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4/19/2022

"WHAT IS ECOLOGICAL BREASTFEEDING?" A SHORT INTRODUCTION

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One of my most popular posts in this blog is about ecological breastfeeding. Earlier this year, I was asked by Natural Family Planning International to produce a short video about ecological breastfeeding. I wrote the video, filmed it, acted in it, and edited it. This was a fun experience and I hope to produce more parenting videos in the future! Contact me or comment below if you have ideas for parenting videos, or questions I can answer with a video!
Because they go by kind of fast, here are the Seven Standards of Ecological Breastfeeding:
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Do you have comments or questions about ecological breastfeeding (sometimes called eco-breastfeeding)? Do you have eco-bfing experiences to share? Comment below!

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1/13/2015

Ecological Breastfeeding Makes Breastfeeding Easier, Spaces Babies

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What is Ecological Breastfeeding?
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See below for photo attribution.
"Ecological Breastfeeding" is a term originally coined by Sheila Kippley, the co-founder of the Couple to Couple League, (now with Natural Family Planning International) to describe straight-up breastfeeding as it has been done since the beginning of time.  Kippley was a La Leche League leader who was studying and writing about the effects of breastfeeding on fertility back in the 1970's when ecology was the rage.  Had she needed to pick a term today, she probably would have chosen something like "green breastfeeding" or, as I call it, natural breastfeeding.  Ecological breastfeeding is more than "exclusive breastfeeding"--although feeding a baby only breastmilk until he naturally starts solids around six months of age is part of ecological breastfeeding.  It also includes six other "standards" to make it clear if a particular mother is (or is not) practicing ecological breastfeeding.
It must be noted that ALL breastmilk and any way a mother feeds her baby is good.  Whether directly from the breast, from an eye dropper, dripped from a spoon, squirted with a syringe, dribbled out of a cup, or sucked out of a bottle--as the saying goes, "breast is best."  The Seven Standards aren't intended to be a measure of whether or not you are "mom enough" (as the now famous TIME magazine cover challenged).  There are seven "standards" because ecological breastfeeding is a means of spacing babies.  As such, there are rules ("standards") to be followed.  If the standards are followed, most women will experience completely natural infertility (for, on average, about 14-15 months after birth) as her body focuses on growing her babe in arms.  She will neither ovulate nor menstruate during this time of natural infertility.  Until mature eggs are released, there is no chance of pregnancy.  As more time passes from birth, the more likely it is that a mother will begin to ovulate again.  Studies of ecological breastfeeding mothers have shown that the actual rates of pregnancy are virtually zero from 0-3 months; 2% from 3-6 months, and about 6% after 6 months, assuming the mother has not experienced bleeding or spotting on two or more consecutive days.  Eventually, full fertility returns and in the natural order of things, within the context of a normal marital relationship, and with nothing but ecological breastfeeding, babies will come about every two to three years.  ...But if natural infertility--babies spaced without charting, abstinence, barriers, medications or devices--isn't something you desire, then ecological breastfeeding isn't for you.
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My two older sons: their births were spaced 37 months apart.
Ecological breastfeeding isn't a litmus test for "good" or "bad" mothering.  However, it is a completely natural way that babies and pregnancies are spaced, allowing the mother's mineral stores to be replenished.  Meanwhile, the older (ex utero) baby is growing, learning to eat, crawl, walk, and talk, so that when the next baby does come along, Mother can concentrate on him or her, without depriving the older toddler or preschooler of vital nutrition, as may happen with a closer spacing (if her milk supply drops during the pregnancy).  Furthermore, big brother or sister no longer requires the intensive attention that a newborn or infant does, so mother's job is a little easier.  The older sibling is old enough psychologically to understand that the new baby needs mama.  These are significant advantages to ecological breastfeeding that no method of "family planning" can approach.
Kippley’s Ecological Breastfeeding Program sets the stage as much as possible for successful breastfeeding.  While it is not for every family, it certainly would benefit some families who are unlikely to hear of it.  Unfortunately, natural breastfeeding continues to be viewed not only as a countercultural relic of the days of the cave woman, but it is also the best kept secret as a means to naturally space children, even in natural family planning circles.
When I first heard of naturally spacing children through breastfeeding, I had never had a baby.  But after being blessed with our eldest child, I followed Kippley’s “Seven Standards” faithfully.  While everything didn’t turn out exactly as Kippley suggested (O Pediatric Dental Bills, you seem so unjust), there is one area that turned out spot on.  Kippley stated that if you followed all seven standards, and had no bleeding episodes after the first 56 days postpartum, your children would (on average) be spaced two to three years apart.  She was totally right.  After seventeen years of marriage, our six children are all spaced two to three years apart--and this was not due to any underlying infertility as I became pregnant the first time I ovulated several times.  (The only departure from this pattern is between babies four and five, who would have been spaced within that range, but two early pregnancy losses extended the spacing to a little over three years apart.)
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The Hagen Family. Children's ages: 1, 3, 6, 9, 11, and 14 years.
A Real-Life Example: 
Christelle's "Periods" since 2000*

