After the WALC conference we had many requests for Dr Tieraona Low Dog’s recipe for Thyme cough syrup.  Below is her recipe.

The Wisconsin State Senate passed AB 57, “The Right to Breastfeed Act” on Tuesday afternoon, February 16, 2010.

The Senate session was scheduled to begin at 11 AM, but they immediately recessed until 12:30 PM. AB 57 was #12 on the agenda. It came up at a little after 1 PM. Without any discussion or changes, it was read, voted on, and passed (by voice vote) in about 30 seconds. From up in the visitor’s gallery I didn’t hear any “nay” votes. So without much fanfare, and with none of the objections raised by some legislators earlier, following many years of effort, this historic bill was finally passed.

A group of mothers, babies and toddlers from La Leche League in Appleton/Neenah had come down by bus and van to witness this event. They had to entertain the little ones for over two hours, but they managed to do it. There were also some doulas in attendance.

Here is the exact wording of the bill that now goes to Governor Doyle for his signature:

253.16 Right to breast-feed. A mother may breast-feed her child in any public or private location where the mother and child are otherwise authorized to be. In such a location, no person may prohibit a mother from breast-feeding her child, direct a mother to move to another location to breast-feed her child, direct a mother to cover her child or breast while breast-feeding, or otherwise restrict a mother from breast-feeding.

A person who interferes with that right is subject to a forfeiture not to exceed $200 under the general penalty provision under current law.

Representative Sandy Pasch, who actively guided this legislation through the Wisconsin legislature, issued the following press release:

From: Rep.Pasch
Sent: Tuesday, February 16, 2010 3:08 PM
Subject: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Rep. Pasch Applauds Senate Passage of Breastfeeding Legislation

For Immediate Release
February 16, 2010

Contact:
Sandy Pasch
608.266.7671

Rep. Pasch Applauds Senate Passage of Breastfeeding Legislation

Legislation will protect breastfeeding mothers from intimidation and harassment, facilitate improved health of infants and mothers

MADISON—Representative Sandy Pasch (D-Whitefish Bay) applauded the Senate passage of Assembly Bill 57—otherwise known at the Right to Breastfeed Act—with broad support on Tuesday. Rep. Pasch introduced this legislation which will allow a woman to breastfeed in any public or private place, where she and her child are otherwise authorized to be, without interference.

“The reality that such a bill is necessary is unfortunate, but mothers across the state continue to encounter harassment while breastfeeding their children,” said Rep. Pasch, the lead Assembly author of the bill. “Senator Fred Risser has demonstrated tremendous leadership as the Senate author of this legislation, and I thank the Senate for their support of this legislation which protects breastfeeding mothers from intimidation and harassment while helping facilitate improved health of infants and mothers alike.”

Healthy People 2010, a program coordinated through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, has a goal of increasing the number of women who breastfeed at birth to 75%, and at six months of age to 50%. Wisconsin has a long way to go to reach those goals—just 62% of Wisconsin mothers breastfeed at birth, and only 22% continue for five to six months.

“Breastfeeding provides the most complete form of nutrition for infants and has been shown to decrease rates of pre-menopausal breast cancer, ovarian cancer, type 2 diabetes, and osteoporosis in mothers,” noted Rep. Pasch, a nurse for over 30 years. “The evidence behind the health benefits of breastfeeding is overwhelming, so we must do all we can to encourage mothers to engage in this behavior.”

According to the Center for Urban Population Health, the number of infants who die within their first year of life in Milwaukee is higher than the city’s number of homicides. Further, African American babies are at the same risk of dying as babies born in Albania, Sri Lanka, and Thailand in some parts of the city. The Wisconsin Partnership Program also notes that Wisconsin’s rank for African American infant mortality has fallen from among the best in the country to third worst.

“It is well-documented that breastfeeding reduces infant mortality rates, so I hope this legislation will help facilitate efforts to combat these tragic and preventable deaths,” said Rep. Pasch. “43 other states have passed laws with language that specifically allows a woman to breastfeed in any public or private location, and Wisconsin is now one step closer to finally joining these ranks. We must not interfere with this natural act and indeed, we must promote it—for the health of the child, the mother, and our state.”

Assembly Bill 57 has passed through both houses of the Legislature and now heads to Governor Doyle’s desk for his signature.

************************************************************************************************

I want to correct some figures in the above press release about Wisconsin breastfeeding rates:

It said,
“Healthy People 2010, a program coordinated through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, has a goal of increasing the number of women who breastfeed at birth to 75%, and at six months of age to 50%. Wisconsin has a long way to go to reach those goals – just 62% of Wisconsin mothers breastfeed at birth, and only 22% continue for five to six months.”

Actually, Wisconsin is doing better than that in the most recent assessment. The correct rates, as of last August’s CDC report, are: The “ever breastfed” number (“breastfed at birth”) is now 75.5% in the 2009 report (citing figures from 2006) and 48.6% are breastfeeding at 6 months (in the 2009 report of the statistics from 2006). These figures come from the National Immunization Survey (NIS), 2005 & 2006, CDC. To see the report, visit http://www.cdc.gov/breastfeeding/data/NIS_data/index.htm

****************************

We can all celebrate this achievement. I will try to find out when the governor will be signing the bill. Perhaps we will be able to gather interested mothers, babies and breastfeeding advocates to attend the signing, as was possible back on March 22, 1996, when then Governor Tommy Thompson signed Assembly Bill 154 into law, exempting breastfeeding in Wisconsin from classification as an act of lewd behavior or sexual gratification in public places. Now we have a much stronger law to protect the rights of babies to be fed and nurtured whenever and wherever they need.

