Breastfeeding article (swiped from my step parenting news group) ;)

October 21, 2003

Norway Leads Industrial Nations Back to Breast-Feeding

By LIZETTE ALVAREZ

SLO - Norway has revolutionized a woman's right to breast-feed.

Mothers breast-feed when and where they want: buses, parks, cafes,
stores.
With rare exceptions, none leave
the hospital without breast-feeding or dare ask for infant formula as a
substitute. For trouble at home, the phone book
obligingly lists a company called Breast-Feeding Help.

Working mothers also get a break: two hours off a day to breast-feed their
child at home or in the office. Breast-feeding
at the desk is not off limits.

While many countries, including the United States and Britain, still
struggle
to convince ambivalent mothers, Norway
and its neighbor Sweden have overwhelmingly succeeded in promoting the
benefits
of breast milk.

Today, more than three decades after bottle feeding peaked in the late
1960's,
99 percent of mothers here nurse their
newborns in the hospital. Six months later, 80 percent are still nursing, a
rate that compares with 20 percent in Britain
and 32 percent in the United States, which are viewed as bottle-feeding
cultures.

"You are expected to breast-feed here," said Kristine Fossheim, 31, a
Norwegian
nurse who is taking a one-year
maternity leave to care for her 10-month-old son, Erik. "There is a real
focus
on it from everybody."

"Women who are not able to are very, very sad," she added. "They feel like
failures if they cannot breast-feed."

Studies have shown that babies who are breast-fed are generally healthier,
suffering fewer colds, ear infections and
stomach distress than babies who are given only infant formula. Some studies
have also linked breast milk to higher
I.Q.'s.

While doctors encourage mothers to breast-feed in America, practical
considerations sometimes win out. Short
maternity leaves and hectic schedules do not always make it easy for mothers
to
begin nursing.

American mothers do not feel the same intense peer pressure that Norwegian
mothers feel to breast-feed. Nursing
babies may benefit more from breast milk, but at the end of the day,
formula-fed babies also thrive, American mothers
say.

An income gap also exists. The wealthier and better educated the mother, the
more likely she will nurse. Compared
with the United States and Britain, Norway is relatively homogeneous.

Formula, so abundant in the United States, seems almost illicit here. In
American hospitals, mothers are given formula
samples on their way out the door. Here it is conspicuously absent from
hospitals, and advertising it is banned.

Supermarkets offer limited stock because demand is so low. There are few
baby
bottle decorations or baby bottle
designs on shower invitations.

Norway succeeded in part because the challenge was manageable: with a small
population, there are some 50,000
births a year. It is also socially progressive, relatively educated and
wealthy. But over a span of 35 years it has become
a role model for how to swap bottles for breasts.

The turnaround began in 1970, with a grass-roots campaign started by one
Norwegian mother, Elisabet Helsing.

At the time, women in Norway were no different from the rest of the Western
world when it came to feeding their babies.
Bottle feeding was not only modern and hip, it was also heavily promoted by
formula companies and doctors. Millions of
women in Norway, and all over the Westernized world, abandoned
breast-feeding.

"The whole aspect of nurturing was just removed from the breast," said Mary
Lofton, a spokeswoman for La Leche
League, the first organization in the United States to promote nursing.
"Breast-feeding was a real drag. And if you
wanted to do it, it was quite a heroic act on your part."

Ms. Helsing, though, said she was convinced that breast milk was better than
formula. After getting her hands on a book
written by La Leche, she wrote her own light-hearted book on nursing in
1970.
Then she walked into the Health Ministry
and asked an official whether she could print up a pamphlet.

That official, pregnant with her fourth child, turned out to be Gro Harlem
Brundtland, who became prime minister in the
1980's and 1990's. "She had just taken a master's degree at Harvard, and her
subject had been the decline in
breast-feeding," Ms. Helsing said with a laugh. "She said O.K."

That led to the creation of a number of mother-to-mother groups, which
stoked
national interest in nursing. The mothers
lobbied the government to help reverse the trend in bottle feeding. Before
long, leaflets were distributed, mothers'
groups secured financing and hospital staffs received training, all done
with
the kind of zeal Nordic countries love to
muster.

