Tag Archives | Lactation Matters

Top 10 Lactation Matters Posts of 2014

Screenshot 2014-12-17 16.07.43As we wind up 2014, we’d like to take a look back at our most popular blog posts of the year. It has been an exciting year at Lactation Matters, as we’ve expanded our reach and put a new focus on content highlighting research and practice from all over the globe. If you are doing something new and innovative in your practice, have a tip or technique to share, or want to tell us about how International Board Certified Lactation Consultants® (IBCLCs®) are impacting breastfeeding families around the world, please send us an email to marketing@ilca.org. We look forward to hearing from you!

Here are our top 10 blog posts of 2014!

Screen Shot 2014-04-16 at 12.54.48 PM#10 – Q&A with Sherry Payne, MSN, RN, CNE, IBCLC: An Innovator in Lactation Equity: In April, we were able to share about the innovative work happening at Uzazi Village, in Kansas City, MO, USA. Sherry’s work not only supports women in her community with birth and breastfeeding but is also is educating practitioners who can expand the work of the center.

#9 – New Strategies for Relieving Engorgement: Tips and Tools from Maya Bolman, BA, BSN, IBCLC: This post, published less than one month ago, is blasting its way to the top of our list of most popular blogs. Including video to demonstrate the technique, Maya Bolman offers time-tested treatment methods for some of our most common lactation related challenges.

#8 – Open Letter: Barriers to the IBCLC Profession: After last summer’s Lactation Summit Addressing Inequities within the Lactation Consultant Profession, the conversation about barriers to entry into our profession has been elevated. We published this Open Letter from Aiden Farrow, highlighting her perspective and in it, she calls out a number of challenges that those who desire to be IBCLCs encounter as they pursue the profession.

5464706246_6acccd82f6#7 – A Closer Look at Cultural Issues Surrounding Breastfeeding: This excellent piece explores some of the beliefs surrounding breastfeeding in world cultures and how they impact our work as IBCLCs. As ILCA expands its global perspective, we strongly encourage all practitioners to be knowledgeable and respectful of the cultural beliefs in their own communities and determine how to integrate them with evidence-based practice.

#6 – Freya’s Gold: Milk Donation After Loss: We are so grateful to the Mothers’ Milk Bank for sharing this incredible story from Monique about donating her breastmilk after the loss of her daughter, Freya. It also contains important resources for working with bereaved families such as Clinical Lactation’s article Lactation After Loss, by Melissa Cole, IBCLC.

#5 – Pumped Up: Supporting Nursing Moms at WorkWhat a great post highlighting creative and “out of the box” solutions for pumping in the workplace! Written by Cathy Carothers, it shares resources developed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office on Women’s Health. Videos and photos are included to feature workable options in virtually every type of employment setting.

Wondering How To Become An IBCLC-#4 – Wondering How to Become an IBCLC?: We get questions daily about how to get started on the journey towards becoming an IBCLC, and so we published this piece as a “one stop shop” for those interested in entering the profession. We know that many of your are sharing it with all of those who contact you with similar questions and we THANK YOU!

#3 – Traveling as a Pumping Mother: We have  found that posts with real-life tips for breastfeeding families are always well received. We first published this post in May 2013, and it addresses a very common concern for many families who are balancing parenthood and employment. It is a great one to share with your clients and patients.

#2 – Pumping Strategies for the Working Mother: This post, first published in May 2012, has been a strong driver of traffic to our blog. Offering practical and well-researched guidance for working families, it continues to garner comments and is a favorite on social media.

New Research_ Direct Correlation Between#1 – New Research: Direct Correlation Between Labor Pain Medications and Breastfeeding: We certainly hit on a “Hot Topic” because the popularity of this post zoomed right by Pumping Strategies for the Working Motherwhich has held our MOST POPULAR POST spot since 2012! This post has received more than 100,000 views since May (more views than we had on the entire blog in our first two years!) and has opened up a new conversation about the impact of birth practices on breastfeeding.

Did you read all 10?

If not, take the opportunity to get a taste of what Lactation Matters is all about. And be watching in 2015 as we expand our focus and bring you more posts highlighting the strong work of IBCLCs around the world.

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A 100,000 Views Celebration!

Grab a party hat and raise your glass!

Lactation Matters has hit a major milestone.

As of September 18, 2013, we have received over 100,000 page views on our blog.  

As ILCA members, this is YOUR blog and YOU have made it successful with your comments, suggestions, blog submissions, and attentiveness to the content we post.

Our most popular posts ever were “Pumping Strategies for the Working Mother” by Wendy Wright and “Why Beyonce Nursing in Public is So Significant” by Robin Kaplan.  Both were shared widely on Facebook and Twitter and brought new views to the blog.

We regularly see readers from around the world.  We have the largest readership from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and Malaysia but also have seen hits of the blog from 159 countries in 2012 alone!

By far, Facebook drives the most traffic to our blog.  Special thanks goes out to Maryanne Perrin, who manages the ILCA Facebook page and does a stellar job of making sure that our blog posts are seen, commented on, and shared. If you haven’t yet done so, make sure that you “like” the ILCA Facebook page.

People also land on our blog by entering search terms into a search engine, like Google.  They might not have any previous knowledge of Lactation Matters but a query like “hands free breastfeeding” might bring someone to a post about this exact subject.  We gets many page views with search terms you might expect like “lactation blogs” but, occasionally, someone finds us by searching such terms as “the impressive power of breastmilk” and “road to lifelong health begins with breastfeeding“.

If you would like to participate by writing a post or helping us to brainstorm ideas for the future, please send an email to lactationmatters@gmail.com.

You have made Lactation Matters successful and, from all of those involved in the administration of the blog, we say THANK YOU!

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Let’s Celebrate: World Breastfeeding Week and Happy Birthday, Lactation Matters!

One year ago, Lactation Matters launched with a focus toward informing and advocating for IBCLCs.  It was no accident that the first posts were published every day during World Breastfeeding Week 2011. The theme of last year’s World Breastfeeding Week was about connecting breastfeeding advocacy with the mothers that need it and ILCA’s commitment to a blog took that theme and ran with it.

Here we are one year later.  Our blog has hundreds of regular readers and dozens of contributors.  We have posted interviews, calls to action, highlights of current research, practical applications and pieces that highlight the important work that IBCLCs do in the world.

Once again, Lactation Matters is looking forward to celebrating World Breastfeeding Week.  Each day this week, we will highlight the work of those advocating for breastfeeding in a different country or culture.  We encourage you to read, to think, to act.  Get involved with your local coalition.  Reach out to a local mother.  Join your professional organization.  Engage with the media.  Come along side a mother and baby.  Together, we can build a worldwide culture of breastfeeding.

 

ILCA would love if you could share your World Breastfeeding Week stories and photos with info@ilca.org. World Breastfeeding Week Kit and promotional items still available here!

 

What will you do to celebrate World Breastfeeding Week?

If you have a story or idea for a post on Lactation Matters, please contact us at lactationmatters@gmail.com. 

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