title: Brawn GP

text: At the , Button again had a dismal showing and was taken out by Romain Grosjean on the first lap. Barrichello started fourth, but again had a clutch issue at the start, but managed to work his way up to 7th, his car's engine bursting into flames as he entered the pits.


title: Brawn GP

text: At the , the Brawns were fuelled heavily, and started 5th (Barrichello) and sixth (Button). Both Brawns managed to make it past the heavily fuelled Kovalainen in the opening laps, and both kept up their pace to complete their final one-two of the season, Barrichello in first, Button in second.


title: Brawn GP

text: At the , both drivers suffered problems in qualifying, Button failing to make it into the third session.


title: Brawn GP

text: At the , Brawn had the opportunity to clinch the 2009 Constructors' Championship, however the drivers started 6th and 10th. Both drivers had reasonably successful races, eventually finishing seventh and eighth. This left Brawn just half a point from winning the Constructors' Championship. After the race, the race stewards announced they were investigating Nico Rosberg for excessive speed under safety car conditions. A typical 25-second penalty would have moved both Brawn drivers one place up and the Constructors' Championship would have been won, however it was announced later that Rosberg was in the clear and the race result would stand.


title: Brawn GP

text: At the , Button clinched the Drivers' Championship by finishing in fifth place, and with Barrichello finishing in 8th place Brawn also won the Constructors' Championship.


title: Brawn GP

text: In , the final race of the season, they finished 3–4 with Button world champion and Barrichello 3rd in the championship. The team also won the 2010 Laureus World Sports Award for Team of the Year as a result of its success.


title: Brawn GP

text: The team had a race win success rate of 47.05% (8 wins in 17 races), and by winning both titles in its only year of competition, the team is the first ever to achieve a 100% championship success rate.


title: Brawn GP

text: On 16 November 2009, it was officially announced that Daimler AG in partnership with Aabar Investments had purchased a 75.1% stake in Brawn GP (Daimler AG: 45.1%; Aabar: 30%). Reports suggest the partnership paid £110m for the 75.1%. The team would be rebranded as Mercedes GP for . The remaining 24.9% stake is Ross Brawn's in partnership with Nick Fry. The team used the Brawn GP base in Brackley for its operations and Brawn stayed on as team principal until the end of the season.


title: Brawn GP

text: The BGP 001 was originally designed with the intention of becoming the Honda RA109. In fact, owing to the poor performance of the Honda team in 2008, the team made a relatively early start in designing the 2009 car. However, following Honda's withdrawal, development of the car continued, in the hope that the team would be somehow rescued.


title: Brawn GP

text: Eventually, the car was appropriated by the newly formed Brawn GP team, and modified to accommodate a Mercedes-Benz engine in place of the expected Honda engine. According to team CEO Nick Fry, the team would not have gone on to win the championship with the Honda engines, as according to him the Mercedes engine accounted for 50 percent of the team's upturn in performance. Jenson Button performed its shakedown – the car featuring white, fluorescent chartreuse yellow and black colours. The team gave the BGP 001 its first test at Circuit de Catalunya on 9 March 2009, topping the timesheets many times. With the testing moving to Circuito de Jerez, Brawn GP continued to set the pace, finishing the test leading two of the three tests. During an interview Brawn said there was more speed to come after he explained that '...The BGP 001 car is the result of 15 months of intensive development work and the team have been nothing less than fantastic in their commitment to producing two cars in time for the first race'. At the first race an official complaint was launched by four teams against the rear diffusers of the Williams FW31, Toyota TF109 and the Brawn BGP 001 on the grounds that they did not fall within the dimensions set out in the regulations, but after analysing the cars the race stewards reported that the cars were legal. This ruling was appealed and the appeal was heard after the second race of the season. However motorsport's governing body ruled that the car was legal. There was another complaint at Malaysia after which BMW Sauber joined the appeal after they were deemed legal, again. After the appeal the diffuser was deemed legal by the FIA. In Spain, the car received its first upgrades since Australia which were mainly to do with the different cooling requirements of the Mercedes engine and gave Brawn a 1–2, just as in Melbourne.


title: Brawn GP

text: Button used a single Brawn BGP 001 during the 2009 season, making the chassis designated "BGP 001-02" one of the most successful F1 chassis of all time (Rubens Barrichello drove the chassis "BGP 001-01" until it was damaged in a qualifying accident at the Singapore Grand Prix, after which he used "BGP 001-03" for the rest of the season). Ross Brawn retained ownership of chassis BGP 001-02, which was subsequently restored to operational condition and to the championship winning livery (following a period of the car being displayed in silver Mercedes livery) and ran up the hill at the 2016 Festival of Speed at Goodwood, UK. Jenson Button took ownership of chassis BGP 001-01 as a condition of his contract with Brawn GP in the eventuality that he won the championship, after a protracted legal battle with the subsequent team owners (Mercedes). Chassis BGP 001-03 was retained by Mercedes following their acquisition of the team.


title: Brawn GP

text: The sponsors that were still with the Honda team at the end of the 2008 season, including Bridgestone, stayed on as sponsors for the start of the 2009 season.


title: Brawn GP

text: On 26 March 2009, Brawn GP announced a partnership with British clothing manufacturer Henri Lloyd. Henri Lloyd, which became the "Official Supplier of Clothing and Footwear Technology" to Brawn GP under the deal, agreed to supply the team with clothing and footwear, with its brand appearing on the BGP 001. On 28 March 2009, mid-way through the Australian Grand Prix, Sir Richard Branson announced Virgin as a major sponsor for the team. On 17 April Brawn announced an agreement with MIG Investments, which would sport its logo on the front of the car. It was also confirmed on 19 April that Ray-Ban, a sunglasses manufacturer, would carry on sponsoring the team – its logo appears on the drivers' helmets. At the 2009 Bahrain Grand Prix the cars sported the Virgin Galactic logo instead of Virgin. The team re-signed Endless Advance and NCE Corporation and signed a new supplier deal with safety harness supplier Willans before the . Only for the Spanish Grand Prix, Sony Pictures joined the team with the cars featuring promotional imagery from the film "Terminator Salvation". At the 2009 Monaco Grand Prix, Google co-founder Larry Page was rumoured to be in talks with Brawn to sponsor the team in 2010. Although a guest of McLaren-Mercedes, Page is believed to want the Google name to appear on a race-winning team. However they secured a one-race sponsorship with Wuppertal.


title: Brawn GP

text: The team took up sponsorship from Graham-London before the , with its logo being shown on the BGP 001s' wing mirrors, including an agreement with Menna Casting. In addition, Monster Energy added its logo to Button's helmet from Silverstone onwards. However, Richard Branson indicated that Virgin was unlikely to continue its deal next season, citing cost as a hurdle. For the 2009 European Grand Prix, the cars sported the Virgin Active logo.


title: Brawn GP

text: For the 2009 Italian Grand Prix, the BGP 001 sported the Italian zipper company Raccagni logo and name on the side wings in front of the side-pods, as well as the Virgin Active logo once again.


title: Brawn GP

text: For the 2009 Singapore Grand Prix, Brawn GP secured a sponsorship deal with Canon, and the cars also sported the Virgin Media logo.


title: Brawn GP

text: For the 2009 Japanese Grand Prix, Brawn GP secured a single race sponsorship deal with Angfa Co. Ltd, maker of the medical shampoo Scalp-D, which has proved very popular in Japan since its launch in 2005. The Virgin Atlantic logo also appeared.


title: Brawn GP

text: For the 2009 Brazilian Grand Prix, the event in which it won the Constructors' Championship, Brawn GP had deals with Banco do Brasil and Petrópolis brewery to display its colours and beer brand Itaipava and TNT energy drink on both cars. It also had a one-race partnership with Spanish insurance company Mapfre, while the Virgin Galactic logo reappeared.


title: Brawn GP

text: For the 2009 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the team had a deal with Qatar Telecom, with the cars sporting the Virgin Galactic logo once more.


