The ultimate flashmob: Hundreds of mothers breastfeed in front of shoppers

By Daily Mail Reporter

From : http://www.dailymail.co.uk/

A bold group of mothers gave a new meaning to the term 'flashmob' when they bared their breasts at a major shopping centre today to raise awareness of breastfeeding.

More than a hundred mothers of all ages - some accompanied by their partners - descended on the Trafford Centre in Manchester to feed their babies in front of stunned shoppers to promote the start of NHS-backed National Breastfeeding Awareness Week.

The proud women bore all in full view of customers sitting in the shopping centre cafes to highlight the health benefits of breastfeeding.

Flashmob! Hundreds of mothers and their infants descend on The Grand Staircase at The Trafford Centre in Manchester today

A stunned onlooker said: 'It's not every day you see that many breasts while out doing your shopping. I suppose it's a good way of getting people to listen to the message. I fully support them.'

The Trafford Centre is backing National Breastfeeding Awareness Week 2011 - which runs from Sunday 19th to Saturday 25th June, backed by the NHS Infant Breastfeeding Services - and has recently refurbished its breastfeeding facilities for shoppers.

One mother, Jade Fitzmartin, 18, from Atherton, Greater Manchester, said: 'It's great to get together for such a good cause as we all know how important breastfeeding is. The flashmob was a really exciting thing to be part of, although in normal circumstances I would probably prefer to use the breastfeeding facilities here.

'All new mums should take it seriously as an option when midwives and health visitors discuss it with them.'

Nature's best: The event is to help publicise National Breastfeeding Awareness Week, which runs until June 25

Organiser of the flash mob event, Alison Healey, Breastfeeding Coordinator at NHS Ashton, Leigh and Wigan, said there were a number of advantages linked to choosing to breastfeed.

These included a lowered likelihood of common health complaints in babies such as diarrhoea, ear and chest infections and eczema and an improved immune system.

'The likelihood of a healthy life for babies is greatly enhanced by parents choosing to breastfeed instead of feeding their baby with formula milk.

'When a new mum chooses to breastfeed she is also greatly benefitting her own health as it can also help her to lose the weight she might have gained in pregnancy and lower the risk of some cancers.

'New mums should feel proud of their decision to breastfeed and know that they can get support from their local Midwives and Health Visitors.'

Gordon McKinnon, Director of Operations at The Trafford Centre, said: 'We're a family friendly centre, which means we're fully supportive of mums who make the decision to breastfeed. If they require a comfortable, private space in which to feed their child we have four sets of dedicated facilities including our new Laura Ashley-designed breastfeeding suite, but we consider most public spaces appropriate and our retailers are equally understanding.'

Baby Gaga breast milk ice cream: "Miracle of motherhood" or totally gross?

Posted by Neil Katz

From http://www.cbsnews.com/

(Credit: istockphoto)

(CBS) Baby Gaga or baby gross?

A London ice cream parlor says it plans to serve up sugary confections made from human breast milk so everyone can experience the "miracle of motherhood," according to Reuters.

"What could be more natural than fresh, free-range mother's milk in an ice cream?" said Victoria Hiley, one of the 15 women who donated their mammary milk.

Hiley has a point, at least when it comes to little ones. Breast-fed babies gain natural protection against stomach problems, asthma, diabetes, respiratory infections and childhood leukemia, according to the government's Office on Human Health. And a recent study found that 900 babies and billions of dollars would be saved each year if 90 percent of American women breast-fed their babies for the first six months of life.
But what happens when adults drink from mom's soft serve? Is the stuff safe?

There's no evidence that "occupational exposure" to breast milk can spread HIV or hepatitis B, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But since mothers can spread HIV to their babies through breast milk, the CDC says people working in milk banks can wear gloves as a precaution.

No word on what steps the parlor has taken to lick any potential risks.

Breast-Feeding Canadian Moms Create Flash Mob at Mall

Selena Ross

From: http://www.aolnews.com/

 

Canada is up in arms about breast-feeding and whether it's really OK to do it in public. And with the help of blogs and Facebook, angry moms are taking it to the streets -- or to the mall, in this case.

