Research and resources for perinatal professionals.
August 27, 2020 | by: Sharon Muza
To close out National Breastfeeding Month in the United States, it is only appropriate to have August's Brilliant Activities for Birth Educators be focused on an activity focused on breast/chestfeeding. Additionally, since many people are still needing to conduct virtual classes due to COVID-19 risks in their communities, I decided to offer up something that can be done either virtually or in person, depending on your own circumstances. Please enjoy this simple and quick breast/chestfeeding quiz that you can share with your classes. To find all our monthly Brilliant Activities for Birth Educators, follow this link.
Read More
August 25, 2020 | by: Sharon Muza, BS, CD/BDT(DONA), LCCE, FACCE, CLE
In the United States, August is National Breastfeeding Month. The last week of the month is observed as Black Breastfeeding Week (BBW) to raise awareness of the importance and celebration of breast/chestfeeding for Black parents and babies. If you are not sure why such a week is needed, you can read this beautifully written and informative post by Kimberly Seals Allers that effectively answers that question.
August 04, 2020 | by: Sharon Muza, BS, CD/BDT(DONA), LCCE, FACCE, CLE
A childbirth educator is responsible for providing families with evidence based information on lactation and infant feeding. Many people assume that this information is collated in the “last class” of a series, or the last topic of an abbreviated learning session. The reality is that teaching expectant families about the importance of human milk for their newborns and how to meet any challenges that may arise is not a topic for the end of the learning experience. It is something that should be woven through the entire learning experience from the first moments that a family begins to participate in a perinatal learning opportunity.
June 17, 2020 | by: Sharon Muza, BS, LCCE, FACCE, CD/BDT(DONA), CLE
The United States Breastfeeding Committee (USBC) has created an online resource page for LGBTQIA+ families and the perinatal professionals that support them. The USBC page includes valuable information and links to resources available through other organizations such as Le Leche League International, Kellymom.com and more. Feeding babies human milk is just as important to LGBTQIA+ families as it is for heterosexual, cisnormative families and perinatal professionals should be sure to have resources at hand to assist families in their breast/chestfeeding journeys.
June 09, 2020 | by: Sharon Muza, BS, LCCE, FACCE, CD/BDT(DONA), CLE
Global Health Media just announced a new smartphone app, Birth & Beyond. This app is currently available for download in the Apple App Store. An Android version is coming soon. In the app are 28 videos on topics such as birth, breast/chestfeeding and newborn caring, along with more specific videos on small baby care and complementary feeding.
May 26, 2020 | by: Mindy Cockeram, LCCE
It’s not easy to deal with the stress of pregnancy, labor and the postnatal period during the best of times but for most, Covid-19 has severely compounded the struggle. The cancellation of many in-person prenatal visits and childbirth and breast/chestfeeding classes and the lack of firm knowledge of how COVID-19 could affect parents and babies have stressed many people to the breaking point.
April 14, 2020 | by: Cara Terreri, LCCE, CD(DONA)
During this time when finances, resources, and sanity are stretched thin, organizations all over the world are trying to do their part to help childbirth educators, perinatal professionals and families by offering free or reduced price resources, products, entertainment, teaching tools, and so on. BabyBabyOhBaby, the "incomparable" parenting videos company, has partnered with Lamaze to offer blog readers free videos, "Breastfeeding" and "Infant Massage."
March 26, 2020 | by: Sharon Muza, BS, LCCE, FACCE, CD/BDT(DONA), CLE
Every country in the world, on all the continents, with the exception of Antartica, is facing the COVID-19 pandemic and all that entails. Each government is acting independently to take action to protect their citizens. And in the meantime, the babies will keep coming. The World Health Organization has published some clear and concise infographics that effectively illustrates best practice that all perinatal facilities and providers should be following.
January 10, 2020 | by: Sharon Muza, BS, LCCE, FACCE, CD/BDT(DONA), CLE
Research indicates that nighttime proximity increases breast/chestfeeding duration and inclusivity. Exclusively breast/chestfed children are less likely to die from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) or Sudden Unexpected Infant Death (SUID). Health care providers have a responsibility to discuss how to bedshare safely in order to protect infants and help families recognize unsafe bedsharing conditions.
October 29, 2019 | by: Sharon Muza, BS, LCCE, FACCE, CD/BDT(DONA), CLE
This month’s Brilliant Activities for Birth Educators is all about using “weighted” babies in childbirth classes. In this post, we look at three easy ways to incorporate a life-size baby whose weight of 7 ½ or 8 pounds approximates the average weight of a newborn in the USA. Using a doll with a the same weight as a newborn really helps new families to have some practice with something that will be similar to their own newborn in just a few weeks.
Subscribe by Email
RSS Feed