"It's viewed as the modern way of feeding now," said Anne Baerug, the
project
leader for Norway's National
Breast-Feeding Center. "It's something that is part of being a mother. It's
trendy, good and positive."

The 1990's saw the introduction of "baby friendly" hospitals. Babies were
left
in the same hospital rooms as their
mothers. They were fed, not on schedule, but when they wanted. Women, whose
own
mothers knew little about
breast-feeding, were encouraged and taught how to nurse. Problem cases got
extra help.

In Britain, for example, hospitals and midwives are still fighting for
proper
instruction in breast-feeding techniques,
something that contributes to the country's low success rate.

Two other factors have also been crucial to Norway's success. Mothers
receive
10-month maternity leaves at full pay or
12-month leaves at 80 percent pay. And infant formula is used only as an
exception to the rule.

The long maternity leave makes it more practical to nurse. Many women in the
United States, where maternity leaves
are often no longer than four to six weeks, still feel too uncomfortable or
harried to pump milk at work. Sometimes it is
simply impractical.

Norwegian mothers say everything about the culture compels them to
breast-feed.
"Everybody in the hospital is focused
on it," said Nora Brinchmann, 31, who was attending a mothers' group at a
baby
clinic. "Everybody talks about it.
Everybody else breast-feeds."

Hedvig Nordeng, 31, mother of 9-month-old Elias, said from her usual
breast-feeding outpost in an Oslo cafe: "When a
new recommendation comes out, people tend to follow it. In France, people
try
to find a way around them. We are quite
obedient, I think."


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Wow, what a great article (and how saddening). Thanks for sharing...
"badgirl" wrote in message
news:eRklb.847894$uu5.150994@sccrnsc04...
October 21, 2003

Norway Leads Industrial Nations Back to Breast-Feeding

By LIZETTE ALVAREZ

SLO - Norway has revolutionized a woman's right to breast-feed.

Mothers breast-feed when and where they want: buses, parks, cafes,
stores.
With rare exceptions, none leave
the hospital without breast-feeding or dare ask for infant formula as a
substitute. For trouble at home, the phone book
obligingly lists a company called Breast-Feeding Help.

Working mothers also get a break: two hours off a day to breast-feed their
child at home or in the office. Breast-feeding
at the desk is not off limits.

While many countries, including the United States and Britain, still
struggle
to convince ambivalent mothers, Norway
and its neighbor Sweden have overwhelmingly succeeded in promoting the
benefits
of breast milk.

Today, more than three decades after bottle feeding peaked in the late
1960's,
99 percent of mothers here nurse their
newborns in the hospital. Six months later, 80 percent are still nursing,
a
rate that compares with 20 percent in Britain
and 32 percent in the United States, which are viewed as bottle-feeding
cultures.

"You are expected to breast-feed here," said Kristine Fossheim, 31, a
Norwegian
nurse who is taking a one-year
maternity leave to care for her 10-month-old son, Erik. "There is a real
focus
on it from everybody."

"Women who are not able to are very, very sad," she added. "They feel like
failures if they cannot breast-feed."

Studies have shown that babies who are breast-fed are generally healthier,
suffering fewer colds, ear infections and
stomach distress than babies who are given only infant formula. Some
studies
have also linked breast milk to higher
I.Q.'s.

While doctors encourage mothers to breast-feed in America, practical
considerations sometimes win out. Short
maternity leaves and hectic schedules do not always make it easy for
mothers
to
begin nursing.

American mothers do not feel the same intense peer pressure that Norwegian
mothers feel to breast-feed. Nursing
babies may benefit more from breast milk, but at the end of the day,
formula-fed babies also thrive, American mothers
say.

An income gap also exists. The wealthier and better educated the mother,
the
more likely she will nurse. Compared
with the United States and Britain, Norway is relatively homogeneous.

Formula, so abundant in the United States, seems almost illicit here. In
American hospitals, mothers are given formula
samples on their way out the door. Here it is conspicuously absent from
hospitals, and advertising it is banned.

Supermarkets offer limited stock because demand is so low. There are few
baby
bottle decorations or baby bottle
designs on shower invitations.

