Breast cancer screening for breastfeeding mothers

Getting screened for breast cancer can be difficult for a mother who is breastfeeding. Breastfeeding mothers are often told to wean before having a mammogram due to the difficulty of reading one when a woman is lactating.

When I spoke to a nurse at the breast health center of my local hospital about the possibility of having a mammogram while lactating, she told me that a mammogram of someone in my situation would be 'only about 45% effective' so it wasn't worth having one until after weaning. She delicately suggested that I decide for myself which were more important 'nursing my child or 'having a mammogram you can trust.'

According to breastfeeding expert Dr. Jack Newman, "Mammograms are harder to read when the mother is lactating, but can be done and the mother should not stop breastfeeding just to get this done. Furthermore, there are other ways of investigating a breast lump." One of the other ways is a biopsy, and a group in the U.S. called Army of Women is currently seeking another way to test for breast cancer in lactating mothers.

The purpose of this study is to determine if breast cancer and breast cancer risk can be accurately assessed from a breast milk sample. Currently, there is no accurate way to give women information about their personal risk of developing breast cancer. We will use the cells naturally present in breast milk to examine changes in DNA that occur in association with benign and cancerous breast lesions. Learning about the genetic changes associated with both breast cancer and non-cancerous breast lesions will help us develop a way to provide women with information about their breast cancer risk. Using breast milk to screen for breast cancer will reduce unnecessary biopsies among nursing women.

Women who live in the U.S. and are scheduled to have a breast biopsy are being asked to participate in the study.

Birth story

I apologize for not making a post for such a long period of time. I was busy getting ready for this little guy and it's been taking awhile to get some structure in my life since his arrival.

I went into labour the night of the Canadian federal election. I had trouble getting comfortable all night and it turns out that it wasn't just because of Stephen Harper.

My contractions started at around midnight and we left in a taxi at about 2 am. (My ex-boyfriend had been staying in my spare bedroom every night that week so he would be able to go to the hospital with me.) My friend Leah, who was my birthing coach and had gone to prenatal classes with me, met us at the hospital. The nurse put me in a small room and hooked me up to the EMF reader (a machine that measures the contractions and the baby's heartbeat.) This made me a little grumpy. I was also a little grumpy that I had to wait in this room before going into one of the nice big birthing rooms with windows and showers. I had to wait in this room because they had to make sure that I was in labour before letting me go into one of the nice rooms. My contractions were about seven minutes apart at this point so I was fairly certain that I was going into labour.

Now I understand why natural labour advocates feel like hospitals rely on machines too much. My contractions weren't showing up on the reader. This was partly because I was uncomfortable and couldn't sit still and I also had to keep going to the bathroom. The nurse would come in and check the read-out and it would look like my contractions were really far apart. It seemed like she didn't believe me about being in labour. She didn't have to look at the printout to see how far apart or how big my contractions were. She was at a desk right by the little room. She could have asked me or the people with me how far apart my contractions were or, you know, listened to my screams. They were pretty loud because instead of thinking, "breathe in, breathe out, breathe in, breathe out" I was thinking, "breathe in, scream! Breathe in, scream!" I don't think that the machine could have been a more reliable source of information about the situation than I could have been.

The floor doctor came in twice to see how far dilated I was. The second time she checked I was 3 cm dilated so they finally let me go into a nice birthing room. I was in a lot of pain at this point so the nurse who was now looking after me hooked me up with some laughing gas. My birth experience was pretty psychedelic after that happened and it's kind of a blur. Apparently I was making a lot of jokes between my contractions. I remember my ex-boyfriend getting into an argument with the nurse. I also remember yelling at him and Leah saying to him, "We learned about this in baby class, it's normal."

The labour happened very fast and I knew that it was happening fast, but again, it didn't seem like anybody believed me. I can't even describe the pain. It felt like my entire body was part of the process. I had a spiritual revelation at one point but I can't remember what it was now. At one point I was screaming that I could feel the head but I guess everyone just thought I was being a drama queen. I started pushing and I went temporarily blind (or maybe my eyes were closed.) I had no idea what was happening around me, but I suddenly heard voices saying, "Saraline, stop pushing! We have to wait for the doctor! Don't push!" I thought that their advice was absurd so I kept pushing. I felt the head come out and I felt my perineum tear and then I blacked out completely. When I opened my eyes again there was a baby on my chest.

Someone took the baby away and I noticed that my legs were shaking and there were a lot of people staring at my vagina. It was rather disconcerting. Leah talked to me while they were stitching me up. I wanted the people to leave my vagina alone and let me curl up under a warm quilt, but they did not. When they were finished a young woman was apologizing to me for something that happened during the labour but until my baby was on me I'd had no idea that she was in the room.

I found out afterwards that an intern (the young woman who apologized to me) had come in while my doctor was on her way to the hospital. The intern was afraid to deliver the baby without the doctor there so that's why they were telling me not to push. She ran out to get the floor doctor and when he came in my son's head was already halfway out. The doctor yelled at her for running to get him instead of just delivering the baby. My son Eliot was born at 8:25 am.