title: Clive Standen

text: Clive James Standen (born 22 July 1981) is an English actor best known for playing Bryan Mills in the NBC series "Taken" (2017–2018), based on the film trilogy of the same name, as well as Rollo in the History Channel series "Vikings" (2013–2018), Sir Gawain in the Starz series "Camelot", Archer in the BBC One series "Robin Hood", and Private Carl Harris in the BBC science-fiction programme "Doctor Who."


title: Clive Standen

text: Clive James Standen was born on a British Army base in Holywood, County Down, Northern Ireland, and grew up in Leicestershire, East Midlands, England. He went to school at the King Edward VII School, Melton Mowbray followed by a performing arts course at Melton Mowbray College. Standen then went on to earn a place on the 3 year diploma course in Acting at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. Away from acting, in his late teens Standen was a former international Muay Thai boxer and later Fencing gold medallist.


title: Clive Standen

text: Standen's first experience of stunts, horse riding and sword fighting was at age 12 when he got his first job working in a professional stunt team in Nottingham. At the age of 15 Standen was a member of both the National Youth Theatre and the National Youth Music Theatre performing in productions at many well known venues. Later Standen won a place on the three-year acting course at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.


title: Clive Standen

text: In 2004, Standen appeared in "Waking the Dead"; the Second World War documentary drama "Ten Days to D-Day"; and took the lead role of Major Alan Marshall in "Zero Hour" a TV dramatisation of Special Air Service mission operation Barras in Sierra Leone. The next year he appeared in three episodes of the British soap "Doctors" and "Tom Brown's Schooldays", the acclaimed ITV adaptation of the book by Thomas Hughes. Standen played Private Carl Harris in three episodes of the fourth series of the relaunched British sci-fi programme "Doctor Who". The following year he played Archer, the half-brother of Robin Hood in the BBC One series "Robin Hood". Standen was part of the main cast of the TV series "Camelot" for Starz in which he portrayed the famous Arthurian knight Sir Gawain.


title: Clive Standen

text: In film, Standen took a supporting role in the mainstream Bollywood film "Namastey London", starring Akshay Kumar and Katrina Kaif. In 2012, Standen completed filming on the Vertigo Films feature film "Hammer of the Gods." He is a series lead on the History Channel's "Vikings" in the role of Rollo. Clive portrayed Bryan Mills in the television adaption of "Taken" then starred as Colonel Knox in the Screen Gems thriller film "Patient Zero". Standen was cast in the main role of Anthony Lavelle for NBC's "Council of Dads"; the following year the programme was cancelled after one series.


title: Clive Standen

text: In 2021, Standen and Amy Bailey (who played Kwenthrith in "Vikings") teamed up to create the Vikcast podcast about the "Vikings" TV series they will co-host, with Bailey stating: "We've gathered our beloved castmates, production members, and celebrity guests to talk about the show and everything beyond."


title: Clive Standen

text: In addition to his screen roles, Standen has done voice overs for video games such as "Aliens vs. Predator" and "Inversion".


title: Clive Standen

text: He married Francesca de Takats in 2007 at Babington House and divorced in 2019. They have three children.


title: Russian America

text: Russian America () was the name for the Russian Empire's colonial possessions in North America from 1799 to 1867. It consisted mostly of present-day Alaska in the United States, but also included small outposts in California, including Fort Ross, and three forts in Hawaii, including Russian Fort Elizabeth. Russian Creole settlements were concentrated in Alaska, including the capital, Novo-Arkhangelsk ("New Arkhangelsk"), which is now Sitka.


title: Russian America

text: After first landing in Alaska in 1741, Vitus Bering claimed the Alaskan country for the Russian Empire. Russia later confirmed its rule over the territory with the "Ukase" of 1799 which established the southern border of Russian America along the 55th parallel north. The decree also provided monopolistic privileges to the state-sponsored Russian-American Company and established the Russian Orthodox Church in Alaska.


title: Russian America

text: Russian Alaska initially prospered from the fur trade, but by the mid 19th century, overhunting and logistical challenges led to its gradual decline. With most settlements abandoned by the 1860s, Russia sold its last remaining possessions to the United States in 1867 for $7.2 million.


title: Russian America

text: In 1648 Semyon Dezhnev sailed from the mouth of the Kolyma River through the Arctic Ocean and around the eastern tip of Asia to the Anadyr River. One legend holds that some of his boats were carried off course and reached Alaska. However, no evidence of settlement survives. Dezhnev's discovery was never forwarded to the central government, leaving open the question of whether or not Siberia was connected to North America.


title: Russian America

text: In 1725, Emperor Peter the Great called for another expedition. As a part of the 1733–1743 Second Kamchatka expedition, the "Sv. Petr" under the Dane Vitus Bering and the "Sv. Pavel" under the Russian Alexei Chirikov set sail from the Kamchatkan port of Petropavlovsk in June 1741. They were soon separated, but each continued sailing east.


title: Russian America

text: On 15 July, Chirikov sighted land, probably the west side of Prince of Wales Island in southeast Alaska. He sent a group of men ashore in a longboat, making them the first Europeans to land on the northwestern coast of North America.


title: Russian America

text: On roughly 16 July, Vitus Bering and the crew of "Sv. Petr" sighted Mount Saint Elias on the Alaskan mainland; they turned westward toward Russia soon afterward. Meanwhile, Chirikov and the "Sv. Pavel" headed back to Russia in October with news of the land they had found.


title: Russian America

text: In November Bering's ship was wrecked on Bering Island. There Bering fell ill and died, and high winds dashed the "Sv. Petr" to pieces. After the stranded crew wintered on the island, the survivors built a boat from the wreckage and set sail for Russia in August 1742. Bering's crew reached the shore of Kamchatka in 1742, carrying word of the expedition. The high quality of the sea-otter pelts they brought sparked Russian settlement in Alaska.


title: Russian America

text: Beginning in 1743, small associations of fur-traders began to sail from the shores of the Russian Pacific coast to the Aleutian islands. As the runs from Asiatic Russia to America became longer expeditions (lasting two to four years or more), the crews established hunting- and trading-posts. By the late 1790s some of these had become permanent settlements. Approximately half of the fur traders came from the various European parts of the Russian Empire, while the others had Siberian or mixed origins.


title: Russian America

text: Rather than hunting the marine life themselves, the Russian "promyshlenniki" forced the Aleuts to do the work for them, often by taking hostage family-members in exchange for hunted seal-furs. This pattern of colonial exploitation resembled some of the Russian promyshlenniki practices in their expansion into Siberia and the Russian Far East.


title: Russian America

text: As word spread of the potential riches in furs, competition among Russian companies increased and a large number of Aleuts were apparently enslaved.


title: Russian America

text: Catherine the Great, who became Empress of Russia in 1763, proclaimed goodwill toward the Aleuts and urged her subjects to treat them fairly. On some islands and parts of the Alaska Peninsula, groups of traders had been capable of relatively peaceful coexistence with the local inhabitants. Other groups could not manage the tensions and committed acts of violence. Hostages were taken, families were split up, and individuals were forced to leave their villages and settle elsewhere. The growing competition between the trading companies, merging into fewer, larger and more powerful corporations, created conflicts that aggravated the relations with the indigenous populations.


title: Russian America

text: As the animal populations declined, the Aleuts, already too dependent on the new barter-economy fostered by the Russian fur-trade, were increasingly coerced into taking greater and greater risks in the highly dangerous waters of the North Pacific to hunt for more otter. As the Shelekhov-Golikov Company of 1783-1799 developed a monopoly, its use of skirmishes and violent incidents turned into systematic violence as a tool of colonial exploitation of the indigenous people. When the Aleuts revolted and won some victories, the Russians retaliated, killing many and destroying their boats and hunting gear, leaving them no means of survival. The most devastating effects came from disease: during the first two generations (1741/1759-1781/1799) of Russian contact, 80 percent of the Aleut population died from Eurasian infectious diseases; these were by then endemic among the Europeans, but the Aleut had no immunity against the new diseases.


