One of the most rewarding aspects of parenthood for me is breastfeeding. The sight of my daughter asleep at the breast fills me with an incredible sense of closeness to her – and with the knowledge that the milk I provide her is contributing to her physical and psychological health. But breastfeeding hasn’t been all smooth sailing for me. In the first few days of her life, I was hampered by the after-effects of an emergency caesarean section, difficulty positioning the baby comfortably at the breast due to an IV in her arm, and an unsupportive nurse at the hospital where I was staying (in fairness, the other staff members were very helpful). My milk also did not come in fully until four days postpartum. By the time of her ten-day check-up, however, my daughter was gaining weight on schedule, and I continued to nurse her exclusively for the next six months. She still takes the breast now, though she has been eating solid food as well for the last year or so.
Unfortunately, many women facing problems like mine end up abandoning breastfeeding long before they had planned. While nursing may be natural, for humans – and our closest relatives on the evolutionary scale, such as gorillas and chimpanzees – it does not come instinctively. It is a learned skill. Therefore it is important for women with breastfeeding difficulties to have sources to which they can turn for help. One such source is the Newman Breastfeeding Clinic & Institute in Toronto.
The Newman Breastfeeding Clinic & Institute – heretofore called the NBCI – is run by Edith Kernerman, an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant, and Dr. Jack Newman, an internationally renowned breastfeeding authority. He graduated in medicine from the University of Toronto and has worked at hospitals in Canada – including Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children – Central America, New Zealand and South Africa. They each have several publications. Some they have authored jointly, including a DVD, Dr Jack Newman’s Visual Guide to Breastfeeding, with Edith Kernerman and Jack Newman. Edith Kernerman is author of the GamePlan for Protecting and Supporting Breastfeeding in the First 24 hours of Life and Beyond and co-author of the L-eat latch and transfer tool. Dr. Newman has several books and videos on breastfeeding to his credit which have been translated into a number of languages. Although I had looked at the NBCI’s website (www.drjacknewman.com), I felt I could not properly write an article about the place until I had seen it myself. So one Monday morning I hopped on the subway and paid a visit to the NBCI.
The NBCI is housed in the building of the Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine on the corner of Leslie Street and Sheppard Avenue East just steps from the Leslie subway station. Located at the end of a long hallway, the clinic portion of the NBCI does not have a lobby or front desk but rather a series of rooms and offices. As I walked down the hall, I was greeted by the sound of squalling infants (I am exaggerating a bit here) being weighed and examined. The homey atmosphere was further reinforced by a kangaroo-and-joey puppet on Dr. Newman’s bookshelf. The kangaroo of course symbolizes kangaroo care, a method of caring for infants – often those born prematurely – which emphasizes close contact with their mothers and promotes breastfeeding.
Behind this cozy exterior, however, lies a vast wealth of expertise. The bookshelves in the clinic office contain copies of Dr. Newman’s Guide to Breastfeeding (www.drjacknewman.com); The Latch and Other Keys to Breastfeeding Success, which he co-wrote with parenting author Teresa Pitman; and the DVD Dr Jack Newman’s Visual Guide to Breastfeeding, with Edith Kernerman and Jack Newman. The NBCI also includes a Centre of Excellence that trains lactation consultants – health care workers who help women with breastfeeding – as well as physicians, nurses and other medical professionals who want to learn more about the process. The Centre’s training consists of a yearlong part-time in-class course plus hands-on clinical experience, after which the graduates receive the NBCI diploma.
The NBCI sees about 16 to 20 women a day who are having difficulty breastfeeding. Most of these mothers are referred by doctors or midwives; Ms. Kernerman sees this as a good opportunity to educate health professionals about the lactation process. The women, and their babies, receive assistance from one or more of the clinic’s eight lactation consultants and counsellors and from one of their directors, Jack Newman or Edith Kernerman (the NBCI also has three administrative staff members). The problems these women face include sore nipples, insufficient milk, poor latch on the baby’s part, and baby’s refusal of the breast. A key component of helping these mothers, Kernerman says, is ensuring that the baby is latched on properly at the breast and actually drinking milk rather than simply sucking on the nipple. Among the tools the clinic uses to help the mother accomplish this is breast compression, whereby the breast is pressed so that milk flows from it more readily. This allows the baby to drink more.