About a hundred mothers in Montreal staged a "nurse-in" protest at a downtown shopping complex last week, breast-feeding simultaneously before a curious crowd of reporters, mall security guards and passers-by. The event was retribution, they said, for a store that had thrown out a mother for breast-feeding earlier this month. This week, they began a petition drive to protect the rights of women to breast-feed in public in the Quebec province.

Selena Ross for AOL News

These four breast-feeding women were among about 100 who took part in a "nurse-in" at a Montreal mall on Jan. 19.

It all started when Shannon Smith, a 36-year-old mother of three, stopped by a children's clothing store in the mall on Jan. 5. When her youngest started crying halfway through the trip, Smith retreated to a semi-secluded kids' corner and nursed the baby under a blanket.

She said she was surprised and upset when a female employee of the store, Orchestra, came over and told her to stop.

Smith left humiliated. But her embarrassment quickly turned to anger, so the next day she created a blog, breastfortheweary.com.

"I'm pissed," she wrote. "My older kids were sitting in their stroller watching the movie when my youngest got hungry. So I fed her. She's 5 months old, and she eats breast milk. From my actual breast. Shocking, I know!"

With just the one post, the blog quickly started gathering hits -- almost 7,000 so far. A day later, a Facebook group had been created to organize the nurse-in for Jan. 19. Newspapers and blogs across Canada and the United States soon picked up the story, creating a national debate over whether Smith or the employee had been right.

Many commentators compared breast-feeding to eating lunch and even urinating, even saying it should happen in bathrooms. Parents fought back, arguing that babies deserve to eat whenever and wherever they are hungry, and that breast-feeding is convenient and healthy.

At 1 p.m., the appointed time for the nurse-in, managers at Montreal's Complexe Les Ailes shopping mall waited anxiously for the promised pack of mothers and babies to appear. They arrived en masse, like a nursery school flash mob, and the babies quickly got down to business as cameras clicked and mall employees handed out juice boxes and goody bags. Most mothers said they had heard about the event through Facebook or friends.

"I think that, basically, you should be able to do it anytime and anywhere," said Frances Moxant, 40, as she fed the youngest of her four children. "Even my parish priest tells us to go ahead and do it in church. Jesus was breast-fed -- he wasn't bottle-fed. So it's definitely all right."

Smith said she was happy with the turnout, especially with the many dads and grandparents who stood nearby. She said she had been shocked by the frenzied response to her blog, but tried not to read too much into the negative comments.

"I figure a lot of people just don't care," she said, shrugging. "A lot of people are pro-breast-feeding, and they don't talk about it because they just think it's normal."

The clothing store has apologized to Smith, blaming the mistake on a poorly trained new employee. So has the general manager of Complexe Les Ailes, Johanne Marcotte, who breast-fed her own two children in malls and has long instituted a pro-breast-feeding policy. In fact, Complexe Les Ailes has two dedicated rooms for nursing moms, which Marcotte said have been used by 20,000 moms in the past eight months -- something she knows because the rooms have traffic counters.

Rebecca Coughlin, 30, who came to the nurse-in with her 6-month-old twin daughters, said she likes the breast-feeding rooms but thinks it's unreasonable to expect women to pack up their children and walk across the mall with a screaming baby.

"I don't think there's any reason women should be relegated to a room," Coughlin said. "It's something that we should be encouraging women to do. The last thing we should do is create a stigma around it."

Most Canadian provinces, including Quebec, do not have laws explicitly allowing mothers to breast-feed in public, although courts looking at specific cases like Smith's have generally ruled in favor of nursing moms.

All American states except for Idaho, Michigan, Nebraska, South Dakota, Virginia and West Virginia have passed laws allowing women to breast-feed in any public or private space, as well as several that exempt breast-feeding from public indecency laws or excuse nursing mothers from jury duty.