Norway succeeded in part because the challenge was manageable: with a
small
population, there are some 50,000
births a year. It is also socially progressive, relatively educated and
wealthy. But over a span of 35 years it has become
a role model for how to swap bottles for breasts.

The turnaround began in 1970, with a grass-roots campaign started by one
Norwegian mother, Elisabet Helsing.

At the time, women in Norway were no different from the rest of the
Western
world when it came to feeding their babies.
Bottle feeding was not only modern and hip, it was also heavily promoted
by
formula companies and doctors. Millions of
women in Norway, and all over the Westernized world, abandoned
breast-feeding.

"The whole aspect of nurturing was just removed from the breast," said
Mary
Lofton, a spokeswoman for La Leche
League, the first organization in the United States to promote nursing.
"Breast-feeding was a real drag. And if you
wanted to do it, it was quite a heroic act on your part."

Ms. Helsing, though, said she was convinced that breast milk was better
than
formula. After getting her hands on a book
written by La Leche, she wrote her own light-hearted book on nursing in
1970.
Then she walked into the Health Ministry
and asked an official whether she could print up a pamphlet.

That official, pregnant with her fourth child, turned out to be Gro Harlem
Brundtland, who became prime minister in the
1980's and 1990's. "She had just taken a master's degree at Harvard, and
her
subject had been the decline in
breast-feeding," Ms. Helsing said with a laugh. "She said O.K."

That led to the creation of a number of mother-to-mother groups, which
stoked
national interest in nursing. The mothers
lobbied the government to help reverse the trend in bottle feeding. Before
long, leaflets were distributed, mothers'
groups secured financing and hospital staffs received training, all done
with
the kind of zeal Nordic countries love to
muster.

"It's viewed as the modern way of feeding now," said Anne Baerug, the
project
leader for Norway's National
Breast-Feeding Center. "It's something that is part of being a mother.
It's
trendy, good and positive."

The 1990's saw the introduction of "baby friendly" hospitals. Babies were
left
in the same hospital rooms as their
mothers. They were fed, not on schedule, but when they wanted. Women,
whose
own
mothers knew little about
breast-feeding, were encouraged and taught how to nurse. Problem cases got
extra help.

In Britain, for example, hospitals and midwives are still fighting for
proper
instruction in breast-feeding techniques,
something that contributes to the country's low success rate.

Two other factors have also been crucial to Norway's success. Mothers
receive
10-month maternity leaves at full pay or
12-month leaves at 80 percent pay. And infant formula is used only as an
exception to the rule.

The long maternity leave makes it more practical to nurse. Many women in
the
United States, where maternity leaves
are often no longer than four to six weeks, still feel too uncomfortable
or
harried to pump milk at work. Sometimes it is
simply impractical.

Norwegian mothers say everything about the culture compels them to
breast-feed.
"Everybody in the hospital is focused
on it," said Nora Brinchmann, 31, who was attending a mothers' group at a
baby
clinic. "Everybody talks about it.
Everybody else breast-feeds."

Hedvig Nordeng, 31, mother of 9-month-old Elias, said from her usual
breast-feeding outpost in an Oslo cafe: "When a
new recommendation comes out, people tend to follow it. In France, people
try
to find a way around them. We are quite
obedient, I think."


Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company | Home | Privacy
Policy
| Search | Corrections | Help | Back to Top

[badgirl]

| Norway Leads Industrial Nations Back to Breast-Feeding

The text below the image says:
«Mothers nursing their infants at a cafe in Oslo. Norwegian law allows
breast-feeding in public places as well as a two-hour break each
workday.»

Actually, public breastfeeding isn't mentioned in any Norwgian law. So
in essence, NY women are better protected by law than Norwegian women
when it comes to BFIP. Perhaps someone should write an e-mail to the
editor and tell them that BFIP is protected by law in NY?

The law requirement when it comes to breastfeeding breaks is one hour
off every without pay, but I guess that more than half of Norwegian
women get the two hours off with pay deal. All public employers have
to offer this, and many others give it to keep good employees.

--
Turid Mevold /
Lydia (07/21/98), Leander (01/23/01) & Hedvig (09/11/02)
My babies: www.roffe.com/leanderbilder/ and www.roffe.com/lydiabilder/

"Turid Mevold" wrote in message
...
[badgirl]

| Norway Leads Industrial Nations Back to Breast-Feeding

The text below the image says:
«Mothers nursing their infants at a cafe in Oslo. Norwegian law allows
breast-feeding in public places as well as a two-hour break each
workday.»