Anne Altshuler, RN, MS, IBCLC
dsulman@wisc.edu

Now that AB 57 has been sent to Governor Doyle for his signature, it may be helpful for all of us to write to him and let him know that we care about this legislation and want him to sign it.

Here is the address:

Governor James Doyle

P.O. Box 7863

Madison, WI 53707

Here is some background information that might help in composing a letter.  It doesn’t have to be lengthy.  We just need to let him know that many people care about this and it is important.  (Critics of the bill say it is not needed and it is a waste of time and taxpayer’s money for legislators to craft this kind of law when they should be concentrating on creating jobs, and that big government is trying to legislate all our behavior, and that people who want to breastfeed should do so in private, and that they personally never saw anyone being harassed for breastfeeding anyway) :

AB 57 was voted on in the Wisconsin State Senate on Tuesday, February 16, 2010 and sent to the governor for his signature.

The text of the bill is:

253.16 Right to breast-feed. A mother may breast-feed her child in any public or private location where the mother and child are otherwiseauthorized to be. In such a location, no person may prohibit a mother from breast-feeding her child, direct a mother to move to another location to breast-feed her child, direct a mother to cover her child or breast while breast-feeding, or otherwise restrict a mother from breast-feeding.

43 other states and the District of Columbia and the Virgin Islands already have this legislation.  If you want details on this, see the National Conference of State Legislatures web site, with the laws on breastfeeding for every state at

http://www.ncsl.org/programs/health/breast50.htm

Previous law in Wisconsin exempted breastfeeding from the definition of lewd behavior, but did not protect the breastfeeding mother from harassment or being told to stop, leave the premises or cover up.  That law (AB 154) was signed by then Governor Tommy Thompson on March 22, 1996.

I mailed my letter today.

Anne Altshuler

dsulman@wisc.edu

Margie Forres, LC  from Florida, sent a report on her Red Cross trip to Haiti, including a good breastfeeding segment.  There is a large album of photos.  If you choose to see them you double-click (and sometimes 4-click) on the photos then use the “back” arrow to return to the album.  Pat Gima

____________________________________________________________

Hi All!

I am back from Haiti, and have one really nasty sore throat! (at least the gastrointestinal stuff is over). We all came back intact, and did some really good work there.

Thank you, everyone, for your prayers and words of support. We all felt loved and supported in all of our work there. We felt safe the entire time.

This disaster is the worst one I have ever worked. I have been a Red Cross Disaster Nurse since hurricane Andrew in 1992 (and a Red Cross volunteer for over 40 years!). I think one of the biggest issues this time is that people can’t really move on yet. Most disasters happen, it’s terrible, but it’s over, and the cleaning up and rebuilding begins. In this one, the aftershocks continue. The entire country has post-traumatic stress disorder, and it is refreshed with every tremble of the Earth.

No one sleeps indoors. Many houses are still standing, pretty much intact. In the town of Petit Goave, people own houses and furniture. They are used to sleeping in beds. Now they all sleep outdoors, In the evenings, they stake out their territory in front of the houses with large bricks or stones that they’ve saved from the rubble, and either set up a tent (if they’re lucky enough to have one) or a shelter they construct with branches and sheets or tarps (again, if they’re lucky) and sleep out on the street. They all have colds, bronchitis and/or respiratory issues. The dust is still thick, as the cleaning up continues.

I was able to hold a lactation clinic on a couple of the days we worked (!!!). It was great to be able to dispel myths, and help women increase their milk supply. The women who were exclusively breastfeeding were very proud of that. I was also able to distribute the “breastfeeding after emergencies” materials from ILCA that were hurriedly translated for me before I left.

And saving the best for last: I was on Haitian radio last Friday for an hour talking about breastfeeding!

!! One of the doctors that I met earlier in the week was also on, as well as a translator who has worked at the UN. Brunine David (the translator) was instrumental in making this happen. We were able to discuss all of the important points and Dr Cimeus asked some great questions (he brought up breastfeeding and HIV). This was no local radio broadcast: it went out to all of Haiti. The broadcast has been repeated several times. I have already heard from Dr. Cimeus, who told me that he has received some great feedback.

Can you tell that I am grinning?

It was worth the small amount of physical discomfort to make these things happen. (btw, I lost 10 pounds). I am already following-up with the people I worked with there to continue this work.

If you are interested in seeing pictures, the link to shutterfly is posted below.

Margie

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AasWjJm3cNWLug

A very well-written article was in the New York Times this week on why not to send formula to Haiti, along with other things not to send.  The breastfeeding section is a delight to see in print.

The link to the article is:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/21/us/21charity.html

Thanks to Becky for all this work – I can’t even imagine!

Love the look of the new web-site. Anxoius to have time to play around and do some blogging.