Breastfeeding advice when you are pregnant

Can I breastfeed?

Pregnant women who are learning about the amazing benefits of breastfeeding, may be asking ‘Can I breastfeed if……..

·         I have had Covid?

·         If I have been vaccinated against Covid?

·         If I haven’t been vaccinated?

·         If I have Covid now?

·         If I have HIV?

·         If I am on chronic medication?

·         If I have to go back to work?

The good news is a resounding YES to all of the above, but let’s understand specific circumstances.

If your Covid test is currently positive, and depending on how well or sick you are, your breastmilk will not be contaminated with the virus – in fact, your immune system will be making antibodies that can protect your baby. Unfortunately, because this virus is airborne, it’s a respiratory infection that’s spread in the air, on hands and from surfaces. Breastfeeding mothers need to be particularly vigilant when it comes to wearing a mask and washing their hands, and breasts. If a mom is ill, during the critical period, it may be helpful for her to express her milk, and ask her partner/friend to feed her baby. As long as stringent hygiene measures are taken, EBM (expressed breast milk) can be used. It’s important to keep breastfeeding so that your breastmilk does not ‘dry up’.  

If you have had Covid or been vaccinated, anti-bodies in your breastmilk will be good for your baby – and yes, you can breastfeed. (Confirmation by Professor Salome Maswime from Global Health). If you have not been vaccinated, understand that it’s important to keep your immune system healthy and to stick to non-pharmaceutical measures to avoid getting the virus; i.e., social distancing, masking and hand washing.

When it comes to HIV, it’s important for pregnant and breastfeeding women to keep their viral load as low as possible by taking Anti-retroviral medication regularly and at the same time every day. Skipping meds gives the virus an opportunity to multiply, increase the viral load and interfere with the body’s immune system and disease control.

Women taking medications for a number of chronic conditions need to get advice from their specialist / pharmacist and lactation consultant. It is reassuring to know that many medications are not harmful to babies. However, mothers who are taking cytotoxic, radioactive and anti-thyroid drugs (other than propylthiouracil) are unfortunately, unable to breastfeed.

Rare medical conditions when babies are unable to tolerate breastmilk are:

• Galactosaemia – This is when galactose collects in the blood. It’s a rare genetic metabolic condition when the baby is unable to metabolize sugar called galactose
• Phenylketonuria – or PKU, is a rare inherited condition that causes an amino acid called phenylalanine to build up in the body
• Maple syrup urine disease – fortunately, this is a rare but serious inherited condition. It means the body cannot process certain amino acids (the "building blocks" of protein) and causes a harmful build-up of toxic substances in the blood and urine
• Breastmilk jaundice – Although this condition is more common, it’s usually not severe. It can begin in the first or second week after birth and usually resolves on its own. Depending on the severity, breastfeeding can continue, but it can sometimes make jaundice worse or last longer than 8 – 12 weeks. Mom may be advised to stop breastfeeding, express and freeze her milk to use later when jaundice has resolved.

 

Working moms can breastfeed. Depending on her circumstances and working environment, women can arrange to:

• Bring her baby to work

• If there is a nursery close by or at her place of work, she can use her tea and lunch breaks to fit in with breastfeeding schedules

• Express her breast milk at work, refrigerate it for her carer to feed to her baby the following day

• Mom can breastfeed in the morning and again when she comes home from work.

When we understand that breastfeeding in the first 6 months at least (ideally for the first year) benefits your baby’s health not only during babyhood and childhood, but can influence long-term illnesses like hypertension and diabetes in later life, any inconveniences on Mom’s part is a life-long (never to be repeated) gift for your child.      

What is love?

 

Love is …..

If you’re from the 70’s era (like I am) you’ll remember Kim Casali’s cartoon’s following the Love Story’s theme … Love is never having to say you’re sorry.

What is love?

I went through a nasty Lupus flare over Christmas. This, added to Covid lockdown restrictions that meant not being able to shop at the mall and mingle with the Christmas crowd, savour the atmosphere of glitter and tinsel, and jiggle to the jingle of jolly Christmas music, meant a pretty dull and boring Christmas. Right?