Shoppers at the mall last week looked amazed at the sea of nursing babies. But when asked if they felt uncomfortable having to walk by so many breasts on their lunch break, they said no.

"I don't have a problem with that," said Ulysses Montero, 34.

Moms who read Smith's blog vented about being called exhibitionists.

"Maybe we need to find something else for society to obsess about/sensationalize/demonize, instead of breasts," wrote a commenter named Sheila. "Preferably something that isn't part of my body. Oranges, maybe? 'Hey, lady, you can't eat that orange in here -- this is a respectable business ...'"

Gisele: Breastfeeding Should Be Mandatory

From: http://www.thebostonchannel.com

Super Model Says There Should Be Worldwide Law

• Images: Photos: Gisele Turns 30!

First-time mom and world's richest super model Gisele Bundchen has some pretty strong words about parenting. Bundchen, the wife of Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, said in a recent interview that she thinks there should be a "worldwide law" requiring every mother to breastfeed their children."Some people here (in the US) think they don't have to breastfeed," she told Harper's Bazaar UK. "And I think 'Are you going to give chemical food to your child when they are so little?' I think there should be a worldwide law, in my opinion, that mothers should breastfeed their babies for six months." Bundchen went on to recall how easy it was to give birth to her son Benjamin with Brady, thanks to a little meditation.

SURVEY Gisele Bundchen thinks there should be a "worldwide law" requiring mothers to breastfeed for six months. I agree I disagree Not Sure Results | Disclaimer | E-Mail

"It prepared me mentally and physically. It's called 'labor' not 'holiday' for a reason, and I knew that," she said."You want to go into the most intense physical experience of your life unprepared? That doesn't make any sense to me," she said. "Then I was ready and I thought 'OK, let's get to work'. I wasn't expecting someone else to get the baby out of me." She said it, "didn't hurt in the slightest." By the way, her Patriots husband turns 33 Tuesday.

Why Didn't I Think of That? The Wine Rack, Already a Breast-Seller

This summer's must-have accessory? The Wine Rack, a bra that holds an entire bottle of wine. Guys, don't worry -- there's a version for you too.

By Geoff Williams
From http://smallbusiness.aol.com/

The latest heatwave has helped sales of all things summer -- electric fans, air conditioners, flip flops and more. Add to that list the Wine Rack, which has been selling briskly among college students as the temperatures climb.

The Wine Rack isn't quite what it sounds like. It's a bra -- a bra that can hold an entire bottle of wine or 25 ounces of your beverage of choice.

The booze bra comes with a straw for sipping, and thanks to the watertight tubing, it can inflate a woman's chest by two sizes. Take that, Wonderbra.

"It's an idea whose time had come," says Paul Krasulja, general manager of Paterson, N.J.-based online site BaronBob.com, which specializes in selling off-beat gifts. "It had been coming for a long time."

No kidding. The Wine Rack has been on the market for at least three years, but thanks to us poor saps in the media who just love writing about it, business remains brisk. It's a great strategy for small companies with catchy products and slim advertising budgets.

"That's pretty much exactly how it happens," Krasulja says. "Everybody picks it up, writes about it, it boosts the sales of the item, and then after a month or two, it all dies down."

But it's easy to see why the public is fascinated with it. The Wine Rack dovetails with the American male's interest in alcohol and women. As it turns out, the idea for the Wine Rack was actually inspired by a guy's version -- the Beerbelly, which holds 80 ounces of beer.

The Beerbelly and Wine Rack were both created by serial entrepreneur Brooks Lambert, a 50-year-old Californian who came up with the idea when he and a pal were hanging out in his backyard, remembering how they used to sneak beer into ball games and movies. Suddenly, he had an idea.

Brooks ultimately sold the manufacturing rights to Aaron Knirr, 31, and his business partner, Chris Pounds, 34, who co-own Cooler Fun, based in Ellisville, Mo.

"This is awesome, let's jump on it," recalls Knirr, who ordered a few prototypes. In 2008, they made an offer to purchase Lambert's equipment and assets, so they could become the main distributor and manufacturer of both the Beerbelly and Wine Rack.

