The BirthKuwait`s Conference: Birthing With Confidence in the GCC 2014

BirthKuwait is pleased to announce an upcoming Conference: Birthing With Confidence in the GCC, Promoting Maternal and Infant Health Through Training Workshops for Professionals, Community Health Care Workers and Maternal Health Care Advocates, which will take place in October from the 14th to the 18th include:

1. Lamaze Childbirth Education Workshop (5 days Oct 14th-18th)

2. Breastfeeding Counselor Training (4 days, Oct 14th-17th)

3. "Breastfeeding Your Baby" Lactation Educator Workshop (For Professionals Only, 1 day on Oct 18th)

4. DONA Doula Training Workshop (3 days, Oct 16-18). 

For more information check below:
VERY IMPORTANT TO READ
(This document opens in google drive document)
Course Description

Training Workshops are facilitated and approved by renowned international maternal and infant health advocates: Lamaze International, EPI,  DUKE AHEC, DONA, and our local partner FSRI. 


Please fill in the Application Form and e-mail it back to us on the e-mail below.

For details and registration, please visit www.birthkuwait.com or e-mail: info@birthkuwait.com

BirthKuwait event: Workshop Breastfeeding situation in Kuwait

BirthKuwait event : Workshop "Breastfeeeding situation in Kuwait" took place 29th May 2012 at the Women`s Cultural Society. The programme consisted of five presentations:

1. Dr. Mona Alsumaie : Breastfeeding situation in Kuwait
We learned that 82% of women in Kuwait initiate breastfeeding ( even if only once ) , but only 12% of them continue exclusive brestfeeding up to 6th month of baby age. The most common reasons why women stop breastfeeding are lack of proper information, motivation and help.

2. Dr. Alia Abdeen : Kuwait Lactation Consultants Society: mission and activities
Kuwait Lactation Consultant Society currently has 37 members who took certification exam and qualified, they are distributed in govermental hospitals all over Kuwait and available to help mothers whenever needed.

3. Zuzana Nadova, Midwife : BirthKuwait - mission, vision and activities
BirthKuwait is a local nonprofit birth network— a collection of birth-related professionals—networking together and working towards providing better support for mothers and improving maternity services in Kuwait by making resources available for mothers and advocating for evidence-based maternity care.

4. Heba Al Ali, BSF founder: BFS breastfeeding support club 
The most important message of this presentation was to start preparing for breastfeeding during the pregnancy , setting the priorities right and having support system.

5. Carolyne Presber, LLL leader-Kuwait: La Leche League in Kuwait
We learned about history  and activities of La Leche League, which is international non profit organization providing Mother-to-mother support, encouragement, information and education for women who breastfeed their children.

Programme was followed by interesting discussion.

Photos from the event:

Invitation for the lecture

Dr. Alia Abdeen ( left) , Zuzana Nadova, Dr. Mona Alsumaie

Carolyne Presber ( left ), Dr. Alia Abdeen, Dr. Mona Alsumaie, Heba Al Ali

Carolyne Presber ( left) , Heba Al Ali

Zuzana Nadova

BirthKuwait event: Food revolution Day at the Women`s cultural Society

BirthKuwait event took place 19th May 2012 at the Women`s Cultural Society as a part of Food Revolution Day. It was day full of fun, learning and pleasant encouters with amazing people. We were talking about Breastfeeding and its benefits.

BirthKuwait Booth:




BirthKuwait team:





Anwer sheet of winner of the kid`s competition about breastfeeding


We loved this poster about breastfeeding from TheAlfaParent.com

You can read more about this event on BirthKuwait web site.

Human Colostrum and Breast Milk

Source: SAGE journals

This study proved traces of TRAIL ( known anti-cancer agent) in human breast milk

" To our knowledge, this is the first time that TRAIL has

been measured in colostrum and human breast milk. This

study has revealed much higher TRAIL concentrations in

colostrum and breast milk compared to the levels of circulating

serum TRAIL. Although previous studies have

shown that breast cells express TRAIL,

 it was unexpected

that the mean level of soluble TRAIL detected in colostrum

reached 48.6 ng/mL, approximately 2-fold higher than the level

previously reported in the conjunctival sac fluid

approximately 40-fold greater than the level measured in

human saliva,

and > 400-fold greater than the level found

in human serum. Although we observed a significant

decline in levels of TRAIL in human breast milk measured

at day 4 or 5, these concentrations were still much higher

than those usually found in human serum/plasma and were

in the range of concentrations that are able to kill cancer

cells.