In over 90% of cases where babies are not taking the breast partially or at all, NBCI staff achieve their goal of getting babies to latch on to and drink from the breast; considering that its clients are sent there as a last resort, this figure is particularly impressive. Most of these women go on to breastfeed successfully. The problem of “not enough milk” is generally often resolved as well, especially as most complaints in this regard stem not from the mother’s inherent inability to produce milk but from mismanagement of the breastfeeding process.
A subject of personal interest to me was the NBCI’s work with adoptive mothers. A little known fact is that with the right guidance, women who adopt children can produce milk for them. Ms. Kernerman explains the clinic’s protocol for adoptive mothers. First, the woman is prescribed an oral contraceptive before the baby’s arrival in order to “fool” the body into thinking that a pregnancy is occurring. She then takes a milk-stimulating medication called Domperidone (originally developed as an anti-vomiting remedy). After approximately three months (depending on how much lead time there is before the baby is due to arrive), the birth control pill is stopped, and the future mother begins pumping her breasts. Once the baby comes in her care, the woman may have some or a lot of milk. The important thing is that she will be able to breastfeed, even if the amount of breast milk that will be there cannot be known until the baby is actually on the breast. It is important to note that although in many cases adoptive mothers cannot expect to meet all of a child’s nutritional needs, both can enjoy the emotional closeness breastfeeding offers and, from the baby’s vantage point, the physical benefits of any breast milk he or she does obtain (the same can be said too of the small percentage of biological mothers who are genuinely incapable of producing a full milk supply). If I ever choose to expand my family through adoption, I just might just use the NBCI’s services.
As I was getting on the subway after leaving the clinic, I ran into a young woman with an adorable little baby in a sling. They had just been to the NBCI too. Apparently the mother had had difficulty getting her baby to take the breast; until then she had pumped milk for him and given it to him in a bottle. When I asked her what she thought of the advice she was given at the clinic, she said it could not have been better.
Unfortunately, my upbeat story ends on a somewhat sombre note. Despite all the good work it does, the NBCI is facing a funding crisis. It is losing the private sponsorship it has enjoyed until now (it stopped receiving public funds in 2005). So consider making a donation to the Newman Breastfeeding Clinic & Institute. Remember, higher breastfeeding rates mean fewer sick children and hence lower public expenditure on childhood illnesses. You can direct your contribution to NEWMAN BREASTFEEDING CLINIC at www.canadianbreastfeedingfoundation.com or call 416-498-002. The donation is processed through the CanadaHelps.org foundation. Thank you for your support.
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The second phase of the movie features a long interview with John Perkins, author of “Confessions of an Economic Hitman”. Perkins outlines the role and evolution of the so-called economic hitman – a private or public sector agent who corrupts foreign leaders and economies to enable cheap access to national resources. Foreign leaders who do not comply with agents of the corrupting nation (typically from the West) are typically assassinated and replaced with a more “business-friendly” regime. Perkins cites the Iranian coup of 1953 and subsequent installation of the Shah as the first true economic hit while citing Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein and Panamanian president Omar Torrijos Herrera (who signed the bill transferring the Panama Canal from American control) as examples of leaders who refused to be corrupted and were subsequently killed.
Focus returns to the monetary system, citing its inherent corruption as the primary reason why societies similar to that outlined by the Venus Project aren’t possible. After once again maligning the banking system as the root of all human woe, Zeitgeist Addendum offers a surprisingly practical list of what the average person can do to exploit the current financial chaos for social transformation. Among the suggested measures are divestment from America’s three largest banks, boycotting mainstream media sources in favour of independent news sources, avoiding military service (extra focus was placed on the effect of post-traumatic stress disorder on Gulf war veterans) and removing from the energy grid.
Zeigeist Addendum’s core message is somewhat contradictory. Firstly, the narrator suggests divesting from the three largest banks as a form of protest, but wouldn’t reinvesting those funds in alternative firms perpetuate the same fractional reserve system? All banks in a nation hold deposits with the same central bank – that’s why it’s a CENTRAL bank.
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