Knirr won't say how many Beerbelly and Wine Racks have been sold, but he says "sales are decent." After several years of being mostly an Internet sales phenomenon, the products are now appearing in a few scattered liquor stores and other small retailers across the country, with the possibility of rolling out to larger chains in the future. The publicity -- the Wine Rack has been featured on the Today show, and by countless other media outlets -- has definitely helped sales, along with word of mouth, Knirr says.

Knirr cites one of his favorite testimonials, where one guy wrote in to rave, "The Beerbelly is quite possibly the best product ever invented in the world ever -- as good as, if not better than the wheel, the light bulb, sliced bread and the Internet."

Some people clearly love their beer.

Meanwhile, Krasulja says the customers he has talked to over the phone mostly seem to be getting the Wine Rack and Beerbelly for sporting events, although he recently had a female customer who said she was using the Wine Rack when attending PTA meetings.

As for sipping beer out of a bra or a belly harness during those sporting events, "When you're spending $11 on a beer at Yankee Stadium, it's easy to see why they want it," Krasulja says. "I went to the stadium last year and spent $290 on beer. It's an amazing, beautiful stadium, but [the beer is] overpriced."

Geoff Williams is a regular contributor to AOL Small Business. He is also the co-author of the book Living Well with Bad Credit.

Mommy’s Milk Cheese: Breast Milk Cheese by Chef Daniel Angerer

by Desmond Williams
from http://www.inhabitots.com/



New York City chef and new dad, Daniel Angerer has added cheese made from his wife’s breast milk to the menu at his Klee Brasserie restaurant. While eccentric foodies and their culinary masters sometimes travel great lengths to procure hard-to-find ingredients that satiate exotic palates and put them on the cutting edge of innovation, Angerer found his “gold” ingredient right at home… sleeping next to him. But his idea to make cheese from breast milk could possibly be one of the year’s biggest D.I. Why? moments.



This is possibly where locavore enthusiasm, a preference for humane dairy products, and the blurry mind state that too many sleepless nights as a new parent intersect — but who am I to judge? The chef calls his creation Mommy’s Milk Cheese and has been offering patrons of Klee Brasserie sparing samples (only two quarts of milk were used to produce a small amount of cheese).

“Being a chef,” Angerer explained to Grub Street, “you’re curious about anything in terms of flavor — you look out for something new and what you can do with it.” “We’re just grateful that he didn’t get any ideas about his wife’s placenta,” says the Village Voice. And I’m sure we can all agree on that note.

Did I mention that this is a D.I.Y. post? Yes, you too can create your own Mommy’s Milk Cheese by following Angerer’s recipe posted on his blog… a state of lactation and breast milk expressor are, of course, required.

My Spouse’s Mommy Milk Cheese Making Experiment
(basic recipe using 8 cups of any milk – yields about ½ pound cheese)
4 cups mother’s milk
1½-teaspoon yogurt (must be active cultured yogurt)
1/8-tablet rennet (buy from supermarket, usually located in pudding section)
1 teaspoon sea salt such as Baline
*More details at Angerer’s blog

Breastfeeding may boost grades

Breastfeeding was associated with an increase in high school grade point average and an increase in the odds of attending college, U.S. researchers said.

The study, published in the Journal of Human Capital, looked at the academic achievement of siblings -- one of whom was breast fed as an infant and one of whom was not -- found that an additional month of breastfeeding was associated with an increase in high school GPA of 0.019 points and an increase in the probability of college attendance of 0.014.

American University professor Joseph Sabia and University of Colorado Denver professor Daniel Rees used data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. They said more than one-half of the estimated effect on high school grades of being breast fed, and approximately one-fifth of the estimated effect on college attendance, can be linked to improvements in cognitive ability and health.

The researchers examined the breast feeding histories and high school grades of 126 siblings from 59 families.

"The results of our study suggest that the cognitive and health benefits of breast feeding may lead to important long-run educational benefits for children," Sabia said in a statement.

