ABM’s First Australia/ New Zealand Regional Conference

The inaugural ABM Australia/New Zealand Regional Conference was held  at the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia on July 20-21 2018 with over 85 registrants from Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Indonesia and Taiwan.

 

The conference was preceded by a one day workshop “Breastfeeding Essentials for Medical Practitioners” which is a Australian/NZ version of the ABM ‘What every physician need to know about breastfeeding’ course, modified to meet the needs of Australian and New Zealand doctors.  In Australia and New Zealand, most breastfeeding medicine is provided by general practitioners (family physicians) who care for the mother-baby dyad routinely in the postpartum period.  Australian research in 2009, indicated only 23% of general practice registrars felt confident that their breastfeeding knowledge was adequate, with common sources of information being undergraduate teaching, post graduate teaching, general practice and personal experience. (1)  Our aim was to present a breastfeeding conference organised by doctors, for doctors, with clinically relevant and evidence based presentations.

There is a disappointing lack of routine data collection around breastfeeding in Australia; however in 2010 (2) around 96% of women initiated breastfeeding, with a rapid drop in the early months with 39% of women exclusively breastfeeding at 4 months (2). Data from 2007 (3) indicated only 28% of babies continued to be breastfed at 12 months of age. The Australian government has a paid parental scheme where mothers who earn less than AU$150,000 per annum are entitled to 18 weeks paid leave at the national minimum wage. Some employers also provide additional paid parental leave. All mothers are entitled to take up to 12 months maternity leave in total (paid and unpaid) and have their jobs protected under legislation. A similar scheme operates in New Zealand, with 18 weeks government paid parental leave,  increasing to 26 weeks in 2020.

The well-being of mothers and children is not a tradeable commodity

Breastfeeding is the foundation of public health and economic development. All major medical organizations recommend 6 months of exclusive breastfeeding, followed by continued breastfeeding through the first one to two years of life and beyond.

Evidence continues to mount that disrupting optimal breastfeeding contributes to disease burden and premature death for women and children. Globally, optimal breastfeeding would prevent 823,000 child deaths each year. In the US, enabling optimal breastfeeding would prevent 721 child deaths and 2619 maternal deaths each year, as well as 600,000 ear infections, 2.6 million gastrointestinal illnesses, 5,000 cases of maternal breast cancer and more than 8,000 heart attacks.

Optimal infant feeding is also essential for economic development. Being breastfed is associated with a 3 to 4 point increase in IQ, leading to better school performance and workplace productivity. As stated by the World Bank’s Keith Hansen, “If breastfeeding did not already exist, someone who invented it today would deserve a dual Nobel Prize in medicine and economics.”

Breastfeeding is vital and essential to protect the world’s children, the most vulnerable who cannot speak for themselves.  Given the essential role of breastfeeding in global health and wellbeing, it is imperative that every nation supports policies and programs that enable women and children to breastfeed. It is therefore deeply troubling that the United States delegation to the World Health Assembly actively undermined efforts to enable optimal breastfeeding, as reported by the New York Times.

Every time a baby goes to breast, the $70 billion baby food industry loses a sale

On Sunday, the most shared story in the New York Times was about breastfeeding – specifically, about how the US government threatened multiple countries with trade sanctions and withdrawal of military support if they backed a resolution calling for more support for breastfeeding mothers and their babies.

According to the Times:

American officials sought to water down the resolution by removing language that called on governments to “protect, promote and support breast-feeding” and another passage that called on policymakers to restrict the promotion of food products that many experts say can have deleterious effects on young children.

Why would the US government stand in the way of global breastfeeding advocacy? There are a number of theories – but my money is on the $70 billion baby food industry – upon whom the US dairy industry relies to convert massive milk surpluses into profitable products. In a face-off between a powerful industry lobby and global maternal and child health, the powerful industry carried the day.

This is the critical take-home message for anyone who cares about the health of moms and babies: When it comes to global infant and young child feeding, industry profits take precedence over public health.