Actually, public breastfeeding isn't mentioned in any Norwgian law. So
in essence, NY women are better protected by law than Norwegian women
when it comes to BFIP. Perhaps someone should write an e-mail to the
editor and tell them that BFIP is protected by law in NY?

Yes, but. If you live in a society where breastfeeding is as accepted as
much as it is in Norway there's *no way* you even need worry about the law.
No-one's going to ask you to leave any premises.

Nikki

We're too darned worky here in the US. I have had supply issues with
both my dds. I may have been able to eventually get off any formula
with my first if I hadn't have had to go back to work at 9 weeks :-(
and I had luckily been laid off with a nice compensation package
before my second was born, so I was able to stay home with her. She
was just about perma-glued onto the breast for the first 3 months. I
am sure I would have had to give formula if I couldn't have let her
have unlimited access to the breasts. 6 weeks like many get is just
wayyyy too short a time for mother and baby. It would be alot better
for problem cases to be able to nurse if they had 10 - 12 months off
work.

KC -
buy or rent Whittlestone Breast Expressers at:
http//www.alittlestore.com

"badgirl" wrote in message news:eRklb.847894$uu5.150994@sccrnsc04...
October 21, 2003

Norway Leads Industrial Nations Back to Breast-Feeding

By LIZETTE ALVAREZ

SLO - Norway has revolutionized a woman's right to breast-feed.

Mothers breast-feed when and where they want: buses, parks, cafes,
stores.
With rare exceptions, none leave
the hospital without breast-feeding or dare ask for infant formula as a
substitute. For trouble at home, the phone book
obligingly lists a company called Breast-Feeding Help.

Working mothers also get a break: two hours off a day to breast-feed their
child at home or in the office. Breast-feeding
at the desk is not off limits.

While many countries, including the United States and Britain, still
struggle
to convince ambivalent mothers, Norway
and its neighbor Sweden have overwhelmingly succeeded in promoting the
benefits
of breast milk.

Today, more than three decades after bottle feeding peaked in the late
1960's,
99 percent of mothers here nurse their
newborns in the hospital. Six months later, 80 percent are still nursing, a
rate that compares with 20 percent in Britain
and 32 percent in the United States, which are viewed as bottle-feeding
cultures.

"You are expected to breast-feed here," said Kristine Fossheim, 31, a
Norwegian
nurse who is taking a one-year
maternity leave to care for her 10-month-old son, Erik. "There is a real
focus
on it from everybody."

"Women who are not able to are very, very sad," she added. "They feel like
failures if they cannot breast-feed."

Studies have shown that babies who are breast-fed are generally healthier,
suffering fewer colds, ear infections and
stomach distress than babies who are given only infant formula. Some studies
have also linked breast milk to higher
I.Q.'s.

While doctors encourage mothers to breast-feed in America, practical
considerations sometimes win out. Short
maternity leaves and hectic schedules do not always make it easy for mothers
to
begin nursing.

American mothers do not feel the same intense peer pressure that Norwegian
mothers feel to breast-feed. Nursing
babies may benefit more from breast milk, but at the end of the day,
formula-fed babies also thrive, American mothers
say.

An income gap also exists. The wealthier and better educated the mother, the
more likely she will nurse. Compared
with the United States and Britain, Norway is relatively homogeneous.

Formula, so abundant in the United States, seems almost illicit here. In
American hospitals, mothers are given formula
samples on their way out the door. Here it is conspicuously absent from
hospitals, and advertising it is banned.

Supermarkets offer limited stock because demand is so low. There are few
baby
bottle decorations or baby bottle
designs on shower invitations.

Norway succeeded in part because the challenge was manageable: with a small
population, there are some 50,000
births a year. It is also socially progressive, relatively educated and
wealthy. But over a span of 35 years it has become
a role model for how to swap bottles for breasts.

The turnaround began in 1970, with a grass-roots campaign started by one
Norwegian mother, Elisabet Helsing.

