Breastmilk: Baby's 2nd placenta

So, I am the last breastfeeding blogger to cover the news out on Monday that breastmilk contains stem cells . I am very excited about this discovery for several reasons.

1. We can always make more milk. Just think, your baby comes down with a cancer that is cured with stem cells or has sickle cell anemia and all you have to do is pump a few ounces, send it to a lab and get the cure (I am sure it won't be that easy, I'm not a scientist), well, maybe it's more complicated than that but it could mean a renewable source of stem cells for various treatments to diseases.

2.It could end the whole debate/issue with embryonic stem cells. Why use an embryo if you don't have too?

3. It shows just another way that breastmilk is a living, changing, vital fluid. Not just water or a formula-like substance.

The statement that really caught my eye was what Dr. Cregan had to say about how breastmilk programs the baby's cells and continues the work that the placenta began.

The article from Science Alert says:

He believes that it not only meets all the nutritional needs of a growing infant but contains key markers that guide his or her development into adulthood.

“We already know how breast milk provides for the baby’s nutritional needs, but we are only just beginning to understand that it probably performs many other functions,” says Dr Cregan, a molecular biologist at The University of Western Australia.

He says that, in essence, a new mother’s mammary glands take over from the placenta to provide the development guidance to ensure a baby’s genetic destiny is fulfilled.


Breastmilk provides developmental guidance and genetic programing into adulthood.

That's one to add to the reasons to breastfeed list!

Blogging opportunity for all you mamas out there!

Jennifer James of the Black Breastfeeding Blog and The Mom Bloggers Club is looking for fabulous mama writers to share their experiences with the rest of us! See the information below and contact Jennifer for more information.

The Mom Bloggers Club has partnered with Hybrid Mom (http://www.hybridmom.com) to provide mom bloggers with a great opportunity to be published!

Hybrid Mom, a site focusing on the "real world" of a new generation of moms, will be re-launching soon and would love to publish your work.

Interested? Please email me at jenniferj@hybridmom.com for writer's guidelines. Act fast, the deadline for early submissions is Friday, February 15, 2008.

We'd love to see your work on HybridMom.com.

Visit Mom Bloggers Club at: http://www.mombloggersclub.com

Good luck!

Link Between Breastfeeding and IQ discovered ....again

Apparently scientists have discovered that if you have a specific gene (supposedly 90% of us do) than breastmilk makes you have a higher IQ. Notice I didn't say smarter....I don't know that smart and IQ are necessarily the same thing.

Here's the article if you'd like to read it. I could have told you my children are brilliant...enough proof for me.

Thanks to my sweetie for heads up on this story.

NaBloPoMo Ya'll!

It's NaBloPoMo or National Blog Posting Month! What does that mean? It means you may be sick of me by the end of the month. I am going to try my hardest to blog EVERY DAY for a month.

I am going to try to post every day during November....it sounds impossible. Maybe only to me but it sounds impossible. But I promise to give it the ole college try.

So stay tunned....

Trying out Utterz

Me blog more! I can call y'all!
Have you wondered what I sound like? You might find out soon thanks to this amazing new application I got turned on to by Jennifer over at the Black Breastfeeding Blog! Thanks, girl! And if you read this, you have a beautiful voice yourself.

Mobile post sent by mickyj using Utterz.  Replies.

Lactation Educator Workshop in Nashville TN

I posted a while back about what a Lactation Educator is and does. Did you say, "Hey! I can do that!" or "Wow! That's what I would LOVE to do!" or perhaps you would like to get more training in breastfeeding support and education. This training is perfect for labor doulas, midwives, postpartum doulas, crisis pregnancy center workers, anyone who works with pregnant and postpartum women/families. You do not have to complete the entire Lactation Educator program but the training alone will educate, motivate and encourage you to do just that for your clients.

So I will be having a training in Nashvegas next month - November 17-18, 2007. We will meet in the heart of the beautiful city of Nashville at the historic Nashville Farmer's Market (in an upstairs meeting room). Lunch is available from a variety of ethnic vendors downstairs. This training includes current videos, current research on breast anatomy and successful breastfeeding and challenges for both mother and baby. It is a fun and fabulous weekend and I hope you'll consider joining us!

And just for you...okay and your friends if you spread the word, an amazing discount of $25 off the workshop fee of $325 if you register by November 5, 2007! Just visit the CAPPA.NET and visit the page for my Nashville training. Contact me directly for the discount!

See you next month!!

The Business Doula and Me

Sheri Menelli, the Business Doula(tm) interviewed me the other day regarding Mocha Milk and our coverage on NPR and what having a blog has done for business. To read what she had to say on The Birthing Business Institute's Blog click here.

I think she may be using some of our conversation for future classes and materials of hers. Which is great because I think what Sheri is doing is tremendous. If those of us that are passionate about birth and breastfeeding could actually get organized, focused and making money, we'd be UNSTOPPABLE!! Her business and marketing tips are yes, common sense and not complicated business strategies but they are IMPORTANT, vital steps that most of us are NOT doing. It's about time someone stood up and said, doulas, midwives, lactation consultants, etc. deserve to make good money, should be proud to market their business and should be respected experts in their communities. I hope Sheri will continue with the Birthing Business Institute for years to come, speaking at conferences and doing online seminars. Thanks, Sheri!