WBWC Officially Part of First Breastfeeding Family Friendly Community

by Rebecca Costello, IBCLC

One year ago, the mayors of Chapel Hill and Carrboro partnered with members of Rotary, Chamber of Commerce, health departments, faith communities, and UNC-Chapel Hill on an initiative to become the first Breastfeeding Family Friendly Cities in the country. One important step is for businesses throughout the community to welcome and support breastfeeding families. They just have to follow 4 simple practices:

1.      Breastfeeding mothers are always welcome and respected. They will never be treated poorly, asked to stop breastfeeding, or asked to cover up or move.
2.      All lactating employees are allowed breaks to express milk or nurse their children, and access to a private space for expressing milk or nursing that is not a bathroom. The space is lockable and shielded from view, includes an electrical outlet, and has hand hygiene available
3.      Business does not advertise infant formula or related products.
4.      Business will post the "Breastfeeding Welcome Here" window cling.
WBWC definitely qualified on all counts, and we were excited to join the other local businesses that have signed up - everything from physical therapy to boutiques to optical shops to restaurants! Above is a photo of Kathleen Anderson, from the Carolina Global Breastfeeding Institute at UNC, with our executive director Maureen Darcey and with our new window cling. Do you know other businesses in Carrboro/Chapel Hill that might be interested in signing up? Or do you own a business and want to complete a quick and easy application? You can e-mail klanderson@unc.edu for an application.
Get more information at:
 https://www.facebook.com/BreastfeedingFriendlyCommunities/ - like the page to get updates on businesses that have joined

MILC Moment: Breast Massage for Plugged Ducts and Mastitis

 When you get a plugged duct, it may start as a little lump in the breast. It may feel a little tender, and the skin over it might look more pink or red. If it doesn’t get better, it may get bigger and the congestion may start to spread to other areas of your breast. More of the skin might look red. You might feel body aches or chills, or get a low grade fever. If the congestion still doesn’t go away, you might start feeling worse – like you have the flu, with a high fever. At that point, you should definitely be calling WBWC (or your OB care provider) – “Help! I think I have mastitis!”

A round of antibiotics will usually clear up mastitis pretty quickly. But we like to avoid antibiotics if we can, and of course we like to avoid you getting sick! Could we prevent a bad case of mastitis? Plugged ducts, engorgement, and mastitis can sometimes be treated with just our hands - just by clearing out those congested areas before your breasts get really inflamed. A lot of the suggestions you read online suggest getting behind the plug and forcing it forward. We used to do this too, until we learned new techniques from an IBCLC named Maya Bolman, who teaches LCs about traditional Russian breast massage and hand expression, which can work much better than pumping for a plugged duct.

If you’re getting a plugged duct, or if you feel like your plugged duct is getting worse, check out this video for techniques from Maya on how to massage and hand express to help clear your breasts: https://vimeo.com/65196007

All the WBWC LCs, and many of the midwives and nurses, have been trained on how to do breast massage to help clear plugged ducts and breast congestion. If you feel like a plugged duct is getting worse, and you’re not able to clear it yourself, you can call for an appointment to get some hands-on help. If you believe you are getting mastitis, or have mastitis, you should always call WBWC (or your OB care provider) for care. Do not delay in getting care for mastitis, as it can become more serious if it is not treated. Some cases of mastitis require the use of antibiotics for treatment.

We hope that you never have to deal with plugged ducts, engorgement, or mastitis, but if you do it’s good to know that you have some very good tools to deal with them – your own two hands!

Best,

Your MILC LCs: Rebecca, Ellen, Elley, Nancy, and Deborah

Attention New Moms!

Is Your Infant Under 3 Months of Age?

UNC lactation students in the Mary Rose Tully Training Initiative are looking for volunteers! In an effort to try to help more moms understand and be able to recognize infant feeding and satiety cues we would like to collect photos and video footage of your little one.

With your permission, we will take pictures of your infant while he or she is displaying common physical behaviors that let adults know they are ready to eat or finished eating. The photos and video footage will be shared with other new moms so they can become familiar with these feeding-related signals that infants send as early forms of communication.

If you are interested in volunteering please contact Rachel Davis at:

Rachelmdavis715@gmail.com or 803-673-4946

We appreciate your help! Thank you!