CANADA: Breast of Luck (Part 1 of 3)

A while ago I wrote a post about Breastfeeding, and I asked a question that a researcher had asked me. Today I want to tell you the answer I gave.

The researcher I spoke to, who is also an OB/GYN, wanted to talk to me about infant feeding and my experiences and she wanted my opinion on how doctors can help depressed and anxious women to breastfeed more.

I’m not surprised that they’re asking. The medical profession in Canada is VERY big on breastfeeding.

You have to understand that in a socialized health care setting, it is very much in the government’s interest to push preventive medicine.

Every diagnosis of heart disease or cancer, every gall bladder surgery and hip replacement, gets billed to the government. Obviously, to save themselves – er, I mean taxpayers – money, they want to prevent diseases and surgeries in the first place. So you can understand why they’re so big on pushing breastfeeding.

I don’t need to elaborate on the many and varied health benefits of breastfeeding. I think every mother (more…)

Carol (Canada)

Carol from If By Yes has lived in four different Canadian provinces as well as the Caribbean. Now she lives in Vancouver, working a full time job at a vet clinic, training dogs on the side, and raising her son and daughter to be good citizens of the world. Carol is known for wearing inside-out underwear, microwaving yoghurt, killing house plants, over-thinking the mundane, and pointing out grammatical errors in "Twilight". When not trying to wrestle her son down for a nap, Carol loves to read and write. Carol can also be found on her blog, If By Yes, and on Twitter @IfByYesTweets

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Saturday Sidebar: Is Your Bed a Family Bed?

For this week’s Saturday Sidebar, our writers were asked,

“Do you co-sleep or have your child(ren) sleep in their own room? If they sleep in their own room, did you do this from the start?”

Check out what some of our World Moms had to say…

Multitasking Mumma of Ontario, Canada writes:
“We co-slept when my daughter was an infant because it was easier for feedings. Now that she’s almost two she starts out in her own bed and comes in during the middle of the night. I don’t mind one bit because I know that time is fleeting and I won’t get these moments back.” (more…)

World Moms Blog

World Moms Blog is an award winning website which writes from over 30 countries on the topics of motherhood, culture, human rights and social good. Over 70 international contributors share their stories from around the globe, bonded by the common thread of motherhood and wanting a better world for their children. World Moms Blog was listed by Forbes Woman as one of the "Best 100 Websites for Women 2012 & 2013" and also called a "must read" by the NY Times Motherlode in 2013. Our Senior Editor in India, Purnima Ramakrishnan, was awarded the BlogHer International Activist Award in 2013.

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NEW YORK, USA: Business Travel (With Children)

On Monday I am told, “you need to go to Paris for 3 days next week.”  I say “OK”, but think, “How can I pull that one-off?  I am still nursing!”.

So I go into action, first calling my mother (who happens to be French, has a large family that live in Paris…and who is the primary caregiver during the day while I am at work), and then I start looking up plane tickets and hotels.   The only way for me to be able to go on this business trip is to take the baby, and therefore, I need to take my mother to care for her while I am at work.

In turn, I need to take my 4-year-old son as well, since he would be otherwise left without a caretaker while we are away. Tickets are bought, hotel reservations made (which is a process on its own, since I need is a place with a kitchen, so that we can prepare food for the kids and are not forced to eat every meal out), bags are packed, and we are off! (more…)

Maman Aya (USA)

Maman Aya is a full-time working mother of 2 beautiful children, a son who is 6 and a daughter who is two. She is raising her children in the high-pressure city of New York within a bilingual and multi-religious home. Aya was born in Canada to a French mother who then swiftly whisked her away to NYC, where she grew up and spent most of her life. She was raised following Jewish traditions and married an Irish Catholic American who doesn’t speak any other language (which did not go over too well with her mother), but who is learning French through his children. Aya enjoys her job but feels “mommy guilt” while at work. She is lucky to have the flexibility to work from home on Thursdays and recently decided to change her schedule to have “mommy Fridays”, but still feels torn about her time away from her babies. Maman Aya is not a writer by any stretch of the imagination, but has been drawn in by the mothers who write for World Moms Blog. She looks forward to joining the team and trying her hand at writing!

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CANADA: Breastfeeding

I love research.

I think it comes as part of the “I-have-an-anxiety-disorder” package that I research things obsessively. Getting a dog? Buy ALL the dog books. Having a baby? Spend hundreds of hours trawling through research study abstracts.

So when I saw a notice at the Reproductive Mental Health Centre looking for participants in a study on infant feeding in mothers with depression and anxiety, I volunteered. Why not give back?

Infant feeding and maternal mental health are slightly controversial topic. Research has shown that mothers with post partum depression are more likely to be formula feeders than breast feeders.