If I could do it all over again, I still wouldn't want to give birth at home. Maybe at a birthing centre with a midwife, but not in my apartment where all my neighbours could hear me screaming. I would definitely keep Leah. She was a fantastic birthing coach. A few of the nurses asked her if she was a professional midwife. I would still have my ex there as well. It was sweet to see him singing to the baby afterwards.

I did like staying in the hospital after the birth because I could press a button to move my bed up and down or from a laying position to a sitting position. I also didn't have to worry about food because it kept showing up at mealtimes. I felt that my one-night stay in the hospital was a little too short.

A faithful reader of mine (hi J.P!) has requested that I make a list of things that I recommend bringing to the hospital when you're in labour. I've seen many lists like this, but the one thing that they were missing that I wished I'd thought of was toilet paper. One of the indicators that a pregnant woman is going into labour is a soft bowel movement. I had mine at the hospital and I sure would have liked to have something better than one-ply hospital toilet paper!

PETA asks Ben and Jerry's to replace cows with women

PETA often doesn't treat women's issues very delicately. Apparently we're not as important as animals. There was the ad linking animal abuse to Robert Pickton's victims, and the ad labeling women who don't shave their pubic hair as unattractive, and of course the numerous ads portraying idealistic and unrealistic images of women's bodies. Now they're taking on breastfeeding mothers.

This morning PETA sent a letter to Ben and Jerry's asking them to replace cow's milk with human breast milk. PETA argues that breast milk is better for the health of Ben and Jerry's customers, but they don't take into consideration that mothers may prefer to reserve their milk for their infants.

Animals will also benefit from the switch to breast milk. Like all mammals, cows only produce milk during and after pregnancy, so to be able to constantly milk them, cows are forcefully impregnated every nine months. After several years of living in filthy conditions and being forced to produce 10 times more milk than they would naturally, their exhausted bodies are turned into hamburgers or ground up for soup.

So a better option would be to forcefully impregnate women every nine months and to force them to produce 10 times more milk than they would naturally? Screw you, PETA.

Women's and families' issues in Canadian politics: Part III

If you're just catching up, here's part I and here's part II.

Since they were left out of Code Blue's child care report card, today I will be discussing the Bloc Québécois. (Please note that some of quotes from the Bloc Québécois website may be bad translations since my French has a lot of room for improvement.)

Bloc Québécois

Code Blue says that they left the Bloc Québécois off of their report card because "they do not express an opinion on child care outside of Quebec." I agree that the Bloc Québécois platform is very, erm, Quebec-centric. I disagree that this is a good reason for them not to be included. Quebec is still a part of Canada and people in Quebec will be voting in the federal election. Quebeckers don't care about child care any less than people who live in other provinces.

Furthermore, the Bloc Québécois MPs also participate in parliamentary votes, so how they feel about issues like child care and women's rights is important to the rest of Canada, regardless of whether or not their focus is on Quebec. For example, if they were voting on whether or not to implement nationwide $7 a day daycare, do you think that they would all vote against it when it's something that they're defending for Quebec?

Language is a very important issue to this party, but other things are important to them as well:

Equality Between men and Women. This fundamental value is not unique to Quebec. What is unique, however, is our way of turn­ing it into concrete reality, with pay equity and affordable daycare that makes it possible for many women to participate in the labour market. The Bloc Québécois defends this fundamental value in Ottawa despite attacks by the Harper government, which cut off funding to women’s groups and would like to reopen the debate on abortion.

They have defended these values by "transferring necessary funds to implement parental insurance in Quebec" and by "refusing conditions attached to federal transfers to Quebec for health, education, social programs, and daycare." Don't worry, Quebeckers, as long as the Bloc Québécois has some clout in federal politics, our parental leave and $7 a day daycare are here to stay.

Green Party of Canada

Code Blue gave the Green Party a B, an F, and three incompletes on their child care report card. They believe in cleaning up the environment and creating a better world for our children and grandchildren, but what about our children's other needs?

If we vote for them, they promise that they will exempt GST from purchases of children's clothing and books. They also promise to:

Ensure universal access to excellent childcare and early childhood education.

Support parents who take time from their career for child rearing.

It isn't clear to me how the Green Party got a B for "universal services." Is it because they used the word "universal?" The Conservatives used the word "universal" for their child care plan too and they got an F. I feel that the Green Party's child care plan lacks details. How will they make the access to childcare universal and what will be excellent about it?

I like the idea of exempting GST from children's clothing and books, and in their budget they've set aside $110 million a year to "top up income for single parents on welfare going for retraining," another excellent idea. Despite these nice ideas, I feel that the Fs and incompletes were fully deserved. I agree with Code Blue's conclusion that the Green Party shows "Improved effort, but must do homework and complete projects."

