Health news - breastfeeding: Should the state step in?

When New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced the specifics of
a new initiative called Latch On NYC, it seemed at first glance like
anotheraggressive move by the health-focused mayor.
Bloomberg, who already made international headlines for banning the
sale of giant-sized soft drinks in the city, said that as of
September, the 11 city hospitals and 16 participating private
hospitals would restrict access to formula milk. For mothers who
choose to breastfeed, this means treating formula similarly to
medication, requiring that it be doled out onlyfor specific reasons,
andsigned out and noted on the baby's chart when administered. Mothers
who chose to formula feed can still doso.
Participating hospitals would also eliminate discharge bags, full of
formula samples and paid for by the formula companies. Recently,
Massachusetts and Rhode Island banned this practice as well.
The Latch On program isdesigned to promote breastfeeding. But some
mothers worry that it contributes to a culture that pressures and
shames women who want or need to use formula. It's part of an ongoing
battle over who really has women'sbest interests at heart.
Deborah Kaplan, assistant commissioner of New York City's bureau of
maternal, infant and reproductivehealth, says that setting up good
nursing habits in the hospital is crucial when breastfeeding, since
the first few days after birth help set the pace of milk production.
"In the body it's a supply and demand system. Nursing and pumping
stimulates to make more milk," she says, noting that 73% ofwomen in
New York City hospitals reported that their babies were fed with
formula during their stay. "If thebaby gets some their tummy is full,
they don'tnurse, mother's body doesn't make enough milk and it starts
a vicious cycle."
Breastfeeding benefits
Compared to formula-fed babies, babies who breastfeed:
*. Score 5.2 points higher on IQ tests (American Journal of Clinical Nutrition)
*. Are 40% less likely to develop diabetes before 40 in some
communities (The Lancet)
*. Have more immune-boosting flora intheir digestive systems (Genome Biology)
*. Are half as likely to suffer from asthma symptoms (European
Respiratory Journal)
Limiting access, she says, will help prevent this from happening.
Diane Spatz, a professorperinatal nursing at theUniversity of
Pennsylvania school of nursing, says the free formula bags also send
the wrong message.
"If you're giving them the company bag, you're endorsing that you
think those companies are a good thing," she says. "At three in the
morning when mom is alone andexhausted and doesn't have anyone around
to help her, she will open it up and say 'well, the hospital gave it
to me'."
But Jessica Valenti, author of the upcomingbook Why Have Kids, worries
that these initiatives will only further stigmatise mothers who can't
- or don't wish - to nurse.
"I don't care about the gift bags," she says."But if you're talking
about keeping formula under lock and key, treating it as a medicine,
making women explain why they want formula and giving them a lecture
is so condescending.
"It comes from an assumption that women who don't wantto breastfeed
don't know better."
For their part, the formula companies say that women deserve to be
presented with all their options. In a statement provided to the BBC,
Mardi Mountford, executive vice president of the International Formula
Council, said:
"Restricting access to samples and information from formula
manufacturers is not the answer to increasing breastfeeding rates. A
way to help mothers is to be supportive of the feeding choice they
make for their infants regardless if they choose breastfeeding,
formula feeding or a combination of both."

Health news - More mums opt to breastfeed but few stick at it, figures show

More new mums are opting to breastfeed but very few stick at it for
long enough, latest UK figures reveal.
The 2010 Infant FeedingSurvey results from a poll of more than 10,000
women show 81 in every 100 start breastfeeding, up from 76 in 2005.
But after one week less than half of all new mothers are still
exclusively breastfeeding.
And only one in every 100 manage the full recommended six months, the
NHS Information Centre found.
This rate has remained static for years, despite repeated public
health messages about the importance of exclusivebreastfeeding for six
months for infant health.
Things are moving in the right direction, but in the UK we started
from a low base with few women breastfeeding in the 70s
Rosie Dodds, NationalChildbirth Trust
Across the UK, 69% of mothers were exclusively breastfeeding at birth.
At one week this had fallen to 46% and by six weeks the figure was
23%.
The data reveal three-quarters of mothers want to breastfeed and more
than four in five say they are aware of the health benefits.
About a third of mothers were still breastfeeding (although not
exclusively) at six months.
Common reasons for stopping breastfeeding were problems with thebaby
rejecting the breast or not latching on properly, having painful
breasts or nipples and feeling thatthey had 'insufficient milk'.
Women were also less likely to try or persevere with breastfeeding if
they themselves had been given formula as a babyand if none of their
mum friends were breastfeeding.
Rosie Dodds, of the National Childbirth Trust, said the figures were a
step in the right direction.
"There are some positives. Things are moving in the right direction,
but in the UK we started from a low base with few women breastfeeding
in the 70s.
"Confidence in breastfeeding in the UK is still very low and that is
one of the reasons why many women use formula feeding as well as
breast milk.
"It is important that mothers do what they feel is right for them and
their baby and are given enough support and information to make this
choice."
The Royal College of Midwives is concerned that due to staff shortages
women may not be getting the postnatal support they need from midwives
whilst they establish breastfeeding in the early days after birth.
The latest figures also show that fewer women are smoking and drinking
alcohol during pregnancy and more are taking recommended supplements -
folic acid and vitamin D.