Wrong.

Looking back, it was a very special Christmas for us, as a couple. For the first time, in the nearly 43 years that we have been together, I was not in charge of the kitchen or the cooking, the decorations and traditional Christmas eve dinner. Granted, this was something I always enjoyed with the children and grandchildren, gathered around our then, ample dining-room table. Last Christmas, it was just the two of us in our little retirement cottage with a few sprigs of greenery, roses from the garden, red paper serviettes and a retrieved teddy-bear dressed in Christmas regalia to go with a delicious dinner – cooked and served by my husband. It was so romantic!

My point?

It’s post-Valentine’s Day.  A celebration we associate with gifts, cards, flowers and heart-shaped balloons. It’s superficial romance really. Bling compared with true love. True love is challenging, but it also out the best in us. Love means making sacrifices. Doing things that will make your partner happy – even if you’re not over the moon about them yourself (like watching football instead of a movie). It’s living those wedding vows: loving one another in sickness and in health, in good times and in bad, till death. A pretty big commitment.  

Don’t let Monday erase the romance of Sunday. Treasure true love today and every day.

Inflammation, Covid-19 and your health

 

Inflammation and your health

Professor Graeme Meintjes, who works at Khayelitsha and Groote Schuur hospitals has warned South Africans of a third Covid wave ‘in the near future’.       

This means that it’s not the time to get complacent about Covid-19. The health-care system may be gearing up for an increase in the number of patients, but we do our best to get or stay healthy.

Covid-19 is a respiratory disease – and causes pneumonia. In a nutshell, this virus causes inflammation of the respiratory tract that includes the nose, throat, bronchi and lungs. From there the virus attacks the rest of the body.

Let’s understand a bit more about inflammation.

Inflammation helps the body to fight infections and speeds-up healing. Extra blood is pumped to areas affected by toxins, infections or injury. Extra blood to the area of inflammation means a boost of extra oxygen and white blood cells – known as leucocytes or the body’s infection control. A bit like ambulances and other rescue vehicles that rush to the scene of an accident.  Superficial inflammation caused by say a thorn or splinter is easily identified because this area becomes red, feels hot and throbs. Internal (also called systemic inflammation) is not so easy to recognise.

In response to inflammation, the body makes antibodies. These help to prevent re-infection. Sometimes it happens that the immune system gets confused between "self" and "non-self" antibodies, and this can lead to autoimmune disorders like Rheumatoid arthritis, Lupus, IBS (Irritable Bowel Disease), Multiple sclerosis (MS) Type 1 diabetes, Psoriasis and others. Some people who have recovered from Covid-19 has been left with autoimmune symptoms.  

Typical signs of systemic inflammation are body aches, muscle weakness, fatigue, and memory loss. There are also more serious symptoms like dizziness and insulin resistance, IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome), lower backache, and an increased risk of a heart attack or a stroke. 

What can you do to minimise Covid-19 risks?

-    Keep-up with precautions – wearing a mask, social distancing, and hand washing. The effectiveness and pros and cons of wearing a mask is a blog on its own. But let’s just say it reminds you to keep your hands away from your face.

-    Make sure you get a good night’s sleep – preferably without the help of sleeping tablets

-    Fresh air and exercise: try walking for at least 40 minutes every day – 20 of these bare-foot on the soft grass. Walking barefoot on the grass, sand, sea-shore or smooth pebbles are nature’s ‘reflexology’ that reconnects you to the earth

-    Daily yoga and meditation

-    Revisit your spice-rack. Turmeric, rosemary, cinnamon, cumin and ginger have wonderful healing benefits

-    Grow herbs in your garden

-    Eat more fruits, vegetables, chopped nuts, beans and fish

-    Green leafy veggies contain antioxidants that help to minimise inflammation

-    Lose that extra weight you’ve been carrying around with you for way too long now. Obesity increases your risk of other health problems

-    There’s a good reason why you should stop smoking, and minimise your alcohol intake.