2000: 0
2001: 0
2002: 1
2003: 0
2004: 0
2005: 0
2006: 0
2007: 0
2008: 0
2009: 1
2010**: 8
2011: 0
2012: 0
2013: 1
2014: 0

*2000: the year our oldest child was born
**2010: two of these "periods" were early pregnancy losses
“Who cares?” you may wonder.  “If you hadn't noticed, Christelle, you have a gigantic family...so what's the big deal that your babies are spaced two to three years apart?”  Allow me to explain.  During the past fourteen plus years, I have had exactly eleven "periods".  Other than that--no menstrual bleeding, no cramps, migraines, PMS, or pads; and no ovulations—for years on end.  My husband and I have been free of what others call the “fear” of pregnancy, that is, free to enjoy each other intimately for years without any concerns or even thought given to preventing pregnancy.  No potentially contentious discussions about whether to try for another baby.  No need to chart.  No need to take temps.  Simply letting God plan our family.  By the time my fertility has returned, we have been mentally in the place where another pregnancy and another baby seemed…well…natural!  After all, the next oldest child could walk, talk, and feed herself or himself.  There was space in the family for another baby.
It is not easy to share this most unusual (though completely natural) form of baby spacing with others.  Many are suspicious about how "effective" it really is.  I have heard of many women being told by their health care provider that breastfeeding can't be "trusted" to space babies.  And this is partially true, because assuming a particular mother is following all of the standards, her own length of natural infertility may be shorter than average, depending on her baby's nursing patterns, her own biology, and other factors outside of her control.  While I have no doubt that having normal anatomy and physiology have certainly been in our favor, I suspect that my determination (okay, stubbornness would probably be more accurate) has played as much of a role in our success.  Just as I’ve witnessed when it comes to natural childbirth, those women who are going to “try” to birth naturally frequently do not; so also with those who are going to “try” ecological breastfeeding.  ‘Trying’ means you know you should do it the "natural" way, and if there are zero problems you will do it, but if anything gets tough with the birth or with breastfeeding, you plan to quit.  It’s okay.  Using pain meds during a birth, choosing combination feeding or formula feeding your baby, or using a binky doesn’t make you a "bad" mom.  There are times when these things are necessary.  Just not as often as people think.  More often, they are simply wanted.  This is where the guilt comes in because we Americans don’t allow mothers to want things that aren’t ideal.
Am I adding to the guilt?  I hope not.  My aim is to let mothers and couples know about the most natural form of breastfeeding so they have the option of choosing it, if it is right for them.  
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The first time I got to hold my son in the hospital, 4 days old.
“Ecological breastfeeding” could just be called “easy” breastfeeding.  Not because the lifestyle it requires is necessarily easy (because sometimes it’s not) but because it makes breastfeeding easier.  I know breastfeeding has been easier for me because of following the seven standards of ecological breastfeeding.  As I discussed in my review of the movie Breastmilk, when our sixth baby arrived, I had already successfully fed five babies without a bottle or pump in the house.  However, my sixth baby required special care after his traumatic birth, and if he was to get any of my milk, I was going to need to learn how to pump.  When I sat in that uncomfortable hospital chair, with a sliding curtain providing the only semblance of privacy, I had the unique position of having successfully nursed five beautifully chubby babies before ever needing to use that pump.  I had the perspective of knowing I can and have produced a supply of milk abundant enough to plump up a baby when I was told by the NICU nurse that I am a “below average” pumper.  I feel sad for first-time moms who hear comments like this and assume that being a “below average pumper” means that they don’t make enough milk.  Feeding your baby, not a pump, sets all the right hormones in motion. Producing milk directly for a baby and producing milk for a plastic pump are two completely different things, and really have no correlation at all.
I encourage pregnant moms and new parents to learn about natural breastfeeding, as described by Sheila Kippley in her books Breastfeeding and Natural Child Spacing and more recently The Seven Standards of Ecological Breastfeeding: The Frequency Factor which you can purchase through the Breastfeed {Naturally} shop, if you wish.  Even if you are one of the rare women for whom breastfeeding according to the seven standards does not produce natural infertility, a choice to parent according to these standards, if made because it feels right for your family to parent this way, will produce a harvest of love and joy, as it has in our family.  …It’s time to present the alternative to the technological form of breastfeeding which has become commonplace in America: natural breastfeeding.  Not to create another ideal that we expect all women to want, but to inform mothers and families of a wonderful set of steps to follow that make breastfeeding easier for many, and have the side benefit of naturally spacing babies without any other knowledge, charts, devices, barriers, medications, or procedures.
It's time to present the alternative to the technological form of breastfeeding that has become commonplace in America: natural breastfeeding.  Ecological breastfeeding makes breastfeeding easier and naturally spaces babies.
Natural breastfeeding moms need to come out of the closet, or more accurately, get out of the house! …and let the world know about this most beautiful way to space babies.  To that end, in the coming weeks, I will describe in detail each of Kippley’s Seven Standards and present evidence-based information and personal anecdotes about each of them.  I will follow this up with a series of posts explaining what moms, dads, relatives, employees, employers, clergy, and others can do to promote and support breastfeeding within your walls.  Make sure to come back in the coming weeks to learn what you can do to encourage the spread of information about natural breastfeeding, to help promote healthier and happier families, mothers, and babies.  Or get my posts directly in your email inbox by subscribing to them in the box in the side column of this blog!