title: Russian America

text: Though the Alaskan colony was never very profitable because of the costs of transportation, most Russian traders were determined to keep the land for themselves. In 1784 Grigory Ivanovich Shelekhov, who later set up the Russian-American Company


title: Russian America

text: that developed into the Alaskan colonial administration, arrived in Three Saints Bay on Kodiak Island with two ships, the "Three Saints" () and the "St. Simon". The Koniag Alaska Natives harassed the Russian party and Shelekhov responded by killing hundreds and taking hostages to enforce the obedience of the rest. Having established his authority on Kodiak Island, Shelekhov founded the second permanent Russian settlement in Alaska (after Unalaska, permanently settled since 1774) on the island's Three Saints Bay.


title: Russian America

text: In 1790 Shelekhov, back in Russia, hired Alexander Andreyevich Baranov to manage his Alaskan fur-enterprise. Baranov moved the colony to the northeast end of Kodiak Island, where timber was available. The site later developed as what is now the city of Kodiak. Russian colonists took Koniag wives and started families whose surnames continue today, such as Panamaroff, Petrikoff, and Kvasnikoff. In 1795 Baranov, concerned by the sight of non-Russian Europeans trading with the natives in southeast Alaska, established Mikhailovsk six miles (10  km) north of present-day Sitka. He bought the land from the Tlingit, but in 1802, while Baranov was away, Tlingit from a neighboring settlement attacked and destroyed Mikhailovsk. Baranov returned with a Russian warship and razed the Tlingit village. He built the settlement of New Archangel () on the ruins of Mikhailovsk. It became the capital of Russian America – and later the city of Sitka.


title: Russian America

text: As Baranov secured the Russians' settlements in Alaska, the Shelekhov family continued to work among the top leaders to win a monopoly on Alaska's fur trade. In 1799 Shelekhov's son-in-law, Nikolay Petrovich Rezanov, had acquired a monopoly on the American fur trade from Emperor Paul I. Rezanov formed the Russian-American Company. As part of the deal, the Emperor expected the company to establish new settlements in Alaska and to carry out an expanded colonization program.


title: Russian America

text: By 1804, Baranov, now manager of the Russian–American Company, had consolidated the company's hold on fur trade activities in the Americas following his suppression of the Tlingit clan at the Battle of Sitka. The Russians never fully colonized Alaska. For the most part, they clung to the coast and shunned the interior.


title: Russian America

text: From 1812 to 1841, the Russians operated Fort Ross, California. From 1814 to 1817, Russian Fort Elizabeth was operating in the Kingdom of Hawaii. By the 1830s, the Russian monopoly on trade was weakening. The British Hudson's Bay Company was leased the southern edge of Russian America in 1839 under the RAC-HBC Agreement, establishing Fort Stikine which began siphoning off trade.


title: Russian America

text: A company ship visited the Russian American outposts only every two or three years to give provisions. Because of the limited stock of supplies, trading was incidental compared to trapping operations under the Aleutian laborers. This left the Russian outposts dependent upon British and American merchants for sorely needed food and materials; in such a situation Baranov knew that the RAC establishments "could not exist without trading with foreigners." Ties with Americans were particularly advantageous since they could sell furs at Guangzhou, closed to the Russians at the time. The downside was that American hunters and trappers encroached on territory Russians considered theirs.


title: Russian America

text: Starting with the destruction of the "Phoenix" in 1799, several RAC ships sank or were damaged in storms, leaving the RAC outposts with scant resources. On 24 June 1800, an American vessel sailed to Kodiak Island. Baranov negotiated the sale of over 12,000 rubles worth of goods carried on the ship, averting "imminent starvation." During his tenure Baranov traded over 2 million rubles worth of furs for American supplies, to the consternation of the board of directors. From 1806 to 1818 Baranov shipped 15 million rubles worth of furs to Russia, only receiving under 3 million rubles in provisions, barely half of the expenses spent solely on the Saint Petersburg company office.


title: Russian America

text: The Russo-American Treaty of 1824 recognized exclusive Russian rights to the fur trade north of latitude 54°40'N, with the American rights and claims restricted to below that line. This division was repeated in the Treaty of Saint Petersburg, a parallel agreement with the British in 1825 (which also settled most of the border with British North America). However, the agreements soon went by the wayside, and with the retirement of Alexandr Baranov in 1818, the Russian hold on Alaska was further weakened.


title: Russian America

text: When the Russian-American Company's charter was renewed in 1821, it stipulated that the chief managers from then on be naval officers. Most naval officers did not have any experience in the fur trade, so the company suffered. The second charter also tried to cut off all contact with foreigners, especially the competitive Americans. This strategy backfired since the Russian colony had become used to relying on American supply ships, and the United States had become a valued customer for furs. Eventually the Russian–American Company entered into an agreement with the Hudson's Bay Company, which gave the British rights to sail through Russian territory.


title: Russian America

text: At Three Saints Bay, Shelekov built a school to teach the natives to read and write Russian, and introduced the first resident missionaries and clergymen who spread the Russian Orthodox faith. This faith (with its liturgies and texts, translated into Aleut at a very early stage) had been informally introduced, in the 1740s–1780s. Some fur traders founded local families or symbolically adopted Aleut trade partners as godchildren to gain their loyalty through this special personal bond. The missionaries soon opposed the exploitation of the indigenous populations, and their reports provide evidence of the violence exercised to establish colonial rule in this period.


title: Russian America

text: The RAC's monopoly was continued by Emperor Alexander I in 1821, on the condition that the company would financially support missionary efforts. Company board ordered chief manager Etholén to build a residency in New Archangel for bishop Veniaminov When a Lutheran church was planned for the Finnish population of New Archangel, Veniaminov prohibited any Lutheran priests from proselytizing to neighboring Tlingits. Veniaminov faced difficulties in exercising influence over the Tlingit people outside New Archangel, due to their political independence from the RAC leaving them less receptive to Russian cultural influences than Aleuts. A smallpox epidemic spread throughout Alaska in 1835-1837 and the medical aid given by Veniaminov created converts to Orthodoxy.


title: Russian America

text: Inspired by the same pastoral theology as Bartolomé de las Casas or St. Francis Xavier, the origins of which come from early Christianity's need to adapt to the cultures of Antiquity, missionaries in Russian America applied a strategy that placed value on local cultures and encouraged indigenous leadership in parish life and missionary activity. When compared to later Protestant missionaries, the Orthodox policies "in retrospect proved to be relatively sensitive to indigenous Alaskan cultures." This cultural policy was originally intended to gain the loyalty of the indigenous populations by establishing the authority of Church and State as protectors of over 10,000 inhabitants of Russian America. (The number of ethnic Russian settlers had always been less than the record 812, almost all concentrated in Sitka and Kodiak).


title: Russian America

text: Difficulties arose in training Russian priests to attain fluency in any of the various Alaskan Indigenous languages. To redress this, Veniaminov opened a seminary for mixed race and native candidates for the Church in 1845. Promising students were sent to additional schools in either Saint Petersburg or Irkutsk, the later city becoming the original seminary's new location in 1858. The Holy Synod instructed for the opening of four missionary schools in 1841, to be located in Amlia, Chiniak, Kenai, and Nushagak. Veniaminov established the curriculum, which included Russian history, literacy, mathematics and religious studies.


title: Russian America

text: A side effect of the missionary strategy was the development of a new and autonomous form of indigenous identity. Many native traditions survived within local "Russian" Orthodox tradition and in the religious life of the villages. Part of this modern indigenous identity is an alphabet and the basis for written literature in nearly all of the ethnic-linguistic groups in the Southern half of Alaska. Father Ivan Veniaminov (later St. Innocent of Alaska), famous throughout Russian America, developed an Aleut dictionary for hundreds of language and dialect words based on the Russian alphabet.


title: Russian America

text: The most visible trace of the Russian colonial period in contemporary Alaska is the nearly 90 Russian Orthodox parishes with a membership of over 20,000 men, women, and children, almost exclusively indigenous people. These include several Athabascan groups of the interior, very large Yup'ik communities, and quite nearly all of the Aleut and Alutiiq populations. Among the few Tlingit Orthodox parishes, the large group in Juneau adopted Orthodox Christianity only after the Russian colonial period, in an area where there had been no Russian settlers nor missionaries. The widespread and continuing local Russian Orthodox practices are likely the result of the syncretism of local beliefs with Christianity.