At the time, women in Norway were no different from the rest of the Western
world when it came to feeding their babies.
Bottle feeding was not only modern and hip, it was also heavily promoted by
formula companies and doctors. Millions of
women in Norway, and all over the Westernized world, abandoned
breast-feeding.

"The whole aspect of nurturing was just removed from the breast," said Mary
Lofton, a spokeswoman for La Leche
League, the first organization in the United States to promote nursing.
"Breast-feeding was a real drag. And if you
wanted to do it, it was quite a heroic act on your part."

Ms. Helsing, though, said she was convinced that breast milk was better than
formula. After getting her hands on a book
written by La Leche, she wrote her own light-hearted book on nursing in
1970.
Then she walked into the Health Ministry
and asked an official whether she could print up a pamphlet.

That official, pregnant with her fourth child, turned out to be Gro Harlem
Brundtland, who became prime minister in the
1980's and 1990's. "She had just taken a master's degree at Harvard, and her
subject had been the decline in
breast-feeding," Ms. Helsing said with a laugh. "She said O.K."

That led to the creation of a number of mother-to-mother groups, which
stoked
national interest in nursing. The mothers
lobbied the government to help reverse the trend in bottle feeding. Before
long, leaflets were distributed, mothers'
groups secured financing and hospital staffs received training, all done
with
the kind of zeal Nordic countries love to
muster.

"It's viewed as the modern way of feeding now," said Anne Baerug, the
project
leader for Norway's National
Breast-Feeding Center. "It's something that is part of being a mother. It's
trendy, good and positive."

The 1990's saw the introduction of "baby friendly" hospitals. Babies were
left
in the same hospital rooms as their
mothers. They were fed, not on schedule, but when they wanted. Women, whose
own
mothers knew little about
breast-feeding, were encouraged and taught how to nurse. Problem cases got
extra help.

In Britain, for example, hospitals and midwives are still fighting for
proper
instruction in breast-feeding techniques,
something that contributes to the country's low success rate.

Two other factors have also been crucial to Norway's success. Mothers
receive
10-month maternity leaves at full pay or
12-month leaves at 80 percent pay. And infant formula is used only as an
exception to the rule.

The long maternity leave makes it more practical to nurse. Many women in the
United States, where maternity leaves
are often no longer than four to six weeks, still feel too uncomfortable or
harried to pump milk at work. Sometimes it is
simply impractical.

Norwegian mothers say everything about the culture compels them to
breast-feed.
"Everybody in the hospital is focused
on it," said Nora Brinchmann, 31, who was attending a mothers' group at a
baby
clinic. "Everybody talks about it.
Everybody else breast-feeds."

Hedvig Nordeng, 31, mother of 9-month-old Elias, said from her usual
breast-feeding outpost in an Oslo cafe: "When a
new recommendation comes out, people tend to follow it. In France, people
try
to find a way around them. We are quite
obedient, I think."


Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company | Home | Privacy
Policy
| Search | Corrections | Help | Back to Top

"news.eclipse.co.uk" wrote in message
...
"Turid Mevold" wrote in message
...
[badgirl]

| Norway Leads Industrial Nations Back to Breast-Feeding

The text below the image says:
«Mothers nursing their infants at a cafe in Oslo. Norwegian law allows
breast-feeding in public places as well as a two-hour break each
workday.»

Actually, public breastfeeding isn't mentioned in any Norwgian law. So
in essence, NY women are better protected by law than Norwegian women
when it comes to BFIP. Perhaps someone should write an e-mail to the
editor and tell them that BFIP is protected by law in NY?

Yes, but. If you live in a society where breastfeeding is as accepted as
much as it is in Norway there's *no way* you even need worry about the
law.
No-one's going to ask you to leave any premises.

Nikki

Another article said that 99% of all Norwegen babies left hospital
breastfed. Denmark comes in on a lousy second with 98% while I believe
Sweden was third with 97%.

No-one would ever say anything in Scandinavia about leaving the premises if
you NIP'ed. They might look, but trying to tell anybody that it was illegal
would only result in loud laughs. No laws are needed. I even believe you
could have intercourse in the street without getting arrested - though it's
not done :-)

Tine, Denmark

"Tine Andersen" wrote in message
k...