Photo Attribution

"Kabala mother" by John Atherton - originally posted to Flickr as New baby and proud mother, Kabala, Sierra Leone (West Africa). Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kabala_mother.jpg#mediaviewer/File:Kabala_mother.jpg

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12/30/2014

Breastmilk, the Movie: a Review

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With both my husband and I working on our family farm, and having six homeschooled children, there is nearly always somebody around the homestead.  However, finding myself with only a sleeping baby in the house over the weekend, I took the opportunity to watch the documentary, Breastmilk, the latest from executive producers Ricki Lake and Abby Epstein (who previously directed and produced The Business of Being Born; and More Business of Being Born).  While there were certainly troublesome segments (such as the “feminist” who graphically exalted “lactation porn”...and the random images of spouting breasts) which require that I post a Do Not Watch In Mixed Company or In the Presence of Children warning, the overall message—that successfully breastfeeding a baby in the United States is practically a miracle—came through loud and clear.  By following a handful of mothers from late in pregnancy through their baby’s first year of life, Breastmilk reveals how terribly difficult it is for American mothers to make milk.

In watching the documentary, I found myself relating to the one mother in the documentary who successfully nursed her baby as she described the odd experience of lending a sympathetic ear to all of her friends who could not breastfeed, but feeling there was no place to share her own prosaic story of breastfeeding success.  Breastmilk left me with feelings akin to survivor’s guilt.  While my own social circles contain a far higher percentage of successful breastfeeding mothers than were included in the documentary, I have experienced a less extreme version of the same story, as it seems that breastfeeding problems are the rule, not the exception.
Though a dual certified birth doula, my decision to practice a “radical” form of breastfeeding, which eschews all bottles and pacifiers (even if filled with breastmilk), means in practice that being present at births is nearly impossible...a fairly serious impediment to practicing my trade.  However, despite hearing of its frequency in other breastfeeding moms, in fourteen years of nearly continuous breastfeeding, I have only once come close to mastitis—and that was during one of the handful of times I have assisted as a birth doula and was separated from my baby for longer than usual.  Staying with one’s baby the bulk of the time certainly makes breastfeeding simpler.