© 2009 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

I breastfeed my dad

As Georgia Browne breastfeeds her baby son Monty, nothing could seem more normal or natural. At eight months old, Monty thrives on his mother’s milk, but someone else is also thriving on Georgia’s milk – her father Tim!

That’s because Tim’s battling cancer. He drinks his daughter’s breastmilk every day to boost his immune system and give him the strength to fight the disease.

After researching the idea on the internet, Georgia, 27, expresses her breastmilk as often as she can for her father to drink. He has the milk on his bowl of cornflakes every morning. It’s been his daily routine for the past six months and Tim believes the milk has given him a boost.


A shock diagnosis
Georgia’s world was turned upside-down when her beloved dad was diagnosed with cancer in July 2007, just a week before she was due to get married.

Tim, 67, was admitted to hospital with stomach pains and within hours doctors discovered he had colon cancer. He was rushed into surgery where they operated to remove a tumour. But despite the major surgery, a tearful Tim was released in time to walk Georgia down the aisle.

‘It felt amazing having him at the wedding – it made it more emotional for everyone,’ she says. After the wedding, Georgia’s family rallied to support Tim as he went for further tests and treatment. But within weeks, he was told the cancer had spread. And soon after the family received even more devastating news – the cancer was terminal.

‘It was a terrible shock. He’d never been ill before,’ Georgia says. ‘He still is really fit. He goes to the gym three times a week.’ Tim endured gruelling chemotherapy and after a year went into remission. But the cancer returned when Georgia was pregnant with her first child.


Life-saving milk
Georgia gave birth to Monty last July and began breastfeeding. A month later, she watched a TV documentary in which an American man believed his prostate cancer had been helped because he drank breastmilk.

‘The man went to a milk bank for his supply of breastmilk and drank it in a milkshake,’ Georgia recalls. ‘I started researching on the internet immediately and found separate studies in America and Scandinavia both supporting the health benefits of breastmilk to cancer sufferers.

‘I watched the documentary and thought it was a really mad idea, if it was true,’ she says. 'I started looking on the net and found research suggesting breastmilk helps kill cancer cells.

‘Finding out I could help was amazing. I could play my small part in helping my dad do something positive for his illness. 'When I talked to him about it, he thought it was a great idea. He thought: “Why not?”’


Seeking support
Georgia broached the subject with her family before going ahead. They all thought it was fantastic and supported her 100 per cent. ‘My mum thought it was great and my sisters and brother were supportive,’ she says.

With the family’s blessing, Georgia started expressing her milk for Tim straight away. She dropped the first batch round to her parents’ home in a freezer bag, which her mum popped in the freezer.

‘I thought he’d mix it into a milkshake like the man in the documentary, but when Mum defrosted it the next day, he simply poured it on his cornflakes with a splash of normal cow’s milk. He said it didn’t taste that different to cow’s milk, maybe just a bit sweeter if he didn’t get the mix right,’ Georgia says.

‘I know some people think it’s shocking but we didn’t think it was shocking at all. He thought it was funny. He was telling all his friends about it.’

Tim spoke to his doctors and nurses about drinking breastmilk and they were more than happy for him to try the unconventional treatment. 'They told him that anything that could help was positive,’ Georgia explains. ‘They were very supportive and backed the idea.’


Hope at last
A month after starting the regimen, a scan of Tim’s cancer showed a slight, but distinct, improvement. Although doctors can’t say whether the breastmilk’s helped, Georgia says he’s brighter and has more energy.

She has promised to continue feeding Tim for as long as she can. 'He has been having chemo as well as drinking the milk so there’s no way of really finding out if it is helping,’ Georgia explains. ‘I’m still feeding Monty so I feed him first, then I fill a bag for my dad. We’ll continue as long as I am breastfeeding.

‘It feels like I’m doing the most natural thing for the people I love. 'I’ve been there when he has drunk it and it’s just not an issue. 'Not many women can say their dad drinks their breastmilk. But I would do anything to give my dad more time with me, our family and Monty.’