"news.eclipse.co.uk" wrote in message
...
"Turid Mevold" wrote in message
...
[badgirl]

| Norway Leads Industrial Nations Back to Breast-Feeding

The text below the image says:
«Mothers nursing their infants at a cafe in Oslo. Norwegian law allows
breast-feeding in public places as well as a two-hour break each
workday.»

Actually, public breastfeeding isn't mentioned in any Norwgian law. So
in essence, NY women are better protected by law than Norwegian women
when it comes to BFIP. Perhaps someone should write an e-mail to the
editor and tell them that BFIP is protected by law in NY?

Yes, but. If you live in a society where breastfeeding is as accepted as
much as it is in Norway there's *no way* you even need worry about the
law.
No-one's going to ask you to leave any premises.

Nikki

Another article said that 99% of all Norwegen babies left hospital
breastfed. Denmark comes in on a lousy second with 98% while I believe
Sweden was third with 97%.

No-one would ever say anything in Scandinavia about leaving the premises
if
you NIP'ed. They might look, but trying to tell anybody that it was
illegal
would only result in loud laughs. No laws are needed. I even believe you
could have intercourse in the street without getting arrested - though
it's
not done :-)

Tine, Denmark

ROFL! Thanks for the laugh. In the meantime I'm in the UK, and when I
breastfed (my 3 year old gave up 4 months ago) I was always desperate for
someone to have a go at me for NIP, so I could let loose! I suppose though
it's a good sign that it never happened.

What's the homebirth rates like over there?

Nikki

"news.eclipse.co.uk" wrote in message
...

"Tine Andersen" wrote in
message
k...

"news.eclipse.co.uk" wrote in message
...
"Turid Mevold" wrote in message
...
[badgirl]

| Norway Leads Industrial Nations Back to Breast-Feeding

The text below the image says:
«Mothers nursing their infants at a cafe in Oslo. Norwegian law
allows
breast-feeding in public places as well as a two-hour break each
workday.»

Actually, public breastfeeding isn't mentioned in any Norwgian law.
So
in essence, NY women are better protected by law than Norwegian
women
when it comes to BFIP. Perhaps someone should write an e-mail to the
editor and tell them that BFIP is protected by law in NY?

Yes, but. If you live in a society where breastfeeding is as accepted
as
much as it is in Norway there's *no way* you even need worry about the
law.
No-one's going to ask you to leave any premises.

Nikki

Another article said that 99% of all Norwegen babies left hospital
breastfed. Denmark comes in on a lousy second with 98% while I believe
Sweden was third with 97%.

No-one would ever say anything in Scandinavia about leaving the premises
if
you NIP'ed. They might look, but trying to tell anybody that it was
illegal
would only result in loud laughs. No laws are needed. I even believe you
could have intercourse in the street without getting arrested - though
it's
not done :-)

Tine, Denmark

ROFL! Thanks for the laugh. In the meantime I'm in the UK, and when I
breastfed (my 3 year old gave up 4 months ago) I was always desperate for
someone to have a go at me for NIP, so I could let loose! I suppose though
it's a good sign that it never happened.

What's the homebirth rates like over there?

Nikki

It's possible - all births are attended to by midwives from hospitals and
some on each hospital take homebirths.

Hospitals are free for everyone and quite baby and BF friendly so not many
do it - guestimate: 4%?

You can give birth in water, you can give birth on a big double bed
surrounded by DH and midwife, you can give birth in a birth chair in a sack
chair or standing, so most options are available in the hospitals. And ALL
have sleeping in - nowhere do they have nurseries apart form the neonatal
departements.

Homeschooling on the other hand: never seen it!

Tine, Denmark

KC wrote:

We're too darned worky here in the US. I have had supply issues with
both my dds. I may have been able to eventually get off any formula
with my first if I hadn't have had to go back to work at 9 weeks :-(

I had the normal 8 weeks off with
a c-section, but took 4 extra weeks
unpaid. I'm lucky in that we could
afford it (hubby actually said I could
take another 4 weeks off it I wanted
to), but that was sufficient time to
establish supply and pumping.

Taking a year off sounds fabulous;
I'd be happy with 6 months.

-- Anita --