Dear Heather, in the spirit of Frances Perkins, I offer this; Advocacy for Breastfeeding Mothers, for family support:
Today I talked to a dear friend, who is a young nursing mom. We talked about the kind of community support needed for moms to get 24 weeks of time off, to be able to nurse the baby 24/7. My friend is in one of the growth s…
Dear Heather, in the spirit of Frances Perkins, I offer this; Advocacy for Breastfeeding Mothers, for family support:
Today I talked to a dear friend, who is a young nursing mom. We talked about the kind of community support needed for moms to get 24 weeks of time off, to be able to nurse the baby 24/7. My friend is in one of the growth spurt stages, at about 3 months, when the baby is nursing every hour or 2. This is what brings in a bigger milk supply. She is so tired, but she is committed to doing what she can, to help her baby grow. Her baby was premature, and that makes this even more important.
There is a ton of data that childcare issues really matter. If our political candidates will address this, and say they advocate helping get women "disability" (healthy!) time- off for nursing newborns, we will save money on pediatric hospitalizations. We will increase family stability at a time of major exhaustion for women trying to nurse 24/7. We will help babies get nurturance and basic trust formation, which is the most important baseline for healthy personality and character development.
I would like this issue to be in the Democratic platform, that we are advocating for women to get 24 weeks time off for nursing and being home with babies. Even if they are NOT able to nurse, the mother-child bond is strengthened by being able to BE together. The mother mirrors the feelings of the baby, and this connection with the baby is vital to healthy growth. This is not being punitive to those who cannot nurse, it is trying to advocate for the best-case possibility. This will reduce food allergies in children. It will strengthen physical and mental development, and protect children from early infectious disease spreading in communities. When I got this idea passed through the California Medical Association in 2004, we did not have the budget in California to make it happen. But the fastest signatures for my petition were from DADS and GRANDPAS! They see their wives and daughters struggling to do the best for the babies, and they immediately signed on. We can change the ethos of this country from "workaholic" and frenetic, and only caring about individuals, to family-oriented and sustainable development. We can undo decades of forcing overwork on women who are trying to be homemakers and also hold jobs and be responsible members of society. IF the dads and grandfathers will help us, this can become the most popular political point in the campaign. Babies cannot vote, or we would WIN!
Help us help families to get the support they need! 95% of women are working, and we all need help to be able to stay sane and be good mothers. Please pass this on! Copy and paste. Send it to my favorite coach-- Tim Walz! Ask the Democrats you know to put it into the discussions in the Convention! THANK YOU!
We must not leave the fathers out of the plan. Many places have family leave for both mothers and fathers since it is also important for babies to bond with their fathers from infancy.
I have a nephew with a generous paternity leave plan - he and his wife alternated who stayed home and, together, were able to have a parent at home for the first 4 or 6 months after their daughter was born - I thought that was wonderful. My son, on the other hand, who is a lawyer in NYC, got 2 weeks and was pretty much on call for all of it.
The dads get paternity leave, but not that long a time. In California, they can get up to 12 weeks, but 8 weeks paid time off. It is uneven. It will be great if the Harris/Walz team is able to put a plan out there which works to make flexible time off possible for the maximum number of parents.
Dear Heather, in the spirit of Frances Perkins, I offer this; Advocacy for Breastfeeding Mothers, for family support:
Today I talked to a dear friend, who is a young nursing mom. We talked about the kind of community support needed for moms to get 24 weeks of time off, to be able to nurse the baby 24/7. My friend is in one of the growth spurt stages, at about 3 months, when the baby is nursing every hour or 2. This is what brings in a bigger milk supply. She is so tired, but she is committed to doing what she can, to help her baby grow. Her baby was premature, and that makes this even more important.
There is a ton of data that childcare issues really matter. If our political candidates will address this, and say they advocate helping get women "disability" (healthy!) time- off for nursing newborns, we will save money on pediatric hospitalizations. We will increase family stability at a time of major exhaustion for women trying to nurse 24/7. We will help babies get nurturance and basic trust formation, which is the most important baseline for healthy personality and character development.
I would like this issue to be in the Democratic platform, that we are advocating for women to get 24 weeks time off for nursing and being home with babies. Even if they are NOT able to nurse, the mother-child bond is strengthened by being able to BE together. The mother mirrors the feelings of the baby, and this connection with the baby is vital to healthy growth. This is not being punitive to those who cannot nurse, it is trying to advocate for the best-case possibility. This will reduce food allergies in children. It will strengthen physical and mental development, and protect children from early infectious disease spreading in communities. When I got this idea passed through the California Medical Association in 2004, we did not have the budget in California to make it happen. But the fastest signatures for my petition were from DADS and GRANDPAS! They see their wives and daughters struggling to do the best for the babies, and they immediately signed on. We can change the ethos of this country from "workaholic" and frenetic, and only caring about individuals, to family-oriented and sustainable development. We can undo decades of forcing overwork on women who are trying to be homemakers and also hold jobs and be responsible members of society. IF the dads and grandfathers will help us, this can become the most popular political point in the campaign. Babies cannot vote, or we would WIN!
Help us help families to get the support they need! 95% of women are working, and we all need help to be able to stay sane and be good mothers. Please pass this on! Copy and paste. Send it to my favorite coach-- Tim Walz! Ask the Democrats you know to put it into the discussions in the Convention! THANK YOU!
With love and hope,
Martina Nicholson MD FACOG (ObGyn)
Santa Cruz Ca
We must not leave the fathers out of the plan. Many places have family leave for both mothers and fathers since it is also important for babies to bond with their fathers from infancy.
I have a nephew with a generous paternity leave plan - he and his wife alternated who stayed home and, together, were able to have a parent at home for the first 4 or 6 months after their daughter was born - I thought that was wonderful. My son, on the other hand, who is a lawyer in NYC, got 2 weeks and was pretty much on call for all of it.
The dads get paternity leave, but not that long a time. In California, they can get up to 12 weeks, but 8 weeks paid time off. It is uneven. It will be great if the Harris/Walz team is able to put a plan out there which works to make flexible time off possible for the maximum number of parents.
If Republicans were truly pro family values they would support this kind of legislation. Instead, they veto every bill that would support children.