Mom's Place

I am back from thanksgiving break, refreshed and ready to press on with the BEST project! I am also REALLY EXCITED about sharing this awesome DVD (see pic) that I hope to share at a future BEST meeting...see more below.

While in Austin, I had a unique opportunity to learn about breastfeeding education and lactation support from the experts at Mom's Place. Mom's Place is part of one of the WIC clinics in Austin, and there is no other breastfeeding resource center like it in the whole state of Texas. WIC mothers can get free breastfeeding help at Mom's Place. While shadowing for the day, I saw one baby with a tongue tie, one baby who was having trouble feeding because her mom was making too much milk, and one mother whose baby was doing just fine and she only needed reassurance that her baby was healthy and gaining weight. I learned so much in 4 hours! Breastfeeding is such a special thing.

This week, the plan for BEST is to have a LLL speaker come talk to the mothers-to-be at Seton Home about nutrition for moms while breastfeeding, and we will surely end up taking about more as the meeting progresses. I have been enjoying the "organic nature" of the meetings, and I hope that casual feel will continue. Miranda and I both agree that it makes the participants seem more comfortable with sharing and asking questions.

Our menu plan for this week is Build-Your-Own-Salads. I hope the girls haven't been to spoiled by the fast food we've been bringing, because we are taking a turn this week towards the healthier foods. It's definitely a needed change...it has been bothering me that we are bringing fast food and soda and then at the same time trying to encourage a healthy lifestyle choice (breastfeeding). Hypocritical? I think so!

I have a great DVD from Mom's Place that we are going to clear with the Center and hopefully show in two weeks at our "holiday party" meeting. I love this DVD! It is a 10 minute rap-cartoon made by the African American Breastfeeding Alliance in UCLA which features a breastfeeding mom who knows all about the benefits that mothers milk has to offer. I think it's fun and also full of good facts, so I hope we get to use it at Seton Home.

I will update on Thursday to share the outcome of the next meeting.