At our November meeting in Lancing we were delighted to announce that Efrat is now an Accredited LLL Leader. Efrat finished her Leader Application studies just in time to collect her new Leader badge at the LLLGB National Conference in Derby on October 17th. Efrat will co-lead meetings and take calls on the National Helpline in addition to helping local mothers.

 

With the publicity surrounding the Swine Flu Outbreak, La Leche League GB offers information which may answer some of the questions which will arise regarding protection of babies from infection.

 

Guidance from medical experts states that pregnant women should be encouraged to initiate breastfeeding early after birth and feed frequently.  Breastfeeding provides a safe, reliable food source, full of disease-fighting cells and antibodies that help protect infants from germs and illnesses.

 

Mothers exposed to influenza produce specific protection for infants which is transmitted through breastmilk.   Infant formula does not provide these specific infection fighting properties and formula fed babies are particularly vulnerable to respiratory illness.

 

Women can continue to breastfeed while receiving antiviral medications and if a woman is ill she should continue to breastfeed and increase frequency.  The risk of H1N1 (swine) flu transmission through breastmilk is unknown but reports of seasonal flu being transmitted are rare.  By the time a mother begins showing symptoms of the flu her infant has already been exposed. Her milk can provide additional protection for the infant from complications of the flu, such as severe respiratory symptoms, diarrhoea, other gastrointestinal infections and dehydration, along with measures such as hand washing.

 

If the mother or infant is too ill to breastfeed directly at the breast a mother can pump and feed her breastmilk to her baby.

Our original leaflet for mothers in Burgess Hill and Haywards Heath has been completely revised and reprinted in 2008 with grants from both town councils.