What no one really knows is which causes the other.

Does breastfeeding make you happier? Does formula feeding make you miserable? Or does post partum depression just wreck your chances of breastfeeding success? (more…)

Carol (Canada)

Carol from If By Yes has lived in four different Canadian provinces as well as the Caribbean. Now she lives in Vancouver, working a full time job at a vet clinic, training dogs on the side, and raising her son and daughter to be good citizens of the world. Carol is known for wearing inside-out underwear, microwaving yoghurt, killing house plants, over-thinking the mundane, and pointing out grammatical errors in "Twilight". When not trying to wrestle her son down for a nap, Carol loves to read and write. Carol can also be found on her blog, If By Yes, and on Twitter @IfByYesTweets

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NEW JERSEY, USA: To Pump, Or Not To Pump?

Two years ago when I had my son, I was determined to make breastfeeding work.  I heard about all of the great benefits through friends, baby books and doctors.  I knew that my maternity leave would be fairly short and along with figuring out breastfeeding, I planned to pump as well.  Well, both breastfeeding and pumping came with lots of surprises – some good and some bad!

I am pregnant again and due in June, and I am contemplating what will work best the second time around.

The question I keep asking myself – will my 12 weeks of maternity leave be sufficient for breastfeeding?  Or will I resume the torture, headache and embarrassment that came with pumping in the workplace?! (more…)

Wall Street Mama (USA)

Wall Street Mama was born and raised in the suburbs of Chicago and moved to NJ when she was a teenager. She fell in love with New York City and set her mind to one thing after college – working on Wall Street. She has spent the last 16 years working on the trading floor at three major banks. As an Institutional Salesperson, she is responsible for helping large corporations and money funds invest their short term cash in the fixed income part of the market. She lives in the suburbs of central NJ with her husband of 11 years, their amazing 21 month old boy and their first baby – a very spoiled Maltese. She has baby #2 on the way and is expecting a little girl in June 2012. She is a full time working mother and struggles with “having it all” while wondering if that is even possible. Wall Street Mama was married at the age of 25 but waited to have children because she felt she was too focused on her career which required a lot of traveling and entertaining. When she was finally ready, she thought she could plan the exact month she was ready to have a child, like everything else she planned in her life. She was shocked and frustrated when things did not go according to her plan. Fast forward four years later, after a miscarriage and several rounds of failed fertility injections, her little miracle was conceived naturally. She never thought in a million years, that she and her husband would be in their late 30’s by the time they had their first child. Since the financial crisis of 2008, she has endured some of the most difficult years of her life. The stress of trying to conceive was combined with some of life’s biggest challenges. She and her husband, who is a trader, both lost their jobs on Wall Street the exact same month. Her mother was diagnosed with terminal cancer and she ended up passing away while she was 6 months pregnant. At times it didn’t seem like things would ever get better, but she has learned that life is cyclical and what comes down must again go up. Leaving her baby boy with a wonderful nanny each day is difficult, but at times it is easier than she would have expected. She still enjoys the seemingly addictive draw of working on Wall Street. The past few years have been dramatically different from the “good days” but she is focused on trying to achieve what she once had before. She is currently working on launching her own blog, Wall Street Mama, in an attempt to guide others who are focused on continuing their career, yet struggle with leaving their little ones at home. She is weathering the ups and downs of the market and motherhood, one day at a time.

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Saturday Sidebar: What has been your favorite moment on WMB?

Since we celebrated World Moms Blog’s 1st Blogiversary this week, Jen Burden, our founder, asked,

“What has been your favorite moment so far on World Moms Blog?”

The Alchemist of India writes:
“I got my first paid writers’ job after my employer read my first post at World Moms Blog. It was India: In the eyeglasses of the beholder.

I have come a long way from there. I got two editing offers after someone checked out my posts at WMB and another site (Awesome Cuisine). These have been some “Awww, is it me?” moments. The power of affirmations, like Jen mentioned in the Blogiversary post.

I have especially liked Dr. Jeanelle’s post on taking time out for oneself as a mom, and about the emotions when the child leaves the nest. That is one great post and mothers have to always be cautious about their individual identity. I always had that in mind and her post reinstated the same.” (more…)

World Moms Blog

World Moms Blog is an award winning website which writes from over 30 countries on the topics of motherhood, culture, human rights and social good. Over 70 international contributors share their stories from around the globe, bonded by the common thread of motherhood and wanting a better world for their children. World Moms Blog was listed by Forbes Woman as one of the "Best 100 Websites for Women 2012 & 2013" and also called a "must read" by the NY Times Motherlode in 2013. Our Senior Editor in India, Purnima Ramakrishnan, was awarded the BlogHer International Activist Award in 2013.

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