Dear President-Elect Obama:
There is virtually universal agreement among health care experts that, with rare exceptions, breastfeeding is the optimal method of feeding all infants, sick as well as healthy, preterm as well as full term. In addition to the myriad health benefits provided to mother and infant, breastfeeding provides significant economic and environmental benefits for families, employers, and society by reducing health care expenses, eliminating the need to purchase expensive formula, and reducing absenteeism from work to care for sick infants. Excess health care costs totaling more than $4 billion must be paid by the U.S. health care system each year to treat otitis media, gastroenteritis, and necrotizing enterocolitis--childhood diseases and conditions preventable or reduced by breastfeeding. When prevention of obesity, diabetes, and other chronic conditions is factored in, the potential economic benefits of breastfeeding are significantly greater.
Given all of these benefits, the United States Breastfeeding Committee joins the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in recommending that infants be exclusively breastfed for six months, and continue to breastfeed for the first year of life and as long afterward as mutually desired by the mother and infant. Yet only a handful of states are currently meeting the federal government’s own Healthy People 2010 breastfeeding targets. Additionally, significant disparities in breastfeeding continue to exist, with non-Hispanic black and socioeconomically disadvantaged groups experiencing lower breastfeeding rates.
Obviously, more needs to be done to ensure the achievement of our national breastfeeding goals and to create an environment where women and their families can be successful in achieving their personal breastfeeding goals. You have the power to take immediate and concrete action to improve the Nation’s health by protecting, promoting, and supporting breastfeeding. We urge you to use your position of leadership and power to set the tone in the federal government to place a high priority on breastfeeding as an essential public health issue.
Please take the following actions to protect, promote, and support breastfeeding, the foundation of lifelong health:
Dear boobs:
I feel like I should take this chance to tell you that I appreciate all you’ve done for me in terms of feeding my children. When I’m not pregnant or nursing…let’s face it…you kinda suck. You are droopy and too small for my taste. I had to have b-cup padding inserted into my wedding dress because I didn’t want to get married with A-Cup boobs! How sad is that?
But when I’m pregnant? You grow to a size I can be proud of! You give me CLEAVAGE! Which I love sooooo much. Of course, with the cleavage come the boobsweat. But I’ve learned to live with that. Having cleavage is just that awesome. And when the babies come? You provide nourishment as well as can be expected. We’ve had our problems because you don’t like to work too hard. But that has it’s perks too as you don’t leak! Yay for non-leaking boobs!
Anyway. I feel this may be our last run together as I’m not sure if anymore children are in our future. In four weeks you will start producing milk for what will probably be my last child and I just wanted to boost your ego a little before you step up to the plate this last time. You’ve both been great and have served your purpose well. I’ll be sad to see you shrink back to the nothings you were before, when the nursing of AndyZ is done. But - I’m thrilled that you’ve performed to the level you have. I could not be more proud of you.
Love, Zoot
You can read the whole blog post here.
