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Dia's Diary

Most people don't expect to have disaster befall them. But whether it’s an act of war, environmental accident, natural disaster, or financial stress, numerous unfortunate realities can bring life as we know it to a halt.

Breastfeeding mothers in Afghanistan, Lebanon, and Haiti know the importance of their food supply during catastrophes, as do all the women right here in this country who have found themselves in unthinkable situations.  Hurricane Katrina made headlines, but there is no shortage of crises and people all over the world are vulnerable. 

No one hopes to find herself in a desperate situation, but knowing you can take care of your family when an emergency hits can help you survive. Breastfeeding moms know that breastmilk is clean, warm, abundantly available, and the perfect food during good times.  But it can provide more than nutrition during hard times—it can be the difference between life and death.

Heidi Lunn, for example, knows the wonders of breastfeeding. Her Florida house was destroyed in Hurricane Andrew. She was nursing her three-month old baby when the storm hit. Living near the eye of the storm, her neighborhood and all the surrounding communities were destroyed. "We were trapped," Heidi recalls, "we had no water for a week, no fuel, debris covered everything. We couldn't have bought formula then had we wanted to. Thank God I was breastfeeding!"

Breastfeeding also saved the life of Jennifer Stolpa’s son, Clayton.  Jennifer was stranded for 8 days in Nevada with her son and husband, who left his wife and five-month-old in a cave to seek help. Clayton is a thriving child today only because Jennifer chose to breastfeed.  Jennifer melted show in her mouth, held Clayton snugly, and breastfed him throughout the ordeal. The family survived with little more than frostbite and weight loss. Experts agree that breastfeeding saved Clayton's life.

Platypus Media hopes that in today’s increasingly uncertain world, survival stories such as these can replace the tales of tragedy that could be prevented with simple education and preparation.  It is with this in mind that we present our new pamphlet, Breastfeeding: Coping with Crisis.  This attractive, easy-to-read guide reassures new mothers and teaches them how to prepare for and deal with crises—without sacrificing care of their babies.  The information in this pamphlet is crucial for all parents interested in protecting their families in dangerous times. 

Ella Laseinde is accustomed to seeing strangers’ breasts. “I’m a mammographer, so I’m with the breasts constantly,” says Laseinde, 71, who spent 30 years in government service—including five at the National Institutes of Health screening women’s chests. That’s not to say she’s interested in catching sight of stray bosoms outside the office. “I think in today’s time, they need to cover,” Laseinde says of nursing mothers. “There are so many people walking around who can catch a look.”

In 1995, Laseinde patented a contraption to help women  breast-feed in public without sacrificing modesty. Laseinde’s Shield-Me-Baby Nursing Bib, inspired by the birth of a granddaughter, is a halter-style bib that attaches with Velcro around a woman’s neck and fits over her breast.

Though Laseinde’s 14-year patent on the bib expired last week, it’s recently found new life courtesy of neighbor and public-relations mouthpiece Linda Jones, 55. Jones began helping Laseinde market the product a few months ago in order to address what she calls “the ongoing public breast-feeding controversy.” Which side is Jones on? “I believe in covering,” says Jones, who breast-fed her two children, now 36 and 26 years old. “I don’t believe in showing my girls.”

Nowadays, many modern moms see no need to borrow baby’s bib before a public breast-feeding session. Dia Michels, 50, a local breast-feeding advocate, spent a combined 15 years breast-feeding on Capitol Hill, no modesty device required. “The reason women are so freaked out about breast-feeding in public is because we have completely sexualized the breast,” she says.   

"The only way to make breast-feeding easier for women is to desensitize the public to breast exposure. If these devices allow women to hide what they’re doing and cover it because it’s shameful and because it’s embarrassing, it’s just perpetuating the sexualization of the breast.   If your goal is to help a woman with her issues—if the bib allows her to get over the hurdle that’s causing her discomfort—it becomes an empowering device,” Michels says.  Read full article

Announced Results of “Behind the Shower Curtain” Survey - America’s Steamy Secrets Reveal What Men and Women Really Think About in the Shower

In the “Behind the Shower Curtain” survey, 1,000 Americans were asked how they spend their time in the bathroom, what they value most about their behind-the-curtain experience and explored the nuances between men and women’s bathroom behavior.

The survey found, for example, that while women use shower time to contemplate chores, problems and weight, men spend their shower time thinking about work, sex and day dreams.

Men and women did agree that low water pressure is the No. 1 bathroom pet peeve, beating other common annoyances such as tooth paste gobs in the sink, toilet seats left up and hair in the drain, and both agreed that they would rather pay bills than clean the shower.

The Water Pik survey also uncovered unique bathroom behavior patterns of parents – underscoring the importance of the shower for moms especially,

fifty percent of whom use the shower as “a time to escape” compared to twenty-eight percent of dads.

Men vs. Women

Once behind that locked bathroom door, a gender divide emerges.

• While popular opinion is women spend more time in the shower, survey findings show that men shower an average of only 2 minutes less than women (14 minutes for women vs. 12 minutes for men)

• The survey revealed that 64 percent of women think about their to-do lists in the shower, compared with 48 percent of men

• 66 percent of men admit to showering with another adult for intimacy compared to 55 percent of women who admit to having an intimate shower 

Full article

We’re Pleased to Announce!

Come Home Soon, Baby Brother, our coloring book for the big brothers and sisters of babies in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) can now be found on one of the top-ranked preemie support websites!  

Prematurity.org offers extensive information and resources on preemie babies, preemie children, and preemie parent support.