"Ban It Now," Urges Dr. Kathleen T. Ruddy

The Breast Health and Healing Foundation's Founder, Dr. Kathleen T. Ruddy calls for the immediate ban of Bisphenol A in all consumer products. According to Dr. Ruddy, Bisphenol A or BPA is the "smoking gun" linking breast and prostate cancer. Two million tons of BPA are used annually to make a variety of consumer products.

Hooray for Boobies says no

Hooray for Boobies, a pro-breastfeeding group, organized mothers, babies and their supporters to bring breastfeeding into the light of day at this year’s ComFest in Columbus, Ohio.
 
Hooray for Boobies event co-founder and Lactavist Lauren Damon described her reason for organizing the nurse-in by noting that, “breastfeeding is not the norm in our culture, and it is my goal to normalize breastfeeding.”
 
Lauren strives to give facts about breastfeeding benefits versus the risks of choosing to formula feed. She’d like to get breastfeeding mothers out of toilet stalls, back rooms and chemical closets.
 
A Dayton area mothers group met and discussed breastfeeding and the Hooray for Boobies event at ComFest. Sara, a three-time breastfeeder, was informed by a stranger that she was inappropriate for breastfeeding inside a ladies room because the door opened and closed and "men might see her".

The majority of the Dayton group felt that breastfeeding should be done discreetly.  Hooray for Boobies responds with a copy of the Indiscreet Breastfeeding Manifesto:

Government of Canada Acts to Protect Newborns and Infants from Bisphenol A in Polycarbonate Plastic Baby Bottles

News Release
2009-106
June 26, 2009
For immediate release

OTTAWA - The Government of Canada is moving forward with proposed regulations to prohibit the advertisement, sale and importation of polycarbonate plastic baby bottles that contain bisphenol A, otherwise known as BPA, to reduce newborn and infant exposure to this substance, announced the Honourable Leona Aglukkaq, Minister of Health.

BPA is used in the production of polycarbonate, a clear hard plastic used to make many products, including baby bottles. When in contact with hot or boiling liquid, bisphenol A can migrate from the plastic into the liquid and easily be ingested.

"Our Government is acting to protect its most vulnerable citizens-newborns and infants," said Minister Aglukkaq. "Canada is the first country to move ahead with regulations to prohibit polycarbonate baby bottles that contain bisphenol A. We want parents to feel confident that they can safely bottle-feed their newborns and infants."

The Government has concluded that exposure levels for newborns and infants up to 18 months of age are below those that could cause health effects. However, due to the uncertainty raised in some studies relating to the potential effects of low levels of BPA, the Government wants to further limit exposure.

Mothers can take steps to make the experience more successful.

Returning to work after maternity leave can be a shock to the system, especially for women who breastfeed and need to pump milk while on the job.

The intimate, unhurried nursing sessions that they shared with their babies are often replaced by the mechanical drone of a breast pump - and a mad dash to squeeze in enough evenly spaced breaks throughout the workday to maintain their milk supply. Some women face the additional challenge of finding a private, secure place - that isn't a bathroom - to express milk.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that mothers feed their babies only breast milk for the first six months, with some additional nursing as solid food is introduced and continuing at least for the baby's first year. Breastfeeding is associated with a lower risk of many ailments including ear and respiratory infections, diabetes and sudden infant death syndrome for babies and a lower risk of breast cancer and ovarian cancer for mothers.

Few women describe pumping milk as fun, but there are ways to protect the financial and emotional investment so moms and babies can get the maximum health benefits from breastfeeding for as long as possible, experts say.

It helps to start planning ahead while you're still pregnant, said Cathy Carothers, co-director of Every Mother Inc., a Greenville, Miss.-based nonprofit that trains health-care providers how to support breastfeeding mothers.

Among the steps new mothers can take:

Yale researchers may have solved a fundamental medical mystery: how bisphenol A (BPA), a ubiquitous plastics component, changes genetic chemistry and impairs fertility.

The Yale team's findings, previewed earlier this month to the Endocrine Society, a 14,000-member scientific and medical professional organization devoted to hormone system research and treatment, have intensified scientists' concern that exposure BPA, a synthetic estrogen that disrupts the endocrine system, may have grave consequences for human reproduction.

In an interview, study co-author Hugh S. Taylor, M.D., professor and chief of the reproductive endocrinology section at Yale University School of Medicine, said his team injected pregnant mice with BPA for just one week. After those mice, and a control group, gave birth, the scientists found that the genetic chemistry of female offspring exposed to BPA in the womb had been irrevocably altered.

A particular gene known as HOXA₁₀, responsible for normal uterine development and fertility in both mice and humans, had been stripped of numerous so-called "methyl groups," each composed of a single hydrogen atom and three carbon atoms.

"We've discovered the exact mechanism by which BPA affects this gene," Taylor said. "This small group can have a powerful effect in turning genes on and off."

A coalition of investors has warned the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that continued use of bisphenol A (BPA) in packaging may threaten the shareholder value of food and beverage companies.

The group also said the FDA finding that BPA was safe combined with a lack of federal regulation had disincentivised companies from finding alternatives – despite many wishing to do so.

