The Pandemic Has Exacerbated Pressure on Moms to Breastfeed
I'm in that stage of life when nearly everyone I know is having a baby. Even before the pandemic, the new moms in my life were terrified about keeping their precious new responsibilities alive. Imagine, then, bringing someone new into the world during a deadly global pandemic.
Among the unique challenges facing pandemic moms: as my colleague Eliana Dockterman reports, COVID-19 has heightened the pressure on mothers to breastfeed—regardless of the cost to themselves, such as the tremendous pain and stress that can be involved. Breastfeeding advocates have long pushed the idea that "breast is best," pointing to research that suggests consuming breast milk lowers children's risk of various ailments (though many doctors advocate a nutrition-agnostic stance of "fed is best"). But research showing that vaccinated mothers may pass coronavirus antibodies on to their newborn children—who can't yet be vaccinated in the U.S.—have led to even louder calls from the pro-breastfeeding crowd.
One small study, published in The Journal of Breastfeeding Medicine in late August, found that after vaccination, new mothers' breast milk had a 100-fold increase of immunoglobulin A antibodies, which the body uses to fight viruses. "Breast milk likely provides a kind of hazard protection," one of the study's authors told Eliana. Researchers are still trying to figure out how robust and long-lasting that protection may be.
So where does that leave new moms, who often struggle to breastfeed and feel tremendous shame when they can't?
"Had COVID not been a thing, as soon as I found out that my body just couldn't make enough milk, I probably would have gone straight to formula feeding," Jewel Pfaffroth, who gave birth to a son in April and had to supplement her breast milk supply with formula, told Eliana. After four months, she decided to stop forcing herself to pump, which was causing debilitating back pain. "It cost a lot of money and a lot of heartache because it's something you're 'supposed to do' for your child. And there was so little information out there about breast milk and antibodies, but I was like, 'If I don't and my baby caught COVID, I would feel like it's my fault.'"
About 466.5 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been shipped to various U.S. states as of yesterday afternoon, of which more than 386.2 million doses have been administered thus far, according to TIME's vaccine tracker. About 54.7% of Americans have been completely vaccinated.
More than 229.5 million people around the world had been diagnosed with COVID-19 as of 3 a.m. E.T. today, and more than 4.7 million people have died. On September 21, there were 426,759 new cases and 7,818 new deaths confirmed globally.
Here's how the world as a whole is currently trending:
Here's where daily cases have risen or fallen over the last 14 days, shown in confirmed cases per 100,000 residents:
And here's every country that has reported over 4.5 million cases:
The U.S. had recorded more than 42.4 million coronavirus cases as of 3 a.m. E.T. today. More than 678,400 people have died. On September 21, there were 120,788 new cases and 2,331 new deaths confirmed in the U.S.
Here's how the country as a whole is currently trending:
Here's where daily cases have risen or fallen over the last 14 days, shown in confirmed cases per 100,000 residents:
All numbers unless otherwise specified are from the Johns Hopkins University Center for Systems Science and Engineering, and are accurate as of Sept. 22, 9 a.m. E.T. To see larger, interactive versions of these maps and charts, click here.
WHAT ELSE YOU SHOULD KNOW
A U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) panel is meeting today and tomorrow to decide who should get Pfizer-BioNTech booster shots. The session comes after a Food and Drug Administration advisory committee last week recommended booster doses for people over age 65 and those at high risk of getting the disease. Now, the CDC panel is tasked with deciding exactly who falls into that "high risk" category, and when they should get their third dose.
An alarming new trend is circulating on social media: some people are inhaling hydrogen peroxide through a nebulizer due to unfounded rumors that doing so can treat the coronavirus. The Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America warned yesterday that this practice is dangerous and will not treat or prevent COVID-19.
One of Nevada's largest counties has declared coronavirus misinformation a "public health crisis." The Board of Commissioners of Clark County voted 5-2 yesterday in favor of a resolution reading "the unmitigated proliferation of health misinformation has created a culture of mistrust and has prolonged the COVID-19 pandemic, endangering the health and safety of all Las Vegans." County officials have committed to combating such public health misinformation.
A majority of children under age two in 91 countries are not getting the quantities or diversity of foods they need, and the pandemic has worsened the situation, according to a UNICEF report published today. Only half of kids six to 23 months old are being fed the minimum recommended number of meals per day, while just a third get the minimum number of food groups needed to thrive. The pandemic has affected families' ability to feed their children—in Jakarta, for example, half of families have been forced to reduce nutritious food purchases, UNICEF found.
Thanks for reading. We hope you find the Coronavirus Brief newsletter to be a helpful tool to navigate this very complex situation, and welcome feedback at coronavirus.brief@time.com. If you have specific questions you'd like us to answer, please send them to covidquestions@time.com.
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Today's newsletter was written by Angela Haupt and edited by Alex Fitzpatrick.
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