Dear Readers

Dear Readers,

Welcome to a new issue of Breastfeeding Today!

I would like to start by introducing a new addition to our magazine. The new section dedicated to poetry opens with a poem written by Melissa Hollinger for her son, For Jonathan: “I will forever cherish the way you look up at me / This time where I am the single most important person in your life / I will love you forever, forever my baby you’ll be.”

Every moment spent with our children can be a special one, but sometimes the daily rush makes us forget this. Clara F. Zapata Tarrés, in her article A Special La Leche League Online Meeting (click here for the article in Spanish, Una Reunión Especial de la Liga de La Leche en Línea), will remind us that “Slowing down can fit perfectly in our ‘new’ life. Sometimes we feel compelled by our babies to stop. Have you ever experienced this? They remind us that it is not necessary to move constantly…”

Becoming a mother is like starting a whole new life, yet sometimes we are not fully aware of it, perhaps not unlike what happens to newborn babies. Have you ever wondered What Does a Baby Feel at Birth? Through Madeleine Munzer’s review of Dr. Alberto Heart’s webinar, we’ll discover the secrets of “… each stage of a baby’s development, and the normal processes of birth and breastfeeding that foster bonding in the mother/baby dyad. ”

Do you still remember those first moments with your baby? Those first few emotional hours can form the basis for building your baby’s healthy immune system, as Mary Marine will tell us in her article Breastfeeding Skin-to-Skin Helps Baby Build a Healthy Immune System: “Holding babies skin-to-skin immediately after birth, and in the weeks to come, along with exclusive breastfeeding, can help seed and feed the healthy microbiota in their microbiome.”

Each of us experiences having children and breastfeeding them in a unique and very personal way, and we probably don’t realize that someone outside our daily lives is helping to make it possible. As Cally Gibbs will tell us in her article The Shell That Protects Us, “Unbeknown to many of us, global breastfeeding advocates continue to work to preserve and enhance our lives. They have fought very hard to make important changes in the way we practice, view and support breastfeeding. We are protected by their shell.” 

Far or near, may these virtual pages make you feel supported in your personal breastfeeding journey.

Enjoy your reading!

Special thanks go to our cover star Jenny Checo for her beautiful photos.