Thank you for visiting my petition. Below is a letter being sent to care providers in the capital district to show them the need for early contact and breastfeeding in the O.R. after a cesarean.I hope that you will also sign your support for this initiative to show how nessesary this is for babies and mothers. I am writing to you to share my experience, in hopes that you will make the same experience available to other women. Specifically I am asking that you strongly consider offering all women the option of having their babies on their bodies as soon as possible when they are in need of a surgical birth. By allowing or even encouraging women to do this, you have the power to immediately improve mother-child bonding, breastfeeding success and to create more positive birth outcomes for your patients. The birth of my second child. moved me to write this letter. I was planning a vaginal birth, and breastfeeding . Due to circumstances beyond my control, as frequently happens, I ended up having a cesarean. I was very committed to having a vaginal birth and was extremely disappointed and incredibly scared about the fact that I would have to have surgery. While I was being repaired, it occurred to me how very important that first hour after birth is to initiating a successful breastfeeding relationship. And as you know research shows that babies who breastfeed have less risk for allergies, have better protection against infection, better brain development, and better overall health then babies who are formula fed. Even the companies that make formula say breast is best. Breastfeeding was not something that I could risk losing with my child. I know how essential breast feeding is to bonding a mother to her baby, and that if a mother doesnt feel bonded to her baby it hugely increases her risk for postpartum depression. So I asked the nurse if she would bring my baby to me to feed while I was being repaired. She hesitated at first saying "We dont usually do that!". So I asked if she would anyway. She eventually agreed, after I insisted, and brought my son to me. He latched on immediately and began to nurse vigorously. The World Health Organization states that "after cesarean section with local anesthesia, breastfeeding can often be initiated immediately." I am so incredibly grateful to have had my son with me so quickly after he was born despite the way in which he came out. Yet the more women I talk to who have had cesareans, planned or unplanned, the more I'm hearing that their biggest disappointment is the fact that they lose that precious time with the baby right after the birth. I believe that it's in the best interest of our society to do everything that we can to ensure the best chance of successful breastfeeding and mother-child bonding. You, as a care giver that women are putting their trust in, are in a unique position of being able to make this world a healthier place from the very beginning of life, creating healthier outcomes for both mothers and babies. In that role I hope you will please consider doing everything you can to make early contact and breast feeding a possibility for mothers who undergo surgical births. Please visit the online petition www.ipetitions.com/petition/cesareanbreastfeedingsupport to see the amount of support out there for this initiative. I hope that you will consider signing on as well. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions or comments.. Sincerely, Kristen M. Klein

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