The Catholic Nursing Mothers League and Ecological Breastfeeding

Catholic Nursing Mother League and Ecological Breastfeeding
Hello there! My name is Judith Dunne and I am a breastfeeding mother to my almost 21-month- old daughter. I live in Ireland and love being a part of CNML. I promoted their work, along with the work of John and Sheila Kippley,last February at a Divine Mercy Conference in Dublin. While there, the editor from “The Open Door”, a weekly parish newsletter based in Maynooth, not far from Dublin, asked me if I would be interested in writing a column on CNML and Ecological Breastfeeding, and I have been doing that weekly since. The blogs to follow are an adaptation from my weekly columns. See http://www.theopendoor.ie/
I discovered CNML quite by accident at a conference in Knock while pregnant with my baby daughter. My husband and I were staying at a B & B, and I met a lovely mother who had a few children with her. She recommended to me the author “Sheila Kippley” and that I would find one of her books in the Guadalupe Centre. I found her book there called “Breastfeeding and Catholic Motherhood”.
I was very keen to breastfeed my soon- to- be- born baby,and in this book it was mentioned – and this  is what intrigued me – that there are “Seven Standards of Ecological Breastfeeding” that anyone can follow regardless of religion or belief system and that are beneficial to both mother and baby. This is what I propose to discuss over the next few months in this column. Ecological Breastfeeding is a type of breastfeeding that can give a more extended amenorrhea (the absence of menstrual periods) than other modes of breastfeeding. So it can be used as a natural form of child spacing as well as giving all the other nutritional, emotional and psychological benefits of breastfeeding to both mother and baby, such as increasing the bond between mother and baby through the love   hormone oxytocin, and prolactin,and decreasing the mother’s risk of developing different cancers, particularly breast cancer.
The scientific research in relation to amenorrhea is available most specifically in Sheila Kippley’s book  “The Seven Standards of Ecological Breastfeeding-The Frequency Factor”. Her other book  “Breastfeeding and Natural Child Spacing” is also excellent in the “how to” approach of everyday living as a breastfeeding mother and the different scenarios in which you might find yourself.  I highly recommend both books, and you can also look up more details at www.nfpandmore.org orwww.catholicbreastfeeding.org. Until next time when I will discuss the first standard of ecological breastfeeding, slan gofoill (bye for now)!

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