43
Breast-feeding is making a comeback, consultant says
YOUNGSTOWN
The Tri-county Breastfeeding Connection’s goal throughout August, National Breastfeeding Awareness Month, has been to convince employers of the need to provide time and space for female workers to pump their milk.
A mother’s breast milk is “designer milk” for her baby that is far superior to formula, said Yvonne Dunn, who was a labor and delivery nurse at Northside Medical Center for 30 years before becoming a lactation consultant at the ValleyCare hospital 10 years ago.
A registered nurse, Dunn is a member of the Connection, a coalition of professionals and lay people in Trumbull, Mahoning and Columbiana counties that formed in 2001. Other members include lactation consultants, nutritionists and people associated with the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children.
The Connection’s overall mission is to improve the health of Ohio residents by working collaboratively to promote, support and protect breast-feeding and human-milk feeding.
“We work in the community to raise awareness of the importance of breast-feeding through education and support and to work as agents within our individual organizations,” Dunn said.
The Connection’s 14th annual conference in October will focus on breast-feeding topics by experts throughout the world. Featured speakers will be Vergie Hughes and Maya Bolman.
The 2015 goal of World Breastfeeding Week, which took place the first week in August, was to support women in the workplace and make employers aware of the importance of helping women sustain their milk and be able to return to work, said Dunn of Poland.
Breast-feeding women who return to work need to express milk, ideally about every 3 hours for 15 minutes per session, she said.
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act requires employers to provide reasonable time, about 15 minutes several times during the workday, for an employee to express breast milk for her nursing child for one year after birth. Employers also are required to provide a space, other than a bathroom, that is shielded from view and free from intrusion from coworkers and the public.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends babies receive nothing but breast milk for the first six months of life, said Dunn, a 1969 graduate of Cardinal Mooney High School. She also earned an associate degree in 1973 from Youngstown State University.
“A healthy mother and baby means less absenteeism for the employee and improved productivity for the employer. Mother’s milk serves to protect infants against infections and many childhood disorders, and childhood diseases are lessened,” she said.
Advantages for employers are lower health care costs, lower absenteeism, retention of valuable female employees and more positive public relations, Dunn said.
Dunn said her mother did not breast-feed, but she encouraged her daughter to do so. Dunn is the daughter of Shirley Zidian of Poland and the late Joseph Zidian. She and her husband, Atty. Jamie Dunn, have two children, Danielle Blue and James Zidian, both of Columbus, and two granddaughters.
“In my mother’s day, formula was pushed by companies and doctors. But my generation started heading back toward breast-feeding, and I think more and more women are trying it now. If we can get them to the six-month mark, that’s great. If they go a year, that’s gravy,” she said.
Dunn thanked her mentors, Abby DePaul, a registered nurse, who she said taught her how to teach classes in breast-feeding, and Pam Edenfield, one of the founding members of the Tri-County Connection.
“I taught childbirth and lactation classes most of my career. I’ve loved my job all my life,” she said.