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My son in the NICU
When my sixth child needed intensive care and tube feeding following his birth, I found myself in the awkward position of needing to learn how to pump my milk for the very first time.  Only the lactation consultant on staff seemed to find it normal that I had never pumped or fed from a bottle.  In America, we don’t breastfeed; we pump-and-bottle-feed.  We directly “feed” plastic bottles and lines of tube—and babies only indirectly.  I find it increasingly common to hear of mothers who exclusively pump-and-bottle-feed, even when they are with their babies most or all the time.  Many babies, as the little humans they are, seem to prefer the ease of the faster flow of milk from a bottle--milk that spills right out--rather than the milk they have to work to nurse from their mothers.  While there is nothing wrong with the choice to pump-and-bottle-feed (and this choice has many benefits compared to formula feeding), pump-and-bottle-feeding has the disadvantages of the lack of full hormonal release and most effective suckling and emptying of the breast that a baby gives.  Over time, it may well have a negative effect on the mother's milk supply.
Similarly, many mothers find nursing in public (a necessity unless you never leave your house) incredibly uncomfortable and embarrassing.  Carrying a bottle of pumped milk magically eliminates this embarrassment.  No one looks twice when a mother feeds her baby with a bottle.  However, as I can attest from an outing just yesterday, feeding a baby from the breast—even with a nursing cover—merits triple takes!  It is simply ridiculous that an act that defines our species, that our very species has relied upon for survival, is seen as something immodest, scandalous, and by some, even disgusting.
...Should have worn my 
I AM A MAMMAL: 
ARE YOU?
hat...
How have I been able to feed six children without a bottle in the house?  And more directly: Am I a hippie who also smokes joints and flips peace signs at the least provocation?  Sorry; no joints and no peace signs—not even during the “passing of the peace” at church—but I probably still qualify as a hippie.  I home birth; home school; and have a home business—teaching natural birth classes among other things.  On more than one occasion, I have actually been barefoot and pregnant.  But my “style” of breastfeeding wasn’t the result of following the example of my peace-loving foremothers; it was the result of following the example of one woman: Sheila Kippley.
While the two Business of Being Born documentaries provided alternatives to medicalized childbirth—namely, natural childbirth; out of hospital births; midwives; and doulas--Breastmilk has no practical help to suggest.  A new mother could easily conclude after watching the film that if she doesn’t have a close female friend or partner willing to share in the nursing in order to keep her baby alive, she is destined for breastfeeding failure.
The Community Health Worker featured in Breastmilk wondered aloud what it would be like if WIC didn’t give mothers formula—in her words, if they “forced” mothers to breastfeed exclusively.  Yet the stories of the mothers featured in the documentary demonstrate that withholding formula doesn’t go far enough.  If we want to make breastfeeding easier for normal, healthy moms and babies, we also have to withhold the pump, and keep moms and babies together.  Doesn’t seem realistic?  For those moms who are unable or do not wish to be stay at home mothers, work places with on-site childcare need to receive public praise and public support.  And we need to be unequivocal about our babies.  I find it hard to believe that the librarian complaining about the lack of onsite childcare in Breastmilk was the only mother in the school district who wanted such care.  For all the moms at work places that do not yet offer onsite childcare, determination is needed to reach out to the other pregnant or nursing mothers at your company.  Get together and brainstorm ways to help your babies stay with you at work; don’t sit around and wait for someone in management or leadership to come up with a solution.  Encouraging nursing moms at the work place requires an entire work place culture of breastfeeding support, but it will likely start with determined mother-workers who themselves come up with creative, business-positive solutions.
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Revealingly, the title of this image is "WIC-baby-happy" Source: parentsofcolorseeknewborntoadopt.wordpress.com
In natural childbirth classes, the “Cascade of Interventions” is a common topic of discussion.  I have not noticed the same concept discussed often enough in reference to breastfeeding, although interventions in the childbearing process, both before, during and immediately after birth and throughout the early postpartum weeks definitely affect the ability of the mother to initiate breastfeeding and keep breastfeeding.  (View a chart here that I share in my natural birth classes.)  Furthermore, there are interventions in the breastfeeding process itself that directly impact breastfeeding success.  Just as the natural childbirth movement has been successful in explaining those interventions in the normal birthing process that can result in poor outcomes for the birth, there needs to be a Natural Breastfeeding movement that informs and educates mothers and families about the interventions in breastfeeding that result in poor outcomes for breastfeeding, and more importantly poorer outcomes for babies.
Though the makers of Breastmilk failed to present an alternative to what could be termed “technological” breastfeeding, the reality is that the “natural breastfeeding” model already exists and was described in seven steps over forty years ago: ecological breastfeeding.  When Sheila Kippley described what some of its followers call “eco breastfeeding” she must have been considered very radical indeed.  In 1971, breastfeeding initiation rates (mothers who nursed at least once before being discharged from the hospital) hit an all-time low of 24%. (1)  While breastfeeding initiation rates are much higher today (with 79% of mothers initiating breastfeeding in the United States in 2011) (2), they are still below the Healthy People 2020 goal of 81.9% in all but 17 states. (3)
While great strides have been made over the past 45 years in breastfeeding initiation, improvements in length of breastfeeding lag behind.  About half of America’s babies are already weaned by 6 months of age and less than one third are still nursing at one year of age, (3) despite the recommendation that babies receive at least some breastmilk for at least a full year by the AAP (4) and a full two years "or beyond" by the WHO (5).  If the mothers in Breastmilk are representative, most mothers begin their breastfeeding relationship convinced of the benefits and cautiously optimistic about their own chances for success.  However, interventions in the birthing process and immediate postpartum; easy access to artificial baby milk; well-meaning but ill-informed physicians, government workers, and other authorities; baffled, worried and exhausted husbands, partners and relatives; worries about baby’s growth; a desire by the mother for some sense of control in a process that seems mysterious and lacking in objectivity; as well as misinformation and the undeniable “evidence” from the pump all conspire to undermine the mother’s confidence.  Pretty soon she’s supplementing and without the message from her body to make more milk, her supply drops and with little encouragement or practical help, she may quit all together, convinced she couldn't make 'enough'.
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Leonardo da vinci, Madonna Litta c. 1490-1491. Source: wikimedia commons
In the coming weeks, I will explain in detail the seven components ("Standards") of Sheila Kippley’s Ecological Breastfeeding Program, and then conclude with a series of blog posts written for people in positions key to breastfeeding success or failure, providing specific suggestions for things we can do to support breastfeeding mothers and families.  I invite all those of goodwill to join with me in promoting Natural Breastfeeding, for the health and well-being of mothers and babies everywhere.
Note to Lake and Epstein: time to start filming More Breastmilk.