Unlike the Conservatives, the Green Party at least mentions women. They promise to "ensure women's rights are respected" and to "Enforce pay equity." That's all they say about women's issues in their platform. Again, details are lacking. There's no mention of abortion (which has been a controversial subject in regards to party leader Elizabeth May) and no mention of whether or not they would repair the damage to Status of Women Canada made by Stephen Harper's conservatives.

In other news

Critics pan Harper youth crime plan

Should violent kids be sent to jail? Does this help society or does it hinder it?

In Montreal, response to the Harper plan was similarly skeptical. Angela Campbell, who specializes in children and the law at McGill University's law faculty, doubted Harper's proposal will curb youth crime.

She called it a "hard-line, law-and-order approach that is very simplistic and doesn't look at the social nuances that lead young people to criminal behaviour."

Chucking kids into the pen is just ignoring the problems that led them to commit a crime at a young age. It would be hiding them away instead of looking at the problem and finding solutions to end their violent tendencies.

Women's and families' issues in Canadian politics: Part II

A doctor's point of view about children's issues in this election.

It would be wonderful if, over the next few weeks, serious, thoughtful proposals would emerge from all parties, particularly the Conservatives, on the issues that matter to children. It would be great if, rather than simply being the background to another announcement, children became an election issue in and of themselves.

But, as there is no magic wand in my pocket, I really don't think I will get my wish. Instead, I will be satisfied if, perhaps, I could convince Harper that, while I appreciate that a Conservative government would stop candy flavours from being added to cigarillos, maybe there are bigger fish to fry.

Dr. Brett Taylor discusses issues that effect children in his opinion piece. These issues include child care, access to medication for poor or working class families, and access to pediatricians and child psychiatrists. I really like this quote about why child care is important:

Competent daycare decreases the incidence of child abuse and neglect in our communities, and is an enabler, allowing parents (very often women) to seek employment and thus escape from the trap of poverty that so often accompanies single parenthood.

Something else worth checking out is Code Blue's Child Care report card. They've graded the political parties' child care plans. (The Bloc Québécois was left out). The Conservatives, who I discussed the other day, received four Fs and one D-. Let's move on to a party that received two As.

Liberal Party of Canada

In their brand spanking new platform, just released today, the Liberals have a section called "A Fairer Canada."

Includes: The 30-50 plan, Investing in Our Children, Health Care, Women's Equality, Immigration: Welcoming New Canadians, EI Changes, A New Relationship With Canada's First Nations, Inuit and Métis, Minority Language Rights, A Safer Canada, Respectful Federalism

The Conservatives accused the Liberals of promising new child care spaces for 13 years and not fulfilling their promise. However, as was pointed out in a comment on my blog entry the other day, the Liberals had a plan for child care set in motion when the Conservatives came into power. The Conservatives promptly scrapped it, even though the Liberals had already signed agreements with the provinces to implement the new plan. Here's some more information about the child care plan that Paul Martin's Liberals had ready to go in 2006.

The Liberals want to bring this plan back:

The provinces will find a new partner in a Liberal government as we will work with them to rebuild what was torn down by the Conservatives.
Our long-term goal will be coast-to-coast high-quality, universal, community-based, early education and child care. In pursuit of this objective, we will allocate substantial new federal funds. This investment will increase over a four-year period and at full implementation in the fourth year, the will climb to $1.25 billion annually.

It's a lot better than the Conservatives' plan, but I wonder how long it would take them to "rebuild what was torn down by the Conservatives." Another thirteen years?

As for their plans for parental leave, it sounds rather similar to what we currently have in Quebec:

To give families the flexibility they need to bridge to quality child care, a Liberal government will introduce the choice to take a shorter parental leave at a higher benefit level, or a longer leave (up to 18 months) at a lower benefit level.

In Quebec we don't have parental leave for as long as 18 months, but the concept is similar. It's good to have more than one option available when it comes to parental leave.

Unlike the Conservatives, the Liberals provide the heading "Women's Equality." The fact that they included this already tells me that the Liberals care more about women's issues than the Conservatives do.

While the Conservatives claim that law and order is their biggest priority, they have taken no real measures to combat violence against women. A new Liberal government’s efforts to fight this problem will begin with an amendment to the Criminal Code to include “gender” in the hate propaganda provisions to help end societal acceptance for those who would incite hatred against women.

It's appalling that the word "gender" isn't already there. The Liberals also promise to repair the damage made to Status of Women Canada, and to create an independent Commissioner for Gender Equality. They also point out other areas of their platform that would be beneficial for women, including their affordable housing plan and their plan to combat poverty.

It's an appealing platform and the Conservatives did undo some of the good things that the Liberals had in place while they were still in power. If our only choices were the Conservatives and the Liberals, the Liberals would be by far the better choice for women and families. However, we have more parties to choose from than just two. Are the Liberals the best out of the bunch? Keep checking back to find out.