Baby 411 co-author Dr. Brown on NBC Today Show Thursday August 5th!

[alandenisefields]

Dr. Ari Brown, co-author of our latest book Baby 411, will appear live on the NBC Today Show Thursday August 5th!

The Today Show is doing a series this week on breastfeeding, in conjunction with World Breastfeeding Week.

Dr. Brown will talk on Thursday about the biggest myths surrounding nursing your baby and survival tips for making breastfeeding work after the first month.

So, mark the calendar! Set up your TiVo! Watch Dr. Brown this Thursday August 5th on NBC's Today Show!

--
Alan & Denise Fields
authors, BABY BARGAINS * BABY 411

[sntm]

Great! Pleeeeeaaaaaassssseeee, ask her to be more accurate and more positive than the woman today.

ETA: sorry, didn't know Dr. Brown's gender ;)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
shannon
not-even-pregnant-yet-overachiever
trying-to-conceive :)
PREGNANT! EDD 6/9/03
mama to Jack 6/6/03
http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbons/ribbon_gold_12m.gif[/img][/url]
Breastfeeding 13 months and counting

[mharling]

Yea, the woman today was kind of disappointing. From what I've seen of Dr. Brown, she should be much better.

Mary
Lane 4/03
#2 on the way!!!
http://lilypie.com/days/050302/0/0/1/-6/.png

[mharling]

Yea, the woman today was kind of disappointing. From what I've seen of Dr. Brown, she should be much better.

Mary
Lane 4/03
#2 on the way!!!
http://lilypie.com/days/050302/0/0/1/-6/.png

[alandenisefields]

We didnt' see the sement today---just curious, what disappointed you? What was so negative?

Just want to make sure Dr. Brown doesn't make the same mistake!

alan & denise

[alandenisefields]

We didnt' see the sement today---just curious, what disappointed you? What was so negative?

Just want to make sure Dr. Brown doesn't make the same mistake!

alan & denise

[mharling]

The problem I had with today's segment was there were some blanket statements that I don't think were true. For example, the pediatrician said that women who had had any sort of breast surgery couldn't breastfeed. The woman doing the interview made a blanket statement that 'frankly, breastfeeding is painful' and the pediatrician didn't really respond to that (yes, I know it can be painful, but it doesn't necessarily apply to EVERY breastfeeding woman and I would have expected the pediatrician to respond with some empathy given that this statement could scare lots of people away). It was those sorts of things that bothered me. We all know the importance of having a supportive and knowledgeable pediatrician in terms of breastfeeding and the one today did not come across that way at all. Her tone was also very dry, which didn't help.

The other thing is that they listed disadvantages of the baby for breastfeeding as - 1. if there are allergies, there could be gas, rashes, etc. and 2. baby may refuse to take a bottle. I don't know if they would have talked more if they had time (this was literally the last thing they put up and then they had to cut away) to talk about dietary changes a mom could make, is it really necessary for EVERY breastfed baby to take a bottle, etc.

ETA: I'm more bothered the more I think about this segment. The bottom line is that most of it came across as negative. If a woman were on the fence about breastfeeding, this segment would have done NOTHING to encourage her to go for it. It only seemed to reinforce the myths that exist about it rathering than offering information to counteract them.

Given that the series is to promote breastfeeding, it really didn't live up to what I would have expected; especially from an 'expert'.

Mary
Lane 4/03
#2 on the way!!!
http://lilypie.com/days/050302/0/0/1/-6/.png

[jbowman]

You said it very well Mary (and much better than I could articulate).

To everyone else--I started a thread in the feeding section asking for opinions.

[sntm]

The segment as a whole was pretty bad. They are wholly focused on the negatives. They have made no mention about the really amazing studies which have recently been published. It's all about "what about the problems," "what about if you can't," "isn't it painful," "guilt," "pressure"...

First, every mother they included on there said negative things about breastfeeding, talking about guilt, pressure, etc. The interviewer (who I've been told, formula-fed her baby) focused on a lot of negatives, that the pediatrician did not counter with suggestions for solutions or facts about how common these problems truly are. The bulleted discussion points were inane -- I don't know where they got the list of advantages or disadvantages as they seem to relate to no published information that I've ever seen.

I wrote a letter to NBC about the msnbc website (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5580329/) and how it was erroneous. My letter read:

To whom it may concern:

I am incredibly disappointed at the Today Show regarding their inaccurate and misleading reporting on breastfeeding. Though I missed the aired segment, I did read the excerpt at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5580329/ and was dismayed at the tone of the piece and a few blatant untruths.

If you truly wanted to present good information regarding breastfeeding, you should have chosen someone more knowledgeable on the subject. such as Lawerence Gartner, MD (Chair of the AAP Section on Breastfeeding), Dr. Jack Newman, Dr. William Sears, Dr. Jay Gordon, Dr. Marianne Neifert, or countless others. Perpetuating flawed information is worse than presenting no information at all, and is the worst kind of shoddy journalism.