Three Things You Can Do to Support Natural Breastfeeding Now

Sign up to receive future blog posts from St. Croix Birth & Parenting by submitting your email address in the box on the right-hand column of this webpage.
Support mothers and babies by liking the Natural Breastfeeding page on Facebook.
Feed a Mother and Baby: bring a meal to a breastfeeding mother near you.  Include a thank you card.
References:
(1) "Low Breastfeeding Rates and Public Health in the United States,"  American Journal of Public Health, 2003 December; 93(12)2000
(2) "Breastfeeding Report Card United States 2014" Retrieved from: http://www.cdc.gov/breastfeeding/pdf/2014breastfeedingreportcard.pdf
(3) "Breastfeeding Benefits & Barriers: Breastfeeding Statistics in the United States" Retrieved from: http://www.breastfeedingbasics.org/cgi-bin/deliver.cgi/content/Introduction/sta_us.html
(4) "AAP Reaffirms Breastfeeding Guidelines" Retrieved from: http://www.aap.org/en-us/about-the-aap/aap-press-room/Pages/AAP-Reaffirms-Breastfeeding-Guidelines.aspx
(5) "The World Health Organization's infant feeding recommendation," Retrieved from: http://www.who.int/nutrition/topics/infantfeeding_recommendation/en/

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    Christelle J. K. Hagen, BfNAE, ICI, SBD is a certified birth doula, certified Baby Signs instructor, Certified Birth & Bereavement Doula, fertility educator, and the President and Founder of St. Croix Birth & Parenting. Christelle helps mothers develop strategies to get pregnant naturally, give birth with confidence, and succeed when they breastfeed!
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    "Blessed are those who trust in the Lord, whose trust is in the Lord. They shall be like a tree planted by water, sending out its roots by the stream. It shall not fear when heat comes, and its leaves stay green; In the year of drought it is not anxious, and it does not cease to bear fruit." ~Jeremiah 17:7-8 (NRSV-CE)

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