title: Russian America

text: In contrast, the Spanish Roman Catholic colonial intentions, methods, and consequences in California and the Southwest were the product of the Laws of Burgos and the Indian Reductions of conversions and relocations to missions; while more force and coercion was used, the indigenous peoples likewise created a kind of Christianity that reflected many of their traditions.


title: Russian America

text: Observers noted that while their religious ties were tenuous, before the sale of Alaska there were 400 native converts to Orthodoxy in New Archangel. Tlingit practitioners declined in number after the lapse of Russian rule, until there were only 117 practitioners in 1882 residing in the place, by then renamed Sitka.


title: Russian America

text: By the 1860s, the Russian government was ready to abandon its Russian America colony. Zealous overhunting had severely reduced the fur-bearing animal population, and competition from the British and Americans exacerbated the situation. This, combined with the difficulties of supplying and protecting such a distant colony, reduced interest in the territory. After Russian America was sold to the U.S. in 1867, for $7.2 million (2 cents per acre), all the holdings of the Russian–American Company were liquidated.


title: Russian America

text: Following the transfer, many elders of the local Tlingit tribe maintained that "Castle Hill" comprised the only land that Russia was entitled to sell. Other indigenous groups also argued that they had never given up their land; the Americans encroached on it and took it over. Native land claims were not fully addressed until the latter half of the 20th century, with the signing by Congress and leaders of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act.


title: Russian America

text: At the height of Russian America, the Russian population had reached 700, compared to 40,000 Aleuts. They and the Creoles, who had been guaranteed the privileges of citizens in the United States, were given the opportunity of becoming citizens within a three-year period, but few decided to exercise that option. General Jefferson C. Davis ordered the Russians out of their homes in Sitka, maintaining that the Americans needed the dwellings. Many Russians returned to Russia, while others migrated to the Pacific Northwest and California.


title: Giant (1956 film)

text: Giant is a 1956 American epic Western drama film, directed by George Stevens from a screenplay adapted by Fred Guiol and Ivan Moffat from Edna Ferber's 1952 novel.


title: Giant (1956 film)

text: The film stars Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson and James Dean and features Carroll Baker, Jane Withers, Chill Wills, Mercedes McCambridge, Dennis Hopper, Sal Mineo, Rod Taylor, Elsa Cárdenas and Earl Holliman.


title: Giant (1956 film)

text: "Giant " was the last of James Dean's three films as a leading actor, and earned him his second and last Academy Award nomination – he was killed in a car crash before the film was released. His friend Nick Adams was called in to do some voice dubbing for Dean's role.


title: Giant (1956 film)

text: In 2005, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".


title: Giant (1956 film)

text: In the mid-1920s, wealthy Texas rancher Jordan "Bick" Benedict Jr. travels to Maryland on a horse-buying trip. He meets socialite Leslie Lynnton, who quickly ends a budding relationship with a British diplomat. After a whirlwind romance, Leslie and Bick marry and return to the Benedicts' Texas cattle ranch, Reata. Leslie has difficulty adjusting to her new life. Bick's older sister, Luz, runs the household and resents Leslie's intrusion. Leslie soon learns that she, like the other women, is expected to be subservient in the male-dominated Texas culture. Jett Rink, a ranch hand, becomes infatuated with Leslie. When Jett drives her around the county, Leslie observes the Mexican workers' terrible living conditions. She presses Bick to help improve their situation.


title: Giant (1956 film)

text: Luz is killed while riding Leslie's horse, War Winds, being bucked off after digging in her spurs as a hostile act towards Leslie. Luz leaves a small piece of Benedict land to Jett. Bick, who despises Jett, offers to buy the property at twice its value, but Jett refuses to sell and names his land 'Little Reata'.


title: Giant (1956 film)

text: Leslie and Bick have twins, Jordan III ("Jordy") and Judy and later have another daughter, Luz II. Bick continually favors his young son and pushes him into masculine pursuits, which the youngster resists. The marriage becomes strained, and Leslie takes the children to her parents for an extended visit. Bick goes to Maryland, and he and Leslie reconcile and return to Texas.


title: Giant (1956 film)

text: Jett continues working his land, eventually striking oil. Covered in crude, he drives to the Benedict house and proclaims he will be richer than them. Jett makes a pass at Leslie, leading to a brief fistfight with Bick before he drives off. Jett prospers over the years. He tries to persuade Bick to let him drill for oil on Reata. Bick, determined to preserve his family's cattle ranching legacy, refuses.


title: Giant (1956 film)

text: Years later, now 1941, tensions arise regarding the now-grown Benedict children. Bick intends that Jordy will succeed him and run the ranch, but Jordy wants to become a doctor. Leslie plans for Judy to attend finishing school in Switzerland, but she wants to study animal husbandry at Texas Tech. Each sibling successfully convinces one parent to persuade the other to allow them to pursue their own goals.


title: Giant (1956 film)

text: At the family Christmas party, Bick wants Judy's new husband, Bob Dace, to work on the ranch after he returns from World War II. Dace declines, saying he and Judy want to build their own life. Jett persuades Bick to allow oil drilling on his land. Realizing that his children will not take over the ranch when he retires, Bick agrees. Once oil production starts on the ranch, the Benedicts grow wealthier and more powerful.


title: Giant (1956 film)

text: The Benedict–Rink rivalry reaches a head when the Benedicts discover that Luz II has been having a secret romantic relationship with the much older Jett. At his Austin hotel, Jett hosts a huge party in his own honor. The Benedicts are guests, but Jett will not allow staff to serve Jordy's Mexican wife, Juana. Enraged, Jordy starts and loses a fight with Jett, who then has Jordy thrown out. Bick challenges Jett, but seeing that the drunken Jett is in no state to defend himself, he and the other Benedicts leave. Jett staggers into the banquet hall and sits in the seat of honor. He passes out as he attempts to give his speech in front of the packed ballroom. Later, Luz II hears the slumped over Jett bemoaning his unrequited love for Leslie and leaves heartbroken; Jett topples over in a stupor and falls onto the floor.


title: Giant (1956 film)

text: Driving home the next day, the Benedicts stop at a diner. A sign at the counter states, "We reserve the right to refuse service to anyone," meaning ethnic minorities are unwelcome. Sarge, the racist owner, insults Juana and her and Jordy's young son. When Sarge ejects a Mexican family from the diner, Bick says to leave them alone. Bick fights Sarge, who beats him and then tosses the sign onto Bick. Back at Reata, Bick laments failing to preserve the Benedict family legacy. Leslie replies that, after the diner fight, he was her hero for the first time. She considers their own family legacy a success. They look at their two grandchildren, one Caucasian and one Hispanic.


title: Giant (1956 film)

text: Ferber's character of Jordan Benedict II and her description of the Reata Ranch were based on Robert "Bob" J. Kleberg Jr. (1896–1974) and the King Ranch in Kingsville, Texas. Like the over half-million-acre Reata, King Ranch comprises 825,000 acres (3,340 km; 1,289 sq mi) and includes portions of six Texas counties, including most of Kleberg County and much of Kenedy County, and was largely a livestock ranch before the discovery of oil. The fictional character Jett Rink was inspired partly by the extraordinary rags-to-riches life story of the wildcatter oil tycoon Glenn Herbert McCarthy (1907–1988). Author Edna Ferber met McCarthy when she was a guest at his Houston, Texas, Shamrock Hotel (known as the Shamrock Hilton after 1955), the fictional Emperador Hotel in both the book and the film.


title: Giant (1956 film)

text: The Australian actor Rod Taylor was cast in one of his early Hollywood roles after being seen in an episode of "Studio 57", titled "The Black Sheep's Daughter".


title: Giant (1956 film)

text: Stevens gave Hudson a choice between Elizabeth Taylor and Grace Kelly to play the leading lady Leslie. Hudson chose Taylor.