Why do many formula-fed infants lack optimal health?

Benefits of breastfeeding

Milking health for all its worth

Source: Kuwait Times

Milking health for all its worth

Published Date: July 22, 2011
By Hussain Al-Qatari, Staff Writer

The bottles boil in a pot, the formula powder is carefully measured with a spoon and placed in little plastic containers. The water is boiled and cooled down to the right temperature and then poured into the bottles, mixed with the powder until it has completely dissolved. This may sound like an experiment in a lab, but it is what happens at home when a mother is bottle-feeding her baby.

Dr Mona Al-Sumaie, Head of the Breastfeeding Awareness Committee in the Ministry of Health says that breastfeeding is not only more beneficial for the child, but it is even easier for the mother. Sadly, in Kuwait, the majority of women do not breastfeed. "The efforts to raise awareness on that issue are very humble. We have a committee but the doctors on board work on various other projects throughout the year," she says. The committee educates young mothers about breastfeeding, gives out pamphlets and bro
chures that explains the difference between breastfeeding and formula milk.

The pediatrician says that breastfeeding is the way a mother naturally nurtures her baby, "It is a trend globally to breastfeed instead of using baby formula. Compared to the mother's milk, baby formula lacks a lot of nutrients and active ingredients that science cannot imitate yet. When a mother resorts to feeding her child formula, she is depriving the child from many benefits that have a long-lasting effect on the child's well-being," she says.

It is recommended that a mother breastfeeds for two years or more. Al-Sumaie noted that breastfeeding makes the child's immune system stronger, and it prevents obesity and many long-term diseases. It also promotes healthier and faster growth, "Breastfeeding is more importantly a way for a mother to bond with her baby. When an infant is born, it doesn't comprehend or speak, but it is very receptive. The act of breastfeeding is nurturing to the child physically and emotionally, and it is the natural way our
bodies are supposed to behave," she says.

Steam cells discovered in breast milk

UWA discovers 'ethical' embryonic-like stem cells in breast milk
Courtney Trenwith October 18, 2011

UWA PhD student Foteini Hassiotou has discovered stem cells can be obtained from breast milk.

Serious and fatal diseases such as pancreatic cancer, Parkinson's disease and diabetes may eventually be treated using stem cells from breast milk following a remarkable discovery at the University of Western Australia.
UWA PhD student Foteini Hassiotou has potentially broken through the greatest hurdle in stem cell research - the ability to ethically obtain stem cells in a non-invasive manner.
Her finding that stem cells from breast milk can be directed to become other body cell types such as bone, fat, liver and brain cells, could reduce the need to use embryonic stem cells and therefore fast-track future therapies.

Breastfeeding is Associated with Improved Child Cognitive Development: A Population-Based Cohort Study

Source: Science Direct 

Maria A. Quigley BA, MSc^a, , , Christine Hockley BA^a, Claire Carson BSc, MSc, PhD^a, Yvonne Kelly BSc, PhD^b, Mary J. Renfrew RGN, SCM, DN, BSc, PhD^c, Amanda Sacker BSc, PhD^b

Purchase

a	National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom

b	Institute for Social and Economic Research, University of Essex, Essex, United Kingdom

c	Mother and Infant Research Unit, University of York, York, United Kingdom

Received 12 February 2011; revised 31 May 2011; Accepted 23 June 2011. Available online 11 August 2011.

Objective

To assess the association between breastfeeding and child cognitive development in term and preterm children.

Study design

We analyzed data on white singleton children from the United Kingdom Millennium Cohort Study. Children were grouped according to breastfeeding duration. Results were stratified by gestational age at birth: 37 to 42 weeks (term, n = 11 101), and 28 to 36 weeks (preterm, n = 778). British Ability Scales tests were administered at age 5 years (naming vocabulary, pattern construction, and picture similarities subscales).