Breastfeeding, advocacy and women’s rights

In June 2015, I heard a fantastic talk by Keith Hansen, Vice President for Human Development at the World BankGroup, at the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine summit. Hansen spoke eloquently about the importance of breastfeeding for both global health and economic development; he said, “If breastfeeding did not already exist, someone who invented it today would deserve a dual Nobel Prize in medicine and economics.”

I’d brought my teenage son with me to Washington, and when we met up for lunch, I shared Hansen’s quote. He responded, “If breastfeeding were invented today, there would be an outrage, because of feminism.”

It took me a few seconds to fully process this response, as I began to consider the implications of a newly-discovered practice that would require one half of the population to engage in thousands of hours of unpaid work, at all hours of the day and night, for the greater good. There would, indeed, be an outrage.

A tribute to Miriam H. Labbok

Dr. Miriam Harriet Labbok (1949-2016)

On behalf of ABM founders and as their representative on the ABM Board of Governors, I wish to celebrate the life and vitality of Miriam Harriet Labbok, MD, MPH, IBCLC and a co-founder of the ABM. On August 13, 2016 she lost a sudden and rapid battle, all the while showing great tenacity, fortitude, and sense of humor. These inspiring traits are reflected in her 40 years of supporting the mother-infant dyad as an internationally respected and influential expert on breastfeeding and maternal and child health.

Miriam Labbok’s personality was reflective of her New Jersey roots: outspoken, forthright and passionate. Her academic training reflected her integrative strengths and passion for preventive healthcare with a worldwide vision. She graduated from the University of Pennsylvania and received her M.D. and M.P.H. degrees from Tulane University. Her medical training continued in Occupational Health and Preventive Health. Her initial academic focus was on international application of contraception technology as a process to improve the health of women and their families. Her mentorship with John Queenan, MD, a distinguished Chair of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Georgetown University, rapidly clarified her life passion and focus on breastfeeding as the best primary preventive care intervention and the most important role in child spacing/contraception, especially in countries with fewer resources.

Miriam’s intellect, academic productivity (many chapters in textbooks on maternal and child health and an author of more than one hundred fifty scholarly articles), as well as, her persistent and firm advocacy for her beliefs, lead to her leadership positions supporting breastfeeding at UNICEF and USAID. Early in her career, she recognized the dangers and conflict of interest presented by makers of artificial milk, aka “formula”. One of her greatest successes was her role in galvanizing an international agreement for the Ten Steps to support breastfeeding and reduce the negative influences of the artificial milk manufacturers. Given her international successes and her outspoken beliefs, it is no surprise that Miriam was a co-Founder of the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine. In her subsequent leadership roles in the ABM and its Board, she always reminded us of WHO Code violations and conflicts of interest and the need for the ABM to be an international organization that compliments and networks with other organizations with similar support for breastfeeding. Until her retirement this spring, Miriam was a Professor of Maternal and Child Health at the University of North Carolina Gillings School of Global Public Health and Director of the School’s Carolina Global Breastfeeding Institute. These titles and positions reflect Miriam’s vision and successes in supporting the breastfeeding mother and her family regardless of geography, culture, religion, or available resources.

As ABM members, we need to emulate her willingness to confront international challenges, collaborate with other supporting organizations, and scrutinize our behaviors and connections for potential “WHO Code” violations. Miriam, thank you for helping us grow.

Edward Newton, MD

Ed Newton, MD, FABM is a maternal-fetal medicine sub specialist and a founder of the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine.

Posts on this blog reflect the opinions of individual ABM members, not the organization as a whole.

The Sixth European ABM Conference in Lisbon Portugal—A Win for Organizers and Attendees Alike!

I returned from a trip to Europe over a week ago tonight, my first stop Lisbon Portugal. I celebrated one of those “big” birthdays in Lisbon, you know, the ones that end in a “0” or a “5” with 230 of my closest friends and colleagues in Breastfeeding Medicine from 23 nations around the globe.  Honestly!!  Well, they were not all there just to celebrate my birthday, although some did stay an extra day just to celebrate the day with us!!