title: Giant (1956 film)

text: After James Dean's death late in production, Nick Adams overdubbed some of Dean's lines, which were nearly inaudible, as Rink's voice. George Stevens had a reputation as a meticulous film editor, and the film spent an entire year in the editing room.


title: Giant (1956 film)

text: The film begins with Jordan "Bick" Benedict, played by Hudson, arriving at Ardmore, Maryland, to purchase a stallion from the Lynnton family. The first part of the picture was actually shot in Albemarle County, Virginia, and used the Keswick, Virginia, railroad station as the Ardmore railway depot.


title: Giant (1956 film)

text: Much of the subsequent film, depicting "Reata", the Benedict ranch, was shot in and around the town of Marfa, Texas, and the remote, dry plains found nearby, with interiors filmed at the Warner Bros. studios in Burbank, California. The "Jett Rink Day" parade and airport festivities were filmed at the Burbank Airport.


title: Giant (1956 film)

text: During the restaurant fight scene at the film's end, the jukebox plays "The Yellow Rose of Texas" by Mitch Miller. This version of the song happened to be the #1 pop single on the "Billboard Magazine" Best Sellers chart at the time of James Dean's death.


title: Giant (1956 film)

text: The movie is an epic portrayal of a powerful Texas ranching family challenged by changing times and the coming of big oil. A major subplot concerns the racism of many Anglo-European Americans in Texas during the mid-twentieth century and the discriminatory social segregation enforced against Mexican Americans. In the first third of the film, Bick and Luz treat the Mexicans who work on their ranch condescendingly, which upsets the more socially conscious Leslie. Bick eventually comes to realize his moral shortcomings – in a climactic scene at a roadside diner he loses a fistfight to the racist owner, but earns Leslie's respect for defending the human rights of his brown-skinned daughter-in-law and grandson. Another subplot involves Leslie's own striving for women's equal rights as she defies the patriarchal social order, asserting herself and expressing her own opinions when the men talk. She protests being expected to suppress her beliefs in deference to Bick's; this conflict leads to their temporary separation.


title: Giant (1956 film)

text: "Giant" is Edna Ferber's third novel dealing with racism; the first was "Show Boat" (1926), which was adapted into the legendary Broadway musical "Show Boat" (1927); her second was "Cimarron" (1929), which was adapted to film twice, in 1931 and 1960. Ferber's "Giant" was a blockbuster, selling 52 million books by 1956.


title: Giant (1956 film)

text: "Giant" premiered in New York City on October 10, 1956, with the local DuMont station, WABD, televising the arrival of cast and crew, as well as other celebrities and studio chief Jack L. Warner. The picture was released to nationwide distribution on November 24, 1956.


title: Giant (1956 film)

text: Capitol Records, which had issued some of Dimitri Tiomkin's music from the soundtrack (with the composer conducting the Warner Brothers studio orchestra) on an LP, later digitally remastered the tracks and issued them on CD, including two tracks conducted by Ray Heindorf. Both versions used a monaural blend of the multi-channel soundtrack recording.


title: Giant (1956 film)

text: The film was released on DVD on June 10, 2003. The DVD includes more than three hours of documentaries. The out of print Blu-ray was released on November 5, 2013, as part of the James Dean Ultimate Collector's Edition set, and as an individual DigiBook release followed by a non-DigiBook Blu-ray on March 11, 2014. Those releases contained three discs including two DVDs with all the extras from the 2004 release. The full length George Stevens: A Filmmaker's Journey documentary is also included on one of the DVD discs. The upcoming manufacture-on-demand 4K Ultra HD release of the film is scheduled to be released on June 21, 2022, through Studio Distribution Services.


title: Giant (1956 film)

text: "Giant" won praise from both critics and the public, and according to the Texan author Larry McMurtry, was especially popular with Texans, even though it was sharply critical of Texan society. Bosley Crowther of the "New York Times" wrote that "George Stevens takes three hours and seventeen minutes to put his story across. That's a heap of time to go on about Texas, but Mr. Stevens has made a heap of film." He continued to write that ""Giant", for all its complexity, is a strong contender for the year's top-film award."


title: Giant (1956 film)

text: "Variety" claimed that "Giant" was "for the most part, an excellent film which registers strongly on all levels, whether it's in its breathtaking panoramic shots of the dusty Texas plains; the personal, dramatic impact of the story itself, or the resounding message it has to impart."


title: Giant (1956 film)

text: In the 21st century, "TV Guide" gave the film four stars out of five, writing of James Dean's performance: "This was the last role in Dean's all-too-brief career – he was dead when the film was released – and his presence ran away with the film. He performs his role in the overwrought method manner of the era, and the rest of the cast seems to be split between awe of his talent and disgust over his indulgence."


title: Giant (1956 film)

text: The film received an 88% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 48 reviews, with an average rating of 7.70/10. The consensus reads, ""Giant" earns its imposing name with a towering narrative supported by striking cinematography, big ideas, and powerful work from a trio of legendary Hollywood leads."


title: Giant (1956 film)

text: Less complimentary was director and critic Francois Truffaut, who in an early review called "Giant" a ”silly, solemn, sly, paternalistic, demagogic movie without any boldness, rich in all sorts of concessions, pettiness, and contemptible actions.”


title: Giant (1956 film)

text: "Giant" was a huge box-office success. The film earned $35 million in ticket sales during its original studio release in 1956, a record for a Warner Brothers film until that time. This record was not surpassed until the Warner film "Superman" in the late 1970s. "Best Movie About Texas: Creating a True 'Giant', Mod X, http://modxman.com/2017/07/28/creating-a-giant/ .</ref>


title: Giant (1956 film)

text: The movie earned $12 million in rentals in the United States and Canada during its initial release. It did not perform as well in other markets where it made around half as much, but it was one of the biggest hits of the year in France, with admissions of 3,723,209.


title: Giant (1956 film)

text: "Giant" is considered to be the inspiration for the hit 1980s television drama "Dallas". Both productions focus on the struggle between wealthy oilmen and cattlemen in Texas in the mid to late 20th century. In addition, both productions have an antagonist with the initials J.R.


title: Giant (1956 film)

text: The making of "Giant" was the background to the play and movie "Come Back to the 5 & Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean".


title: Traditional African religions

text: The traditional beliefs and practices of African people are highly diverse beliefs that include various ethnic religions. Generally, these traditions are oral rather than scriptural and passed down from one generation to another through folk tales, songs, and festivals, include belief in an amount of higher and lower gods, sometimes including a supreme creator or force, belief in spirits, veneration of the dead, use of magic and traditional African medicine. Most religions can be described as animistic with various polytheistic and pantheistic aspects. The role of humanity is generally seen as one of harmonizing nature with the supernatural.


title: Traditional African religions

text: Adherents of traditional religions in Africa are distributed among 43 countries and are estimated to number over 100 million.


title: Traditional African religions

text: Although most Africans today are adherents of Christianity or Islam, African people often combine the practice of their traditional beliefs with the practice of Abrahamic religions. The two Abrahamic religions are widespread across Africa, though mostly concentrated in different areas. They have replaced indigenous African religions but are often adapted to African cultural contexts and belief systems. Abrahamic religious beliefs, especially monotheistic elements, such as the belief in a single creator god, was introduced into traditionally polytheistic African religions rather early.


title: Traditional African religions

text: Followers of traditional African religions are also found around the world. In recent times, religions, such as the Yoruba religion, are on the rise. The religion of the Yoruba is finding roots in the Islands of the Caribbean and portions of Central and South America. In the United States, Voodoo is more predominant in the states along the Gulf of Mexico.


title: Traditional African religions

text: Animism builds the core concept of traditional African religions. This includes the worship of tutelary deities, nature worship, ancestor worship and the belief in an afterlife. While some religions adopted a pantheistic worldview, most follow a polytheistic system with various gods, spirits and other supernatural beings. Traditional African religions also have elements of fetishism, shamanism and veneration of relics.


