 42102 by COB on August 15, 2011. EOE.

Individuals who successfully complete Breastfeeding Peer Counselor Training will be considered for a Contract Part-time Breastfeeding Peer Counselor position as openings and funding become available.  Breastfeeding Peer Counselors work an average of 10 hours per week and must be willing to make and receive phone calls from home using a phone provided by the health department in order to provide breastfeeding information and support for WIC mothers who are pregnant or breastfeeding.  In addition to providing counseling, duties include use of a web-based computer program to document services, as well as attendance at mandatory state and district meetings and trainings.  Other duties as assigned.  Travel will be required to other counties as needed after training is complete.  Applicants must have reliable transportation and a valid driver's license.  Hourly wage is $8.00 per hour.