Most importantly, the excerpt beginning "Is breastfeeding really best?" is completely misleading. The fats, proteins, and carbohydrates are not "almost identical," but very different, in both amounts and composition. As one example, the protein (mostly casein) in formula is much harder to digest and can be associated with intestinal bleeding. Only breastmilk contains, in addition to the antibodies, digestive enzymes, lactoferrin, lysozyme, cholesterol, growth factors, hormones, and living leukocytes.

While there are healthy children who were raised on formula alone, to say that formula is a "safe and healthy" nutrition is wrong. Formula-fed babies are 25% more likely to die as infants than breastfed babies (Chen, Pediatrics, 2004). They are at higher risk for a plethora of problems, including obesity, allergies, leukemia, lower IQ, and those are only the ones that have been studied. Mothers have additional risks, including higher rates of breast cancer, osteoporosis, postpartum bleeding, higher risk of overweight

The posted information discusses the multitude of problems that can occur with breastfeeding, but fails to mention that there are interventions for each and every one of those problems that can allow exclusive breastfeeding.

The description of colustrum highly underemphasized the importance of this substance. It has valuable antibodies and contains chemicals which promote evacuation of the meconium (the sticky black substance) from the baby's bowels. It is not merely a placeholder while waiting for milk, but a unique and important substance.

Supplementation should only occur with a doctor's advice. To suggest that a "hungry infant" may need supplementation is erroneous and will lead to premature weaning. Only an infant that is losing significant weight or dehydrated should receive supplementation and that should ideally be with the mother's expressed breastmilk, as otherwise the lack of demand will lead to supply issues.

On the first day of a newborn's life, he or she may need a lot of sleep but should still be encouraged to breastfeed during the first hour of life, when he or she will be very alert. This was not mentioned at all.

A hypoglycemic baby should first receive mother's expressed colustrum before glucose solutions or formula are given.

When discussing problems with "excessive" gas or fussiness in breastfed infants, you again promoted the misconception that formula feeding will improve gas or fussiness by eliminating the offending items contained in the mother's diet. Most colicky babies do not improve with switch to formula, despite misleading advertising by formula manufacturers where they compare one brand of formula to another and claim it reduces fussiness.

Please, take the time to correct these errors. Your program and website are highly influential, and you should take responsibility for ensuring that your reporting does not sabotage women's breastfeeding, for the sake of their health and their babies.

Sincerely,

Shannon *****, MD






~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
shannon
not-even-pregnant-yet-overachiever
trying-to-conceive :)
PREGNANT! EDD 6/9/03
mama to Jack 6/6/03
http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbons/ribbon_gold_12m.gif[/img][/url]
Breastfeeding 13 months and counting

[LucyG]

Frankly, Campbell Brown (NBC interviewer) is really getting on my nerves with the breastfeeding series. She seems determined to bring up, over and over, how painful nursing was for her friend. While I know that this can certainly be true, and I don't mean at all to belittle the pain issues that many nursing moms have, I just wish she would give it a rest! I don't know whether she has children herself, but I really feel that she should stop mentioning her friend. She seems overly negative about the whole thing. Maybe it's just me, but I'm getting really annoyed with her.

On the whole, I felt that today's segment (Wednesday) was better than yesterday's. The LC they interviewed made some good pro-BF points, and was more encouraging than the ped. from Tuesday. Also, I liked that the segment today featured a mom nursing an older baby. She talked about how working through the early trials of nursing can be very rewarding in the end.

[JElaineB]

Can anyone tell me approximately what time these segements are on? I keep missing them because DS will not stand for watching the Today Show for an extended period of time! I'd like to see Dr. Brown tomorrow.

Thanks,

Jennifer
mom to Jacob 9/27/02

[amp]

I only saw it today and it was on at 8:15 central time.

[mharling]

It was about the same time yesterday, so I would assume the same for tomorrow.

Mary
Lane 4/03
#2 on the way!!!
http://lilypie.com/days/050302/0/0/1/-6/.png

[missym]

I completely agree! I both watched the segments and read the online articles, and I'm disgusted. I emailed the Today show, asking them to tell Campbell to quit harping on her friend's "horrible" experience. Acknowledging that nursing can be difficult and painful is fine, but she just won't let it go.

Also, what is up with this statement?
"Seventy-five percent of moms in the U.S. breastfeed their newborns, but only 30 percent are still breastfeeding at six months (which is the new recommendation from the American Academy of Pediatrics and World Health Organization)."
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5592593/

Don't they have fact-checkers at NBC? Six months of *exclusive* breastfeeding is recommended. It took me 1 minute to find this in the AAP's policy statement:
"It is recommended that breastfeeding continue for at least 12 months, and thereafter for as long as mutually desired."