What began this marvelous journey was an invitation from conference organizers Elien Rouw, MD, FABM (Germany), Monica Pina MD, ABM (Portugal), and Reet Raukas MD, ABM (Estonia) to speak at the 6^th European Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine Conference, held on June 17-18, 2016 in Lisbon, Portugal.  Dr. Rouw has been behind these regional international conferences from the start, and is the mastermind in organizing them, along with local physicians and other like-minded organizations at various times in the countries in which they have been held.  The success she and her co-coordinators have had is a tribute to their hard work, their desire to bring quality physician education in breastfeeding medicine and related subjects to Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine (ABM) members and other physicians and health care members outside the United States, and their tireless efforts to make these conferences affordable, with little support outside their own “blood, sweat and tears”.  This is in actuality a matter of equity and disparities in our field.  Many US physicians cannot afford to travel to Europe or Asia or Australia yet we expect our non-US colleagues to travel to the US yearly to the Annual conference, which is expensive for many of us even if we live in the US.  So do Dr. Rouw and her European colleagues accomplish their goals?  They most certainly do!!!  If one watches and grabs an airfare when they are at their lowest, even from the US this conference is very affordable, and the bonus is, no matter where you come from, you are treated to a beautiful European city, its gracious hospitality and phenomenal cuisine!

This success has built over the past 10 years. Former conferences have been organized in Germany (2007), Austria (2008), Poland (2010), Italy (2012) and Romania (2013).  The 6^th Conference in Lisbon was organized in collaboration with SOS Amamentação Portugal and with support of the city council of Lisbon —the largest thus far, and buzzing with activity!!

The speakers and some attendees from outside Portugal stayed in a wonderful hotel that was noted as not far from the site of the conference. The morning of the 17^th a bus was arranged to pick all of us up who were staying at the hotel an hour before the conference started to transport us the short distance to the conference venue, Auditório Polo ArturRavara ESEL, a relatively new site of the nursing school in Lisbon.  After a late arrival, we drove around for quite a while.  Turns out our (native Portuguese) bus driver was lost, because he got the wrong address!  So, we started the first day a bit late. Was this a problem?  Not at all!  Everyone rose to the occasion and soon the conference had begun in a beautiful and comfortable venue and we were all immersed in breastfeeding medicine!

The Lancet Launches Breastfeeding Publication

The Lancet has boldly stepped onto center stage to launch its new publication, Breastfeeding in the 21st Century. They state that “every mother and child no matter their location or circumstance, benefits from optimal breastfeeding practices.” They hosted the launch on January 29, 2016 in the Barbara Jordan Conference Center in the Kaiser Family Foundation building in Washington, D.C. The Conference Center symbolically honors Barbara Jordan, first African-American woman member of the Texas State Senate and then congresswoman from Texas starting in 1972. She was committed to fairness and to legislation that protects the underserved and the underrepresented.
The Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine was invited, and Karla Shepard Rubinger was named. I, too, received an invitation to attend. Imagine going to Washington, staying overnight at a hotel to attend a two hour meeting! But I had to be there. I had to hear the discussion with my own ears and see the members of the program from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the World Health Organization, UNICEF, USAID, the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, to mention a few.

ABM Advocates for Breastfeeding at the United Nations

ABM, as a worldwide organization dedicated to the promotion, protection and support of breastfeeding, has been involved in promoting breastfeeding at the UN for the past 10 years. ABM became a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) in consultative status with the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and is a member of the NGO Committee on UNICEF. As it is impossible to accomplish anything at the UN without collaboration, we partner with ILCA, WABA and CGBI as members of the “UN Breastfeeding Advocacy Team” known as “UNBAT”, to raise breastfeeding awareness at the UN and UNICEF.

