I am writing today to announce the closure of the Michigan Messenger. After four years of operation in Michigan, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news into a single site, The American Independent at Americanindependent.com. This is part of a shift in strategy, towards new forms [...]
An abstinence-only presentation provided to numerous school districts in Calhoun and Eaton Counties in October of this year provided false and misleading information to students about HIV, experts allege.
Two county registers of deeds filed a class action lawsuit Monday on behalf of Michigan’s 83 counties alleging that the Mortgage Electronic Registration Services owes millions of dollars in property title transfer taxes.
Despite evidence of the impact of mercury on children and public health, Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette last month joined with 24 other state attorneys general in filing a lawsuit to scuttle new EPA regulations that would reduce mercury emissions from power plants.
State health officials say that Michigan fell short of its goal of having 75 percent of new mothers initiate breastfeeding by 2010.
Nearly 71 percent of Michigan mothers do start out breastfeeding, but around a quarter of them give up on it within four weeks, often when they return to work.
Julie Lothamer of the WIC Division of the Michigan Department of Community Health said Michigan ranks 37th for both prevalence of breastfeeding and infant mortality, and she believes these facts are linked.
“There are health risks associated with not breastfeeding,” she said, “We’ve noticed that formula fed babies get more ear infections, respiratory infections and GI illness.”
A study published this May in the journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics found that if 90 percent of U.S. families could comply with medical recommendations to breastfeed exclusively for 6 months, the United States would save $13 billion per year and prevent more than 911 infant deaths.
In an effort to address the public health costs of sub-optimal breastfeeding, the federal health care reform law enacted earlier this year requires all employers to provide a private, non-bathroom space and a reasonable amount of unpaid break time for nursing mothers to pump breast milk.
Helping employers comply with this law is one way that MDCH is trying to bring up Michigan’s breastfeeding statistics.
“People who have their own office can close the door [to pump breast milk],“ Lothamer said. “But what about a person who is on an assembly line or working fast food? That is where our work is cut out for us.”
A grant from the U.S. Deptartment of Health and Human Services paid for about 80 people to get trained in helping Michigan businesses adapt to the new federal requirements on breastfeeding, she said.
Employers or employees who need help accommodating breastfeeding can connect with trained helpers through the website of the Michigan Breastfeeding Network.
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