Mama Feelsgood

As taken from #mce_temp_url# 

A young mum was thrown off a Bristol First bus – for breast-feeding her baby.

The driver stopped the bus and told her to stop feeding her six-week-old daughter or get off. And when she refused he threatened to call the police.

Amy Wootten, of Stockwood, was on her way home from the city centre on Tuesday when she was forced off the 54 bus in the rain.

She was ordered off the bus in Wells Road and took an £8 taxi for the rest of her journey home.

The 25-year-old said the driver told her a complaint had been made about her “indecent exposure”

Miss Wootten was feeding Emily at about 4.30pm on a packed bus when the driver threatened to call the police if she did not do as he asked.

She said: “The bus driver told me someone had said I was indecently exposing myself and said stop or get off my bus.

“It was like he was suggesting I was doing horrendous things. But I was being quite discreet about it.

“I couldn’t believe it. I explained that I was only feeding my baby and not exposing myself and the driver said ‘can you get off my bus please’.

“We were told to get off the bus, in the rain, at a stop without a shelter and I was still a 20-minute bus ride away and couldn’t have walked home. I felt completely and utterly humiliated, because it was a packed bus.”

The learning support assistant said no one raised concerns with her about the breast-feeding and the first she knew that anyone was concerned was when the driver spoke to her.

Miss Wootten said: “If I hadn’t fed her, Emily would have screamed and we would probably have had more complaints from people on the bus.

“I was showing a tiny bit of breast, but is it any different to showing your arm or your foot?

“I was absolutely horrified but more cross for my baby girl.”

Miss Wootten said she has fed Emily on buses before and although another passenger had made a comment there had not been such a reaction from the driver.

She relies on bus travel because she cannot drive.

Women are encouraged to breast-feed by the NHS because it has protective effects on them and their children.

There is an initiative in Bristol to encourage women to breast-feed and restaurants, cafes and other public places have signed up to show they welcome breast-feeding mums. Bristol was also the first city in the country to complete one of the stages for the Unicef Baby Friendly award.

The breast-feeding development manager for NHS Bristol, Nicki Symes, said: “There are about 200 venues around the city that welcome breast-feeding.

“We have not approached transport providers as part of the scheme but it is something we will need to do.

“I feel very sorry for this mother, as we support a woman’s right to breast-feed in public.

“It is really disappointing that this has happened and I would be happy to speak to the bus company about their policy.”

Miss Wootten complained to First yesterday and the company apologised for the incident and sent her flowers and gift vouchers.

She said: “I would like them to have a bit of tact and compassion.

“I have really struggled breast-feeding Emily and had so many problems but was determined to do the right thing for her.

“It just makes you really reluctant to feed in public.

“Emily is my first baby and it is only in the last two weeks I have had the confidence to feed her in public rather than sitting in a feeding room.”

First spokeswoman Karen Baxter said drivers would be given guidance to prevent similar incidents happening.

She said: “We are aware of the incident that occurred on Tuesday evening and have already expressed our sincere apologies to Miss Wootten for the distress caused as a result of it.

“We have launched an investigation into exactly what happened.

“As a company we accept that breast-feeding mothers have the right to feed their children when they are hungry, and understand that from time to time it may be necessary to do this while travelling on the bus.

A GROUP of women have been commended for completing a unique training course in how to help other mothers with breastfeeding.

The pilot scheme has been set up by health bosses as part of a drive to get parents to help each other with difficulties and problems with feeding, and to emphasise that “breast is best” for young babies’ diets.

According to NHS statistics, 43 per cent of mothers in west Essex breastfeed at six to eight weeks of their child’s birth, which is below the national average of 48 per cent.

The volunteers all took part in a 12-week course at the Abbeywood and Hazelwood Children’s Centres in Waltham Abbey, spending three hours a week learning how to become a “breastfeeding buddy” and how best to promote the practice in the local area.

Graduates of the course celebrated with a party earlier this week, featuring a cake in the shape of a pair of breasts supplied by Andersons bakery in Epping High Street.

Teresa Morgan, of NHS West Essex, which organised the course along with the children’s centres and the Breastfeeding Network group, congratulated the women for their hard work.

She added: “We hope this new initiative can go from strength to strength.”

Course trainer Jane Neesam said: “I hope more Waltham Abbey mothers will breastfeed with the support they need to maintain it for longer.

“It provides long lasting benefits for babies and mums themselves.”

For more information on breastfeeding support in west Essex call Jo Eley on 01279 698625 or Philippa Hyams on 0208 522 3217.

Article from here

Congratulations to Claire Nasir who gave birth to a baby girl yesterday. Claire who is the weather presenter on GMTV had had a her own fair share of problems trying to conceive her baby must be over the moon with her new arrival.

As yet no name or details ie weight have been released, just a press release on Twitter from ITv

Will keep you updated, but good to know mother and baby are doing well.

All Maclaren single and double umbrella buggies, including the popular Volo and Techno models, were voluntarily recalled in the US.

The British firm, which claims to produce “the world’s most safe” pushchairs stressed that the UK is not affected.

Parents in America have been advised to stop using them immediately by the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).

Maclaren said customers should contact the company for a free set of hinge covers which resolve the problem.

There have been 15 cases of children placing their finger in the hinges “resulting in 12 reports of fingertip amputations”, a joint statement from the firm and the CPSC said.

A Maclaren spokesman added: “Consistent with our unwavering commitment to child safety we are providing US consumers notice of a voluntary recall of all Maclaren umbrella strollers sold in the US.

In co-operation with the US CPSC, we are providing free of charge to all affected consumers and retailers a kit to cover the stroller’s hinge mechanism, which poses a fingertip amputation and laceration hazard to the child when the consumer is unfolding/opening the stroller.