This has been a busy year for advocacy. UNICEF drafted a Breastfeeding Advocacy Strategy in March which was improved with our input. We look forward to working with UNICEF in refining the advocacy strategy and developing an implementation plan over the next year. ABM representatives participated in events celebrating the 25th Anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child which frames good health, including breastfeeding, as a fundamental right, in November in New York.

We are currently collaborating with our partners to include breastfeeding in the post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which will be finalized by December, 2015 to replace the Millennium Development Goals which are expiring. Getting breastfeeding promotion into the post-2015 agenda is extremely important. We worked with our UNBAT partners and the Health NGO Group to request that breastfeeding be included as one of the “critical health-related issues to achieve sustainable development.”

ABM and its partners have applied to sponsor a “parallel event” at the annual Commission on the Status of Women in New York in March to raise the profile of breastfeeding as an important measure which improves the health of women and children.

We are encouraged by the increasing attention to breastfeeding at the UN and UNICEF and feel that there will be more opportunities to promote breastfeeding as part of the post-2015 Sustainable Development agenda, through the UNICEF Advocacy Strategy, during the CSW events and through ongoing collaboration with other health and nutrition groups. If any ABM members want to assist in this important work, please contact us.

Susan Vierczhalek, MD, FABM is ABM representative to the UN, Associate Professor of Clinical Pediatrics at New York University School of Medicine, medical Director of the Bellevue Hospital Newborn Service and Breastfeeding Program, Chair of the NY State Breastfeeding Coalition, Medical Director of the New York Milk Bank.

Larry Noble, MD, FABM, IBCLC is ABM representative to the UN with Susan, a neonatologist and Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City and a Board member of ABM.

Cultural considerations for breastfeeding among Latina women

I am looking forward to being part of an expert panel on cultural issues with breastfeeding at next week’s ABM meeting. I plan to talk aboutpostpartum customs, special foods, importance of elders and fathers, galactogogues and other beliefs as they relate to breastfeeding in Latinas. I will also describe some examples from Central and South American countries of why not all Latinas are alike.

I will share published work on the practice of combination feeding—why los dos…and suggest some strategies for avoiding unnecessary supplementation.  I also have some interesting observations from my recent field work with home visitors in rural Guatemala. Other topics will be the assumptions for some Latinas in the US that breastfeeding for 3 months is enough, nursing babies too long can make them weak or ill-mannered. I continue to see in my clinical work and research that self-efficacy and prenatal intent is so important for exclusivity. Happy to hear any ideas you have on this topic. Hope to see you in Cleveland next week.

Maya Bunik, MD, MSPH is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics at University of Colorado, Children’s Hospital Colorado. She sees patients in both primary care and breastfeeding consultation and has published a book Breastfeeding Telephone Triage and Advice. She is a Fellow of the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine and serves as the Protocol Committee Co-Chair.

She is a featured speaker at the ABM 19th International Meeting, November 13-16, 2014.

Blog posts reflect the opinions of individual authors, not ABM as a whole.

 

CDC issues guidelines on breastfeeding and Ebola

Both families and physicians are anxious about the potential impact of the Ebola virus for mothers and infants.

The CDC has recently issued guidelines for field and partner organizations regarding how to advise breastfeeding women with probably or confirmed Ebola infection:

“When safe alternatives to breastfeeding and infant care exist, mothers with probable or confirmed Ebola virus disease should not have close contact with their infants (including breastfeeding).

In resource-limited settings, non-breastfed infants are at increased risk of death from starvation and other infectious diseases. These risks must be carefully weighed against the risk of Ebola virus disease.”

The Ebola virus has been detected in the milk of infected women. For mothers who recover from Ebola, it is not known when it is safe to resume breastfeeding. The CDC recommends waiting to resume breastfeeding until milk can be shown to be Ebola-free in laboratory testing.

As the Ebola outbreak continues to evolve, the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine recommends consulting CDC guidance on how to minimize risk for infants of affected mothers.