Results

The mean scores for all subscales increased with breastfeeding duration. After adjusting for confounders, there was a significant difference in mean score between children who were breastfed and children who were never breastfed: in term children, a two-point increase in score for picture similarities (when breastfed ≥4 months) and naming vocabulary (when breastfed ≥6 months); in preterm children, a 4-point increase for naming vocabulary (when breastfed ≥4 months) and picture similarities (when breastfed ≥2 months) and a 6-point increase for pattern construction (when breastfed ≥2 months). These differences suggest that breastfed children will be 1 to 6 months ahead of children who were never breastfed.

Conclusions

In white, singleton children in the United Kingdom, breastfeeding is associated with improved cognitive development, particularly in children born preterm.

Breastfeeding Protects Against SIDS

Source: Medpage Today
Breastfeeding may substantially reduce the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), especially when breast milk is the sole nutritional source, a meta-analysis showed.

Any breastfeeding was associated with an independent 45% reduction in risk of SIDS, Fern R. Hauck, MD, MS, of the University of Virginia School of Medicine in Charlottesville, and colleagues reported in the July issue of Pediatrics

.

Breastfeeding as the sole source of nutrition for any duration was associated with a 73% reduction in SIDS (summary odds ratio 0.27, 95% confidence interval 0.24 to 0.31).

This advantage adds to the many infant and maternal benefits of breastfeeding, the researchers noted.

"The recommendation to breastfeed infants should be included with other SIDS risk-reduction messages," the researchers recommended in the paper.

"Ideally, breastfeeding should be exclusive (ie, formula should not be given) for at least four to six months and should be continued until the infant is at least 1 year of age," Hauck's group suggested in concordance with American Academy of Pediatrics' guidelines for six months of exclusive breastfeeding and continuation through age 1 year.

Other factors linked in epidemiologic studies to lower risk of SIDS, such as pacifier use and keeping the baby in the same room but not the same bed as the mother, do not necessarily run counter to promoting breastfeeding, they noted.

Risks of Formula Feeding Your Baby

Source: Breastfeed.com

 98 0share4

The Case of the Virgin Gut

By Ann Calandro, RNC, IBCLC

I have been a mother for 26 years. When my first daughter was born, I knew little about breastfeeding except that I wanted to “try” to be successful. I knew it was best. I planned on nursing for six weeks to give her a good start.

She was born in Riverview Hospital in New Jersey in 1976. I waited impatiently to be allowed to see her every four hours for nursing. She arrived in my room with a little bottle of glucose water on board in her crib. The nurses encouraged me to fill her up with sugar water after each nursing, because my milk was not enough. Between nursings, she received formula in the nursery, because she was hungry and the hospital would only bring her out at certain times. During visiting hours, no babies came out.

A bond as strong as blood

Source: The National

On a warm spring evening earlier this year, a group of excited young Bedouin men in their best clothes waited anxiously as a meal of traditional Emirati dishes was set out on the ground in front of their desert compound. With the sound of an approaching 4x4, all pretence of decorum vanished as they ran towards the vehicle, yelling greetings: "Mamma Ino! Mamma Ino! Salaam. Welcome, welcome." As one of them held open the car door, a tiny figure, dressed in traditional Bedouin clothing, stepped from the car. "Mamma Ino", or Inocenta Ewart as she is known to the rest of the world, was surrounded at once by 10 towering brothers from one of the most prominent desert families in Ras al Khaimah.

Born in Spain more than half a century ago, Mrs Ewart is a mother to 16 children, but gave birth to only two of them. The others are bound to her by something that in Bedouin culture is as powerful as blood: a mother's milk. The extraordinary story began in the early 1980s when Mrs Ewart, married to a cultural attaché with the British Council, was living in Dubai. An anthropologist who graduated from the London School of Economics and Political Science, she decided to study the impact of the oil industry on Emirati society.