“The voluntary recall is to alert the operator when opening or closing the stroller of the possible risk of injury.

“Safety is our first priority and through this voluntary effort we urge consumers to contact us immediately to obtain the kit which consists of hinge covers designed specifically to fit all Maclaren strollers.”

Maclaren told Sky News the recall does not apply to umbrella buggies sold in the UK because “there are a lower number of similar reported incidents amongst the considerably higher number of Maclaren buggies sold in Europe annually relative to the US market”.

However, as a precaution, the company will put additional warning labels on their pushchairs and in instruction manuals.

The company also highlighted that the definition of “recall” is different in the US and can include all types of corrective action such as the “modification of products at consumers’ homes”.

Maclaren USA is not recalling products from parents for replacement or refund.

The recalled models include the Volo, Triumph, Quest Sport, Quest Mod, Techno XT, Techno XLR, Twin Triumph, Twin Techno and Easy Traveller.

This was taken from Sky news.com 

This is referring to a piece written in yesterdays  The Indepenent newspaper 

As quoted from the article” During pregnancy nearly 50 per cent of mums intend to breastfeed their child once it’s been born. However this statistic drops by nearly half once they have given birth, which suggests that many mothers who’d like to breastfeed find it difficult or simply can’t.”

To be honest personally i thought the % of mums whom would try breastfeeding would be higher, so i am more shocked at the low “try” rate than the ladies who try it and for whatever reason do not continue to breastfeed.

The article goes on to say ”

Research by the Bounty Parenting Club suggests that over two thirds of new mums have never been close enough in real life to a friend or family member who is breastfeeding to actually see how the child latches onto the breast. So where can they go to ask for help or advice?

“Whilst there is lots of breastfeeding advice offered to new and expectant mums, some cannot access the information and support they need at exactly the right time,” says Faye Mingo of Bounty.”

To tackle this problem Bounty has posted a new breastfeeding video onto its website, designed to act as a refresher for new mums. It includes breastfeeding techniques and advice about what parents should look out for to ensure their child is getting the nutrition it needs. You can find the video here 

It’s really easy to forget sometimes that whatever you eat and goes into your body as a breastfeeding mother will go into your babies body too (although not in all instances ). So what about medications ?

Say you have a cold and take an over the counter medication to resolve this, will it also go into your breastmilk and then hence into your baby? Of course the best way of finding this out is to ask your GP or pharmacist and you’ll probably find the majority of drugs prescribed or bought over the counter are fine to take whilst breastfeeding, but you can never be too carefull.

This is a great website that you can use for an online reference (not as a substitute to asking your Doctor of course!), it;s LACTMED and it;s part of the United States Library of Medicine ( couldn’t find a UK one), and it really good information about medications and it’s interaction with breastfeeding / lactation, so it’s a good site to check out. Click HERE for the site.

So if you are abit under the weather hope you feel better soon.

As we are a Brsitol based company i found this on the net and thought it might be of some use to you guys.

This list has been made by the local NCT group in Bristol.

BREASTFEEDING FRIENDLY PLACES IN BRISTOL

A welcome for breastfeeding mothers and their babies can

be found at all the places listed below.

All health centres, baby clinics, Children’s Centres and

libraries in Bristol also welcome breastfeeding mothers.

This list was compiled by breastfeeding mothers from the NCT and local breastfeeding groups. If you wish to add to this list, or would like to give some feedback, please phone a member of the Bristol Breastfeeding Team at Bristol PCT public health department on 9002274. This list can also be found at: www.avon.nhs.uk/kris/docs/breastfeeding

If you need this document in a different format please contact the Breastfeeding Team on 9002274.

As quoted in the Sunday Times

”

Bounty is Barclays’ baby

THE company that runs the popular website for new mothers, Bounty.com, has been bought by Barclays’ private-equity arm for £54m.

The marketing firm Bounty Group was founded in 1959 and is best known for the goodie bags it provides for new parents. It claims to have 3m members and estimates that it reaches 90% of all new babies born in the UK. It publishes a range of pamphlets and books to help new mothers and launched Bounty.com nine years ago.

The business has been bought and sold several times. Barclays acquired it from Kaboose, a Canadian new-media company, which had acquired Bounty in 2007.

Kaboose has also sold its American operations, including the websites Babyzone.com and Amazingmoms.com, to the interactive division of Walt Disney.

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Well have you been catching these shows on chanel 4 over the course of this week? Must admit i am 35 and i learnt something! Tonight it is the turn of pregnancy to be covered by the show, and how the female body changes during pregnancy.

They are having a “real life”husband and wife featured in the show and showing what the consequences of having a baby can do to the body and basically your life!

Here’s the link to the offical website and the section attributed solely to pregnancy. I am going to watch solely in the satisfaction that i am not pregnant (sorry girls who are), how the baby fits in such a small space is a miracle itself , no wonder i got backache during my pregnancy!

wonder if the subject fo breastfeeding will come up?

check it out and let me know what you think, do you think it is educational?

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Just thought  i would highlight this programme which is on tonight. It;s all about the pressures to loose weight after you’ve had your baby. and the extreme lengths some women will go to.

Lovely Louise Redknapp presents the first of three programmes in the ‘Truth About’ series. She investigates the pressure on women to maintain a glamorous pregnancy, and looks at why some women attempt to remove  all signs of it immediately after their baby is born.

I must admit i think Louise Redknapp comes over as a really lovely person, much more down to earth than some celebs, but she mentions she put on 8lbs when recently pregnant, wow all i can say she is really lucky because ALOT of ladies put on alot more weight than that, it;s so common ladies please don’t feel like you are the only one because you;re not.

Anyway will be watching this with interest tonight, 9pm

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