title: Traditional African religions

text: Traditional African, like most other ancient traditional religions around the world, were based on oral traditions. These traditions are not religious principles, but a cultural identity that is passed on through stories, myths and tales, from one generation to the next. The community and ones family, but also the environment, plays an important role in one's personal life. Followers believe in the guidance of their ancestors spirits. Among many traditional African religions, there are spiritual leaders and kinds of priests. These persons are essential in the spiritual and religious survival of the community. There are mystics that are responsible for healing and 'divining' - a kind of fortune telling and counseling, similar to shamans. These traditional healers have to be called by ancestors or gods. They undergo strict training and learn many necessary skills, including how to use natural herbs for healing and other, more mystical skills, like the finding of a hidden object without knowing where it is. Traditional African religion believe that ancestors maintain a spiritual connection with their living relatives. Most ancestral spirits are generally good and kind. Negative actions taken by ancestral spirits is to cause minor illnesses to warn people that they have gotten onto the wrong path.


title: Traditional African religions

text: Native African religions are centered on ancestor worship, the belief in a spirit world, supernatural beings and free will (unlike the later developed concept of faith). Deceased humans (and animals or important objects) still exist in the spirit world and can influence or interact with the physical world. Forms of polytheism was widespread in most of ancient African and other regions of the world, before the introduction of Islam, Christianity, and Judaism. An exception was the short-lived monotheistic religion created by Pharaoh Akhenaten, who made it mandatory to pray to his personal god Aton (see Atenism). This remarkable change to traditional Egyptian religion was however reverted by his youngest son, Tutankhamun. High gods, along with other more specialized deities, ancestor spirits, territorial spirits, and beings, are a common theme among traditional African religions, highlighting the complex and advanced culture of ancient Africa.


title: Traditional African religions

text: Some research suggests that certain monotheistic concepts, such as the belief in a high god or force (next to other many other gods, deities and spirits, sometimes seen as intermediaries between humans and the creator) were present within Africa, before the introduction of Abrahamic religions. These indigenous concepts were different from the monotheism found in Abrahamic religions.


title: Traditional African religions

text: Traditional African medicine is also directly linked to traditional African religions. According to Clemmont E. Vontress, the various religious traditions of Africa are united by a basic Animism. According to him, the belief in spirits and ancestors is the most important element of African religions. Gods were either self-created or evolved from spirits or ancestors which got worshiped by the people. He also notes that most modern African folk religions were strongly influenced by non-African religions, mostly Christianity and Islam and thus may differ from the ancient forms.


title: Traditional African religions

text: Traditional African religions generally hold the beliefs of life after death (a spirit world or realms, in which spirits, but also gods reside), with some also having a concept of reincarnation, in which deceased humans may reincarnate into their family lineage (blood lineage), if they want to, or have something to do.


title: Traditional African religions

text: Nigerian American professor of indigenous African religions at Harvard University, Jacob Olupona summarized the many traditional African religions as complex animistic religious traditions and beliefs of the African people before the Christian and Islamic "colonization" of Africa. Ancestor veneration has always played a "significant" part in the traditional African cultures and may be considered as central to the African worldview. Ancestors (ancestral ghosts/spirits) are an integral part of reality. The ancestors are generally believed to reside in an ancestral realm (spiritworld), while some believe that the ancestors became equal in power to deities.


title: Traditional African religions

text: Olupona rejects the western/Islamic definition of Monotheism and says that such concepts could not reflect the complex African traditions and are too simplistic. While some traditions have a supreme being (next to other deities), others have not. Monotheism does not reflect the multiplicity of ways that the traditional African spirituality has conceived of deities, gods, and spirit beings. He summarizes that traditional African religions are not only religions, but a worldview, a way of life.


title: Traditional African religions

text: West and Central African religious practices generally manifest themselves in communal ceremonies or divinatory rites in which members of the community, overcome by "force" (or "ashe", "nyama", etc.), are excited to the point of going into meditative trance in response to rhythmic or driving drumming or singing. One religious ceremony practiced in Gabon and Cameroon is the Okuyi, practiced by several Bantu ethnic groups. In this state, depending upon the region, drumming or instrumental rhythms played by respected musicians (each of which is unique to a given deity or ancestor), participants embody a deity or ancestor, energy or state of mind by performing distinct ritual movements or dances which further enhance their elevated consciousness.


title: Traditional African religions

text: When this trance-like state is witnessed and understood, adherents are privy to a way of contemplating the pure or symbolic embodiment of a particular mindset or frame of reference. This builds skills at separating the feelings elicited by this mindset from their situational manifestations in daily life. Such separation and subsequent contemplation of the nature and sources of pure energy or feelings serves to help participants manage and accept them when they arise in mundane contexts. This facilitates better control and transformation of these energies into positive, culturally appropriate behavior, thought, and speech. Also, this practice can give rise to those in these trances uttering words which, when interpreted by a culturally educated initiate or diviner, can provide insight into appropriate directions which the community (or individual) might take in accomplishing its goal.


title: Traditional African religions

text: Followers of traditional African religions pray to various spirits as well as to their ancestors. This includes also nature, elementary and animal spirits. The difference between powerful spirits and gods is often minimal. Most African societies believe in several “high gods” and a large amount of lower gods and spirits. There are also some religions with a single supreme being (Chukwu, Nyame, Olodumare, Ngai, Roog, etc.). Some recognize a dual god and goddess such as Mawu-Lisa.


title: Traditional African religions

text: Traditional African religions generally believe in an afterlife, one or more Spirit worlds, and Ancestor worship is an important basic concept in mostly all African religions. Some African religions adopted different views through the influence of Islam or even Hinduism.


title: Traditional African religions

text: There are more similarities than differences in all traditional African religions. The deities and spirits are honored through libation or sacrifice (of animals, vegetables, cooked food, flowers, semi-precious stones and precious metals). The will of the gods or spirits is sought by the believer also through consultation of divinities or divination. Traditional African religions embrace natural phenomena – ebb and tide, waxing and waning moon, rain and drought – and the rhythmic pattern of agriculture. According to Gottlieb and Mbiti: The environment and nature are infused in every aspect of traditional African religions and culture. This is largely because cosmology and beliefs are intricately intertwined with the natural phenomena and environment. All aspects of weather, thunder, lightning, rain, day, moon, sun, stars, and so on may become amenable to control through the cosmology of African people. Natural phenomena are responsible for providing people with their daily needs.


title: Traditional African religions

text: For example, in the Serer religion, one of the most sacred stars in the cosmos is called Yoonir (the Star of Sirius). With a long farming tradition, the Serer high priests and priestesses (Saltigue) deliver yearly sermons at the Xooy Ceremony (divination ceremony) in Fatick before Yoonir's phase in order to predict winter months and enable farmers to start planting.


title: Traditional African religions

text: Traditional healers are common in most areas, and their practices include a religious element to varying degrees.


title: Traditional African religions

text: Since Africa is a large continent with many ethnic groups and cultures, there is not one single technique of casting divination. The practice of casting may be done with small objects, such as bones, cowrie shells, stones, strips of leather, or flat pieces of wood.


title: Traditional African religions

text: Some castings are done using sacred divination plates made of wood or performed on the ground (often within a circle).


title: Traditional African religions

text: In traditional African societies, many people seek out diviners on a regular basis. There are generally no prohibitions against the practice. Diviner (also known as priest) are also sought for their wisdom as counselors in life and for their knowledge of herbal medicine.


title: Traditional African religions

text: Ubuntu is a Nguni Bantu term meaning "humanity". It is sometimes translated as "I am because we are" (also "I am because you are"), or "humanity towards others" (in Zulu, "umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu)." In Xhosa, the latter term is used, but is often meant in a more philosophical sense to mean "the belief in a universal bond of sharing that connects all humanity". It is a collection of values and practices that people of Africa or of African origin view as making people authentic human beings. While the nuances of these values and practices vary across different ethnic groups, they all point to one thing – an authentic individual human being is part of a larger and more significant relational, communal, societal, environmental and spiritual world.


title: Traditional African religions

text: Virtue in traditional African religion is often connected with carrying out obligations of the communal aspect of life. Examples include social behaviors such as the respect for parents and elders, raising children appropriately, providing hospitality, and being honest, trustworthy, and courageous.