Letter to FDA

The alliance of 27 financiers, representing over $26 billion in assets, issued the warning in a letter to FDA commissioner Dr Margaret Hamburg this week as it applauded her decision for the agency to reassess the safety of the chemical. The group, which included investment advisory companies, foundations, and shareholder advocacy groups, urged the FDA to “ensure that sound independent, unbiased science is used to reach its final assessment” of the safety of BPA.

BPA is used in can linings and hard plastics and there is growing concern that its leaching into food can cause harm. Numerous studies have linked the chemical to illnesses including cancer and diabetes, although food safety agencies in the US and Europe have given the substance the all clear.

Threat to shareholders

Green Century Capital Management, the driving force behind the letter, said: “As investors, we’re concerned that the use of BPA, particularly in food and beverage packaging, may threaten shareholder value. Companies may face reputational, competitive, or market exclusion risks from using BPA. We are thrilled that the FDA is reconsidering its assessment.”

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About 22,500 Bugaboo Bee strollers are being recalled after at least 121 reports were received of the brakes on the baby stroller failing, which could cause the stroller to unexpectedly roll away and potentially injury the infant.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and Bugaboo North America, Inc. announced the baby stroller recall on June 2, 2009, indicating that although no injuries have been reported in association with the defect, consumers should stop using them immediately.

One or both sides of the Bugaboo Bee baby stroller brakes can fail, posing a potential risk of injury to a child if the stroller is on an incline. Given the relatively small number of strollers involved in the recall, the large number of reported brake failures is concerning for consumers, as reported problems usually only account for a small fraction of the actual failures caused by a defective product.

The Bugaboo Bee Strollers were sold on various web sites and at retail stores throughout the United States from August 2007 through April 2009. The high-end strollers retailed for about $530.

The potentially defective strollers have “bugaboo bee” printed on the left side of the seat. An item code of 580210 is printed on a label on the back of the seat, and there is an item code of 50100 on a label under the seat on the plastic support. The strollers came in a variety of colors, including blue, yellow, black, pink, red and dark khaki.

The Bugaboo Bee strollers are manufactured by Bugaboo Design & Sales, B.V., of the Netherlands and were made in Taiwan.

The CPSC has urged all consumers to stop using the strollers immediately and to contact Bugaboo for a free repair kit. A request for new brackets that secure the functioning of the brakes and also be requested by completing an online form at the manufacturer’s website.

Supermodel Elle Macpherson has met new mothers and babies to celebrate a hospital's high standard of breastfeeding care.

A decade ago, the Royal Oldham Hospital was one of the first UK hospitals to gain Unicef Baby Friendly accreditation - an award given to maternity units in recognition of their support for breastfeeding mothers.

Ms Macpherson visited the hospital to mark the tenth anniversary of its award and to present certificates for its continued achievement.

The mother-of-two, a Unicef UK ambassador, said: "I've been to this hospital, I've tracked the way that breastfeeding has been embraced over the last few years.

Ms Macpherson, known as 'The Body', also presented a certificate to North Manchester General Hospital for securing Baby Friendly accreditation for a second time.

"Coming from Australia where breastfeeding is so natural, and not to have the support that I've seen, in this country there have been many women that just don't have the support," she said.

"It's just wonderful to see that these two incredible hospitals are encouraging this and making so much progress, and I'm really proud to be part of this initiative because I think it's really, really important."

New mother Melissa Thorley from Chadderton said it had been "very exciting" to have the supermodel on the ward.

New mothers should take six months to a year to gradually lose their pregnancy weight, according to a recent report from the Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQEHC).

Rather than trying to imitate celebrities who appear to be back in their pre-pregnancy bodies just weeks after giving birth, new mothers should drop the extra pounds slowly for the benefit of both themselves and the baby.

Eating sensibly is more effective than strenuous exercise regimes, the IQEHC said. The Institute also warns that overdoing early weight loss attempts could have a negative impact on breastfeeding.

The advice from IQEHC, a German organization, has also been drafted by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE).

The IQEHC said celebrities who are back at their normal weight within weeks of giving birth are not necessarily a good example for other mothers.

Breast isn't just best for baby: mothers who don't breastfeed their babies may increase their risk of heart attacks and strokes decades later, new research suggests.

The evidence comes from the massive Women's Health Initiative trial and involved nearly 140,000 women.

Researchers found that women who breastfed were less likely when they were older to have developed high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol and cardiovascular disease — the leading cause of death in Canadian women.

"The longer a woman breastfed her baby, the better it was for both of them," says lead author Dr. Eleanor Bimla Schwarz, of the University of Pittsburgh.

"We know that women who don't breastfeed their babies are at a higher risk of getting breast cancer and ovarian cancer," Schwarz says. Recent studies show women who don't breastfeed also have higher risks of diabetes and high blood pressure.

"Ours is the first study that shows that there really is a strong effect in terms of preventing heart attacks and stroke for women who nursed for more than six months," says Schwarz, an assistant professor of medicine, epidemiology and obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive sciences.

The study appears in the latest issue of Obstetrics and Gynecology. (Click HERE to download a PDF of this study.)