Global Facebook milksharing network launches WORLD MILKSHARING WEEK 2011

Human Milk 4 Human Babies Global Network is ecstatic to announce the launch of the inaugural World Milksharing Week, to be held September 24 – 30, 2011, at hundreds of locations around the globe.

The incredible sense of community that is created among donor and recipient families who partake in milksharing is to be celebrated. Dani Arnold-McKenney, who has been an administrator of the milksharing Facebook page in southwestern Ontario, Canada, since the global network started last October, says, "it's a myth that we are all about anonymous milk drops in parking lots. Our donors and recipients support each other and learn from each other. We've had milk recipients rebuild their own milk supplies and turn around and become donors. I have seen milksharing friendships grow watched bonds of motherhood bloom between mothers who didn't know each other a mere few weeks before."

Emma Kwasnica, founder of Human Milk 4 Human Babies Global Network, says "Breast milk is not a scarce commodity, it's a free-flowing resource. With the advance of social media, women who are willing to share their breastmilk can now easily connect with families who need milk for their children. We at HM4HB are thrilled to see women and families asserting their autonomy to do what is healthy, normal and ecological. Families are making informed choices to share breastmilk and babies everywhere are thriving as a result."

World Milksharing Week is to be held annually during the last week of September. There are a vast number of events your community can organise: hosting online discussions, a picnic in the park, an informational gathering at your work place, or a celebration at a favourite milksharing-supportive locale. 

Individuals and groups who wish to host an event this year can register at www.worldmilksharingweek.org. All who encourage milksharing and who support donor and recipient families are invited to participate.

HM4HB has a presence in 54 countries around the world. There are 130 Facebook community pages and over 20,000 community page members. These virtual communities are run by 300 hardworking, multicultural administrators who lovingly and graciously volunteer their time to keep HM4HB continually focused on its mission, vision and values. 

Media Contact:

Emma Kwasnica

emma.kwasnica@gmail.com

(514) 656-1560

Ed. Note: Individual HM4HB community admins can be reached through the community listings. http://www.hm4hb.net/communities.html

You can find more about Human Milk for Human Babies`s activities in Kuwait  : HM4HB- Kuwait  and HM4HB Facebook group

New Moms Who Express Milk by Hand Breastfeed Longer, UCSF Study Finds

Source:
Juliana Bunim
juliana.bunim@ucsf.edu
415-502-6397

July 19, 2011

Dawn Reidy, coordinator of Lactation Services, right, visits with parents Anders and Aimee Persson and their newborn son Leonard at UCSF Medical Center.

New mothers who practice expressing their breast milk by hand during the first days following their child’s birth are more likely to still be nursing two months later than mothers who use an electric breast pump, according to findings from a new study led by researchers at UCSF.

The randomized trial, which focused on healthy, full-term newborns having trouble nursing, is the first to compare how the two methods of milk collection affect future breastfeeding.

“Until now, we didn’t know which technique was preferable in the early postpartum period. This study provides the first evidence in favor of hand expression,” said lead author Valerie Flaherman, MD, MPH, an assistant professor of pediatrics at UCSF and pediatrician at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital. “Based on our findings, clinicians should consider recommending hand expression to new moms whose babies are feeding poorly.”

Study findings are published online by the journal Archives of Disease in Childhood, and will appear in an upcoming print issue of the journal.

Breastfeeding is known to offer wide-ranging preventive health benefits for babies, reducing their risk for infections and chronic diseases including diabetes, asthma and obesity, and providing the perfect balance of nutrients to help infants grow into strong and healthy toddlers. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that women who do not have health problems exclusively breastfeed for the first six months of life to give maximum benefits to their child.

World Breastfeeding Week (WHO)

1-7 August 2011

As every year, WHO and partners will celebrate World Breastfeeding Week (WBW) from 1-7 August in more than 170 countries. The theme for WBW 2011 endeavours to engage and mobilize youth in particular, with the slogan: "Talk to me! Breastfeeding - a 3D Experience". The theme focuses on communication as an essential element of protecting, promoting and supporting breastfeeding. Cross-generation, cross-sector, cross-gender, and cross-culture communication encourages the sharing of knowledge and experience, and enables wider outreach to support breastfeeding mothers and babies the world over.