Is it permissible for a woman to uncover her eyes unnecessarily?

My question has to do with niqab. I read on your website and many
Islamic websites that theniqab is fard (obligatory) and women must
wear niqab, but they can leave their eyesuncovered so that they can
see where they are going.
What concerns me is: is itobligatory for us to cover our eyes if I am
not walking and there is no need to see where I am going?.
Praise be to Allaah.
Firstly:
What the woman must do is cover her face because of a great deal of
shar'i evidence which indicates that it is obligatory for the woman to
cover her facein front of non-mahram men. And she has two ways in
which she can cover:
Either she may lower down on her face something that will cover it
completely and not let anything of it show, and she can see through
that cover
or she may wear the niqab (face veil) which isthat which covers the
face but leaves the eyes uncovered.
In Saheeh al-Bukhaari (1838) it says: "The woman in ihram should not
wear niqab or gloves." The fact that thewoman in ihram is forbidden to
wear niqabindicates that it is permissible to wear it when not in
ihram.
Hence the fuqaha' and scholars said that it is permissible for a
womanto wear niqab, but that is on condition that she does not go to
extremes in uncovering the eye socket or show too muchof the cheeks.
Imam al-Ramli ash-Shaafa'i (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
It is haraam to look at a woman in niqab of whom nothing can be seen
except her eyes, especially if she is beautiful. How much fitnah may
be caused by looking at a woman's eyes. End quote from Nihaayat
al-Muhtaaj, 6/188
It says in Fataawa al-Lajnah ad-Daa'imah: With regard to the niqaab:
Abu 'Ubayd said, describing the niqab according to the Arabs: itis
that from which the eye appears. It was known by other names,
including "burqa'". As for the ruling on it, it is permissible.
The source for that is thehadeeth narrated from Ibn 'Umar (may Allah
be pleased with him), according to which the Prophet (blessings and
peace of Allah be upon him) said: "The woman in ihram should not wear
niqab or gloves." Narrated by al-Bukhaari.The fact that he (blessings
and peace of Allah be upon him) forbade the woman in ihram to wear
niqab indicates that it is permissible when not in ihram. End quote
from Fataawa al-Lajnah ad-Daa'imah (vol. 1, 17/171).
Shaykh 'Abd al-'Azeez ibn Baz, Shaykh 'Abd ar-Razaaq 'Afeefi, Shaykh
'Abdullah ibn Ghadyaan, Shaykh 'Abdullah ibn Qa'ood.
This has been stated previously in the following answers: 1496 , 8540
, 21134 and 100719
Secondly:
Once the above becomesclear, we will realise thatthere is nothing
wrong with a woman wearing a niqaab from which only her eyes appear
through a narrow opening which does not uncover anything more than
what is needed in order to see. The ruling that this is permissible is
not dependent upon there being any need; rather it is generally
applicable and it is permissible for her to wear the niqab whether the
woman needs to see where she is going or not, and whether she is
sitting in a car or walking down the street. The evidence quoted above
which indicates that it is permissible to wear the niqab was narrated
in a hadeeth of the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon
him), and the tafseer of Ibn 'Abbaas is general in application and is
not restricted to cases of necessity.
And Allah knows best.

Womens cloth - Does a Muslim woman have to cover her face inthe presence of a gay man?

Is it obligatory for a Muslim woman to cover her face in the presence
of a gay man (homosexual)?.
Praise be to Allaah.
Homosexuality is a great and abhorrent evil which is off-putting to
those of sound human nature. One of those of sound nature said: Were
it not that Allah, may He be glorified and exalted,told us the story
of the people of Loot in the Qur'aan, I would never have thought that
a male could be intimate with another male. Hence both the one whodoes
it and the one to whom it is done to be executed. This has been
discussed previously in the answer to question no. 27176 .
Secondly:
It is not permissible for anyone to accuse another person of doingthe
action of the people of Loot unless that is proven with acceptable
shar'i evidence, such as aconfession or if the action is witnessed by
four witnesses of sound character. If a person transgresses against
another by accusing himof this immoral action, which is a slur against
his honour, and he has no proof, then he is making a false accusation
and deserves the appropriate deterrent punishment. The obligatory hadd
punishment in this case is eighty lashes. Allah, may He be exalted,
says (interpretation of the meaning):
"And those who accuse chaste women, and produce not four witnesses,
flog them with eighty stripes, and reject their testimony forever.
They indeed arethe Fâsiqûn (liars, rebellious, disobedient to Allaah"
[an-Noor 24:4].
Thirdly:
The Muslim woman is required to cover herself, including her face and
hands, in front of non-mahram men. If it is known that a man is an
immoral evildoer, then covering herself in front of him is even more
emphasised.
The Muslim woman should be more cautiouswith regard to this evildoer
than others, and should take care to ensure that there is no meeting
or conversationbetween them.