Your Baby, Your Choice
Courtney Carter
/ Categories: WELLNESS, 2024

Your Baby, Your Choice

Feeding options and support to help your baby thrive

A certified lactation consultant at Southwestern Vermont Medical Center (SVMC), Kimberleigh Weiss-Lewit, MA, IBCLC, PMH-C says, “How a family chooses to feed their child is a personal choice that deserves to be respected and supported. The most important thing is ensuring the child is getting adequate nourishment. That may come in the form of breast milk, donor milk, formula, or a combination of the three. Every parent should learn about and carefully consider their options and make the choice that works best for them.”

With over 30 years of experience advising families on feeding options and practices, certified lactation consultant Bridget Bromirski, C-PNP, IBCLC in SVMC’s Women’s and Children’s Services Department encourages all parents-to-be to make full use of all resources available related to the care and feeding of their baby.

“There’s an expression ‘you don’t know what you don’t know.’ I think that applies particularly well to having a baby,” says Bromirski. “Throughout a pregnancy, parents should try to learn about all the resources available to them and learn all they can; this includes feeding options. Just as you want to be comfortable and confident in the choices you make related to delivery, you want to go home with the same sense of confidence about how you’ll feed your baby and know where to turn when you have questions.”

 

SVMC offers the following pre- and post-natal resources related to feeding a newborn. To learn more about these resources, call (802) 447-5160:

Childbirth Education: during the final trimester, covers feeding options and other topics related to delivery and caring for a newborn

Prenatal lactation class: offered every other month to all expectant parents to learn more about lactation, breastfeeding, and feeding their baby human milk

Postpartum lactation support: consultation with a board-certified lactation consultant immediately after birth and throughout a new family’s stay at the hospital  

Ongoing lactation support: SVMC’s lactation consultants are available 24/7 to support and assist in the days, weeks, and months after birth.

The Baby Café: Based out of the Bennington Community Market at 239 Main St., Bennington every Wednesday from 11 to 12:30 p.m., the Baby Café is a free and friendly resource for new and expectant parents—no matter how you are or plan to feed your child. Staffed with International Board-Certified Lactation Consultants and/or RNs, the Café provides breastfeeding support in an informal, drop-in group setting with lunch provided.

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COVID-19 in Pets

News of COVID-19 spreading to animals is causing understandable concern for pet owners, especially those who love their pets like family. While the virus is thought to have originated in animals, there is currently no evidence that pets can spread COVID-19 to humans. There is some evidence that people can spread it to their pets and pets can spread it to each other.

The good news is that the risk of spreading COVID-19 to pets still seems relatively low. Only a handful of confirmed cases of COVID-19 have been identified in animals worldwide. Nonetheless, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is working with their veterinary colleagues to learn more. In the meantime, it makes sense to adapt the people-centered recommendations for our furry friends.

Here's a pet-specific refresher to help further decrease the already low odds that your pet will become infected.

  • Just like people, cats and dogs should decrease their movement outside the home. So if you usually let your dog or cat roam in ways that could bring them into contact with other people or animals, it would be best to discontinue that practice for as long as human restrictions are in place.
  • When you take your dog for a walk, keep him or her leashed and keep at least 6 feet from others whenever possible. (Dogs cannot wear masks comfortably as humans can, so remaining distant is even more important for them.)
  • If someone in the house is ill, they should be isolated from both other people and animals in a "sick room," if possible. The ill person should wear a mask when near the pet and others and avoid direct contact, including petting, snuggling, being kissed or licked, sleeping in the same location, and sharing food or bedding.
  • To keep pets and themselves safe, people should wash their hands before and after handling or caring for their pets, just as they would after having come in contact with another person or a surface that a person could have touched.
  • If your pet becomes ill with COVID-19 symptoms—including coughing, difficulty breathing or shortness of breath, lethargy, sneezing, nasal discharge, vomiting, diarrhea, or fever—call your veterinarian, who will advise regarding testing and care and determine whether your state's public health veterinarian should be notified.

More information about protecting your pets from COVID-19, visit https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/daily-life-coping/animals.html.

Donna Barron, RN, is the infection preventionist at Southwestern Vermont Medical Center.

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