• More information on World Breastfeeding Week
• Statement by the Assistant Director-General on World Breastfeeding Week

Human Milk for Human Babies` s review published in the IBJ

International Breastfeeding Journal released a review on commerce- free, internet- based, milk- sharing network to which belong HM4HB Global Network Human Milk for Human Babies and HM4HB- Kuwait .

International Breastfeeding Journal 2011, 6:8 doi:10.1186/1746-4358-6-8

Published: 25 June 2011
After only six months, a commerce-free internet-based milk-sharing model is operating in nearly 50 countries, connecting mothers who are able to donate breast milk with the caregivers of babies who need breast milk. 


Some public health authorities have condemned this initiative out of hand. Although women have always shared their milk, in many settings infant formula has become the "obvious" alternative to a mother's own milk. Yet an internationally endorsed recommendation supports mother-to-mother milk-sharing as the best option in place of a birth mother's milk. 


Why then this rejection? 
Several possibilities come to mind: 
1) ignorance and prejudice surrounding shared breast milk; 
2) a perceived challenge to the medical establishment of a system where mothers exercise independent control; and 
3) concern that mother-to-mother milk-sharing threatens donor milk banks. 


We are not saying that milk-sharing is risk-free or that the internet is an ideal platform for promoting it. Rather, we are encouraging health authorities to examine this initiative closely, determine what is happening, and provide resources to make mother-to-mother milk-sharing as safe as possible. 


Health authorities readily concede that life is fraught with risk; accordingly, they promote risk-reduction and harm-minimisation strategies. Why should it be any different for babies lacking their own mothers' milk? The more that is known about the risks of substituting for breast milk, the more reasonable parental choice to use donor milk becomes. We believe that the level of intrinsic risk is manageable through informed sharing. If undertaken, managed and evaluated appropriately, this made-by-mothers model shows considerable potential for expanding the world's supply of human milk and improving the health of children.

Expert highlights advantage of human milk bank in UAE

Breast milk is the best nutrition for the newborn and exclusive breastfeeding of the infant is recommended up to 6 month of age by WHO . However, sometimes breastfeeding is difficult, like in cases of premature babies or babies born with certain diseases. Then, it can be replaced with breast milk from donor/ donors so baby can reap all benefits. 

In State of Kuwait we have available these breastfeeding resources:

HM4HB- Kuwait Human Milk for Human Babies Kuwait : Facebook group

LLL Kuwait La Leche League Kuwait

Gulf Today informs us about initiative to establish Human Milk Bank in Dubai, UAE 

DUBAI: As mothers in the UAE are becoming more aware of the benefits of breast milk, some may be unable to give the nourishment to their babies for various reasons.

A possible solution is the establishment of at least one human milk bank (HMB) in the country.

The concept was recently introduced to 750 pregnant and new mothers at a breastfeeding and child nutrition symposium in Dubai.

The Breast Milk Cure ( Breastfeeding in Africa)

Have you ever wondered about breastfeeding in poor countries of Africa and how mother`s malnutrition can effect breastfeeding?

                                                                 Nicolas D Kristof

You can learn more from the piece in N.Y. Times 

What if nutritionists came up with a miracle cure for childhood malnutrition? A protein-rich substance that doesn’t require refrigeration? One that is free and is available even in remote towns like this one in Niger where babies routinely die of hunger-related causes?

A Look at the Research: The Link Between Epidural Analgesia and Breastfeeding

Science & sensibility by Lamaze is bringing us a review of latest research on use of epidural analgesia with possible link to breastfeeding difficulties after the delivery. 

It’s probably fair to say that most women who decide to have an epidural during labor don’t consider its possible impact on breastfeeding. Perhaps this is because no thought is given generally to any possible links between drugs and breastfeeding success (or otherwise). Instead, both pregnant (or laboring) women and caregivers usually assume that breastfeeding is a separate issue. Evidence from early research certainly doesn’t seem to support that view and a little common sense would also lead us to challenge it further…