title: Traditional African religions

text: In some traditional African religions, morality is associated with obedience or disobedience to God regarding the way a person or a community lives. For the Kikuyu, according to their primary supreme creator, Ngai, acting through the lesser deities, is believed to speak to and be capable of guiding the virtuous person as one's conscience.


title: Traditional African religions

text: In many cases, Africans who have converted to other religions have still kept up their traditional customs and practices, combining them in a syncretic way.


title: Traditional African religions

text: Some sacred or holy locations for traditional religions include Nri-Igbo, the Point of Sangomar, Yaboyabo, Fatick, Ife, Oyo, Dahomey, Benin City, Ouidah, Nsukka, Kanem-Bornu, Igbo-Ukwu, and Tulwap Kipsigis, among others.


title: Traditional African religions

text: Afro-American religions involve ancestor worship and include a creator deity along with a pantheon of divine spirits such as the Orisha, Loa, Vodun, Nkisi and Alusi, among others. In addition to the religious syncretism of these various African traditions, many also incorporate elements of Folk Catholicism including folk saints and other forms of Folk religion, Native American religion, Spiritism, Spiritualism, Shamanism (sometimes including the use of Entheogens) and European folklore.


title: Traditional African religions

text: Various "doctoring" spiritual traditions also exist such as Obeah and Hoodoo which focus on spiritual health. African religious traditions in the Americas can vary. They can have non-prominent African roots or can be almost wholly African in nature, such as religions like Trinidad Orisha.


title: Breastfeeding

text: Breastfeeding, or nursing, is the process by which human breast milk is fed to a child. Breast milk may be from the breast, or may be expressed by hand or pumped and fed to the infant. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that breastfeeding begin within the first hour of a baby's life and continue as often and as much as the baby wants. Health organizations, including the WHO, recommend breastfeeding exclusively for six months. This means that no other foods or drinks, other than vitamin D, are typically given. WHO recommends exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months of life, followed by continued breastfeeding with appropriate complementary foods for up to 2 years and beyond. Of the 135 million babies born every year, only 42% are breastfed within the first hour of life, only 38% of mothers practice exclusive breastfeeding during the first six months, and 58% of mothers continue breastfeeding up to the age of two years and beyond.


title: Breastfeeding

text: Breastfeeding has a number of benefits to both mother and baby that infant formula lacks. Increased breastfeeding to near-universal levels in low and medium income countries could prevent approximately 820,000 deaths of children under the age of five annually. Breastfeeding decreases the risk of respiratory tract infections, ear infections, sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), and diarrhea for the baby, both in developing and developed countries. Other benefits have been proposed to include lower risks of asthma, food allergies, and diabetes. Breastfeeding may also improve cognitive development and decrease the risk of obesity in adulthood.


title: Breastfeeding

text: Benefits for the mother include less blood loss following delivery, better contraction of the uterus, and a decreased risk of postpartum depression. Breastfeeding delays the return of menstruation, and in very specific circumstances, fertility, a phenomenon known as lactational amenorrhea. Long-term benefits for the mother include decreased risk of breast cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and rheumatoid arthritis. Breastfeeding is less expensive than infant formula, but its impact on mothers' ability to earn an income is not usually factored into calculations comparing the two feeding methods.


title: Breastfeeding

text: Feedings may last as long as 30–45 minutes each as milk supply develops and the infant learns the Suck-Swallow-Breathe pattern. However, as milk supply increases and the infant becomes more efficient at feeding, the duration of feeds may shorten. Older children may feed less often. When direct breastfeeding is not possible, expressing or pumping to empty the breasts can help mothers avoid plugged milk ducts and breast infection, maintain their milk supply, resolve engorgement, and provide milk to be fed to their infant at a later time. Medical conditions that do not allow breastfeeding are rare. Mothers who take certain recreational drugs should not breastfeed, however, most medications are compatible with breastfeeding. Current evidence indicates that it is unlikely that COVID-19 can be transmitted through breast milk.


title: Breastfeeding

text: Smoking tobacco and consuming limited amounts of alcohol and/or coffee are not reasons to avoid breastfeeding.


title: Breastfeeding

text: Breast development starts in puberty with the growth of ducts, fat cells, and connective tissue. The ultimate size of the breasts is determined by the number of fat cells. The size of the breast is not related to a mother's breastfeeding capability or the volume of milk she will produce. The process of milk production, termed lactogenesis, occurs in 3 stages. The first stage takes place during pregnancy, allowing for the development of the breast and production of colostrum, the thick, early form of milk that is low in volume, but rich in nutrition. The birth of the baby and the placenta triggers the onset of the second stage of milk production, triggering the milk to come in over the next several days. The third stage of milk production occurs gradually over several weeks, and is characterized by a full milk supply that is regulated locally (at the breast), predominately by the infant's demand for food. This differs from the second stage of lactogenesis, which is regulated centrally (in the brain) by hormone feedback loops that naturally occur after the placenta is delivered.


title: Breastfeeding

text: Although traditionally, lactation occurs following pregnancy, lactation may also be induced with hormone therapy and nipple stimulation in the absence of pregnancy. More information on this topic may be found in Section 5.4, "Induced Lactation," or in the Lactation Wikipedia Article.


title: Breastfeeding

text: Changes in pregnancy, starting around 16 weeks gestational age, prepare the breast for lactation. These changes, collectively known as Lactogenesis I, are directed by hormones produced by the placenta and the brain, namely estrogen, progesterone, prolactin, which gradually increase throughout the pregnancy, and result in the structural development of the alveolar (milk-producing) tissue and the production of colostrum. While prolactin is the predominant hormone in milk "production," progesterone, which is at high levels during pregnancy, blocks the prolactin receptors in the breast, thus inhibiting milk from "coming in" during pregnancy.


title: Breastfeeding

text: Many other physiologic changes occur under the control of progesterone and estrogen. These changes include, but are not limited to, dilation of blood vessels, increased blood flow to the uterus, increased availability of glucose (which subsequently is passed through the placenta to the fetus), and increased skin pigmentation, which results in darkening of the nipples and areola, formation of the linea nigra, and onset of melasma of pregnancy.


title: Breastfeeding

text: The third stage of labor describes the period between the birth of the baby and the delivery of the placenta, which normally lasts less than 30 minutes. The delivery of the placenta causes an abrupt drop off of placental hormones. This drop, specifically in progesterone, allows prolactin to work effectively at its receptors in the breast, leading to an array of changes over the next several days that allow the milk to "come in"; these changes are known collectively as Lactogenesis II. Colostrum continues to be produced for these next few days, as Lactogenesis II occurs. Milk may "come in" as late as five days after delivery; however, this process may be delayed due to a number of factors as described in the Process "Delay in milk 'coming in'" subsection below. Oxytocin, which signals the smooth muscle of the uterus to contract during pregnancy, labor, birth and following delivery, is also involved in the process of breastfeeding. Oxytocin also contracts the smooth muscle layer of band-like cells surrounding the milk ducts and alveoli to s the newly produced milk through the duct system and out through the nipple. This process is known as the "milk ejection reflex", or "let-down." Because of oxytocin's dual activity at the breast and the uterus, breastfeeding mothers may also experience uterine cramping at the time of breastfeeding, for the first several days to weeks.


title: Breastfeeding

text: Prolactin and oxytocin are vital for establishing milk supply initially, however, once the milk supply is well established, the volume and content of the milk produced is controlled locally. Although prolactin levels are higher on average among breastfeeding mothers, prolactin levels themselves do not correlate to milk volume. At this stage, production of milk is triggered by milk drainage from the breasts. The only way to maintain milk supply is to drain the breasts frequently. Infrequent or incomplete drainage of the breasts, decreases blood flow to the alveoli and signals the milk-producing cells to produce less milk.


title: Breastfeeding

text: The content of breast milk should be discussed in two separate categories – the nutritional content and the bioactive content, that is the enzymes, proteins, antibodies, and signaling molecules that assist the infant in ways outside of nutrition.