Missy, mom to Gwen 03/03

[murpheyblue]

BTW, you can watch them on MSNBC's website if you missed them on TV.

[mum1day]

Shannon-
You make me proud to be a breastfeeding advocate and mother!

Brilliantly said!

Natasha
Mum to Giuliana (3/1/04)
http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbons/ribbon_rosequartz_3m.gif

[mum1day]

Double post!

[kelly ann]

Lucy-

I have not watched these segments, but Campbell Brown drives me batty anyway. Yes nursing can be painful for some women, but some moms have minimal pain or discomfort. Nursing was one of the things that went very smoothly for us...of course, it was offset by other struggles. It bothers me that she is a reporter basing her questions and knowledge off of only one such friend rather than doing her research.

Off Topic...I get so annoyed when she does a cooking segment. She is so clueless! Maybe NBC thinks it is cute to have have her do these segments, but I wince in pain.

[Phoebe]

Darn! I'm supposed to be at a yoga class tomorrow at 8:30am. I really want to see the rest of this series. I didn't even know about it until reading the boards. (I'm totally off morning television - it was a huge time waster for me)

It makes me so mad when BF gets dismissed like this. Both my babies were nursed for 13 months, and it was the most positive experience of my life. Yeah it hurt a little in the beginning - so what! You've got to be TOUGH to be a mommy :) And anyway, that's what the tylenol 3 is for that they send home with you from the hospital... . and a little bit of red wine doesn't hurt either.

Phoebe, mom to Susan 3, and David 1

[Phoebe]

Awesome letter Shannon!

Where did you get your breastfeeing 'bar' on your signature? I like that. Our boys are the same age. David last nursed about 2 weeks ago - I've been a little blue about it, I think. Both of my kids just kind of lost interest in BF at 13 months. I've been curious about how women BF longer - is it usually just before bedtime? Neither of my BF books really address issues of extended breastfeeding.

Phoebe, mom to Susan 3, and David 1

[mum1day]

She was brilliant! I watched proudly as she debunked myths and NBC's research!

Well done!

Natasha

[amp]

Darn it! I missed it while I was feeding DS!

Hopefully I can catch the clip on MSNBC online like others have mentioned.

[mharling]

Alan & Denise -
Please pass kudos to Dr. Brown. She was by far the best guest of the series.

Mary
Lane 4/03
#2 Due 3/2/05
http://lilypie.com/days/050302/0/0/1/-6/.png

[missym]

I AGREE!!! She did such a great job of presenting breastfeeding in a positive light. I wanted to cheer when she corrected Campbell about the recommended duration of breastfeeding.

Missy, mom to Gwen 03/03

http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbons/ribbon_gold_12m.gif
17 months and counting!

[amp]

Ack! I want to see it, but no clip is available on MSNBC. Hopefully later today it will be there.

[murpheyblue]

Me too! I'm going to be really bummed if they had video of the other two days and not his one. It seems Dr. Brown did great.

[sntm]

Videos up!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
shannon
not-even-pregnant-yet-overachiever
trying-to-conceive :)
PREGNANT! EDD 6/9/03
mama to Jack 6/6/03
http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbons/ribbon_gold_12m.gif[/img][/url]
Breastfeeding 13 months and counting

[tarahsolazy]

YAY! I want her to be F's doctor! She was so calm, poised, and obvioiusly knowlegeable. And, she obviously nursed her kid(s), too. That gives the viewers the idea that working and BF are not incompatible, as she is an example of a mom who works outside of the home, and BF.

Alan and Denise, you picked a great co-author!

[C99]

Can you post the link to the video; I cannot find it.

[sntm]

Caroline -- I'm running off, but if you go to the site www.msnbc.com and click on video, right below the video queue (halfway down) is a Search in Video option. Search for breastfeeding and you should get the three clips from the series this week. If I get a chance when I come back, I'll post it!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
shannon
not-even-pregnant-yet-overachiever
trying-to-conceive :)
PREGNANT! EDD 6/9/03
mama to Jack 6/6/03
http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbons/ribbon_gold_12m.gif[/img][/url]
Breastfeeding 13 months and counting

[murpheyblue]

Did you find it? If not, here it is:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5603843/

Scroll down a bit on the right.

[redgus]

just tossing my two cents in. fabulous letter, more people need to speak up in support of breastfeeding. i wonder how mankind survived before formula was invented. i experienced discomfort while breastfeeding both dds, but it eventually passed. actually, this second time around it is a lot easier. first dd had colic and was breastfed, second dd is also breastfed but was the best baby from the beginning. it goes to show, everyone is different.
diana-mom to abby(apr 2001) and emma (jan 2004)

[parkersmama]

ITA!!! Dr. Brown was wonderful and put the other "experts" fromt he week to shame! I was cheering her on and proud to be "affiliated" (LOL!) with her. :) Thanks, Dr. Brown, from breastfeeding moms everywhere!