title: Breastfeeding

text: The pattern of intended nutrient content in breast milk is relatively consistent. Breastmilk is made from nutrients in the mother's bloodstream and bodily stores. It has an optimal balance of fat, sugar, water, and protein that is needed for a baby's age appropriate growth and development. That being said, a variety of factors can influence the nutritional makeup of breastmilk, including gestational age, age of infant, maternal age, maternal smoking, and nutritional needs of the infant.


title: Breastfeeding

text: The first type of milk produced is called "colostrum". The volume of colostrum produced during each feeding is appropriate for the size of the newborn stomach and is sufficient, calorically, for feeding a newborn during the first few days of life. Produced during pregnancy and the first days after childbirth, colostrum is rich in protein and Vitamins A, B12 and K, which supports infants' growth, brain development, vision, immune systems, red blood cells, and clotting cascade. The breast milk also has long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids which help with normal retinal and neural development.


title: Breastfeeding

text: The caloric content of colostrum is about 54 Calories/100mL. The second type of milk is transitional milk, which is produced during the transition from colostrum to mature breast milk. As the breast milk matures over the course to several weeks, the protein content of the milk decreases on average. The caloric content of breastmilk is reflective of the caloric requirements of the infant, increasing steadily after 12 months. The caloric content of breastmilk in the first 12 months of breastfeeding is approximated to be 58-72 Calories/100mL. Comparatively, the caloric content after 48 months is approximately 83-129 Calories/100mL.


title: Breastfeeding

text: When a mother has her full milk supply and is feeding her infant, the first milk to be expressed is called the foremilk. Foremilk is typically thinner and less rich in calories. The hindmilk that follows is rich in calories and fat.


title: Breastfeeding

text: If the mother is not herself deficient in vitamins, breast milk normally supplies her baby's needs, with the exception of Vitamin D. The CDC, National Health Service (UK), Canadian Paediatric Society, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the American Academy of Family Physicians all agree that breast milk alone does not provide infants with an adequate amount of Vitamin D, thus they advise parents to supplement their infants with 400 IU Vitamin D daily. Providing this quantity of Vitamin D to breastfeeding infants has been shown to reduce rates of Vitamin D insufficiency (defined as 25‐OH vitamin D < 50 nmol/L). However, there was insufficient evidence in the most recent Cochrane Review, to determine if this quantity reduced rates of Vitamin D deficiency (defined as 25‐OH vitamin D < 30 nmol/L) or rickets. Term infants typically do not need iron supplementation. Delaying clamping of the cord at birth for at least one minute improves the infants' iron status for the first year. When complementary (solid) foods are introduced at about 6 months of age, parents should make sure to choose iron-rich foods to help maintain their children's iron stores.


title: Breastfeeding

text: In addition to the nutritional benefits of breastmilk, breast milk also provides enzymes, antibodies, and other substances that support the infant's growth and development. The bioactive makeup of breastmilk also changes based on the needs of the infant; for example, when an infant is recovering from an upper respiratory infection, local signaling allows for increased passage of immune cells and proteins to aid the infant's immune system.


title: Breastfeeding

text: Produced during pregnancy and the first days after childbirth, colostrum is easy to digest and has laxative properties that help the infant to pass early stools. This aids in the excretion of excess bilirubin, which helps to prevent jaundice. Colostrum also helps to seal the infants gastrointestinal tract from foreign substances and germs, which may sensitize the baby to foods that the mother has eaten and decrease the risk of diarrheal illness. Although the baby has received some antibodies (IgG) through the placenta, colostrum contains a substance which is new to the newborn, secretory immunoglobulin A (IgA). IgA works to attack germs in the mucous membranes of the throat, lungs, and intestines, which are most likely to come under attack from germs. Additionally, colostrum and mature breast milk contain many antioxidant and anti-inflammatory enzymes and proteins that decrease the risk of gastrointestinal allergies to food, respiratory allergies to air particles like pollen, and other atopic diseases, such as asthma and eczema.


title: Breastfeeding

text: It is recommended for mothers to initiate breastfeeding within the first hour after birth. Uninterrupted skin-to-skin contact and breastfeeding can begin immediately after birth, and should continue for at least one hour after birth. This period of infant-mother interaction, known generally as kangaroo care, or the "golden hour" during the immediate postpartum period, assists in the mother–child bonding for both mother and baby, and is thought to encourage instinctual breastfeeding behavior in the infant. Newborns who are immediately placed on their mother's skin have a natural instinct to latch on to the breast and start nursing, typically within one hour of birth. Success with breastfeeding in this "golden hour" increases the likelihood of successful breastfeeding at discharge.


title: Breastfeeding

text: Skin-to-skin mother-baby contact should still occur, even if the baby is born by Cesarean surgery. The baby is placed on the mother in the operating room or the recovery area. If the mother is unable to immediately hold the baby a family member can provide skin-to-skin care until the mother is able.


title: Breastfeeding

text: According to studies cited by UNICEF, babies naturally follow a process which leads to a first breastfeed. Shortly after birth, the infant relaxes and makes small movements of the arms, shoulders and head. If placed on the mother's abdomen the baby gradually inches towards the breast, called the breast crawl and begins to feed. After feeding, it is normal for a baby to remain latched to the breast while resting. This is sometimes mistaken for lack of appetite. Absent interruptions, all babies follow this process. Rushing, by picking up and moving the infant to the breast, or interrupting the process, such as removing the baby to weigh him/her, may complicate subsequent feeding. Activities such as weighing, measuring, bathing, needle-sticks, and eye prophylaxis wait until after the first feeding.


title: Breastfeeding

text: Children who are born preterm (before 37 weeks), children born in the early term period (37 weeks–38 weeks and 6 days), and children born with low muscular tone, such as those with chromosomal abnormalities like Down Syndrome or neurological conditions like Cerebral Palsy, may have difficulty in initiating breast feeds immediately after birth. These late preterm (34 weeks –36 weeks and 6 days) and early term (37 weeks–38 weeks and 6 days) infants are at increased risk for both breastfeeding cessation and complications of insufficient milk intake (e.g., dehydration, hypoglycemia, jaundice, and excessive weight loss). They are often expected to feed like term babies, but they have less strength and stamina to feed adequately.


title: Breastfeeding

text: By convention, such children are often fed on expressed breast milk or other supplementary feeds through tubes, supplemental nursing systems, bottles, spoons or cups until they develop satisfactory ability to suck and swallow breast milk. Regardless of feeding method chosen, human milk feedings, whether from the mother or a donor, are important in the brain development of premature infants, and the NICU having a standardized protocol for feeding is protective against dangerous gastrointestinal infections (necrotizing enterocolitis) in these infants. Frequent breastfeeding and/or small amounts of supplementation may be needed for successful outcomes; breast pumping and/or hand expression is often helpful in providing adequate stimulation to the mother's breasts.


title: Breastfeeding

text: Starting to breastfeed may be challenging for mothers of preterm infants, especially those born before 34 weeks, because their breasts may still be developing (in Lactogenesis I, see Breastfeeding Physiology. Additionally, mother–infant separation and the stressful environment of the NICU are also barriers to breastfeeding. Availability of a lactation specialist in the NICU can be helpful for mothers trying to establish their milk supply. Additionally, skin-to-skin (Kangaroo Care) has been shown to be safe and beneficial to both mother and baby. Kangaroo Care stabilizes newborn premature infants' vital signs, such as their heart rate, providing a naturally warm environment that helps them regulate their temperature. It is also beneficial to the mother, as it may improve the development of her milk supply and be beneficial for her mental health.


title: Breastfeeding

text: Newborn babies should feed 8–12 times every 24 hours, typically expressing hunger cues every one to three hours or the first two to four weeks.


title: Breastfeeding

text: A newborn has a small stomach capacity, approximately 20 ml. The amount of breast milk that is produced is timed to meet the infant's needs in that the first milk; colostrum is concentrated but produced in only very small amounts, gradually increasing in volume to meet the expanding size of the infant's stomach capacity.


title: Breastfeeding

text: Many newborns will typically feed for 10 to 15 minutes on each breast, however feeds may last up to 45 minutes depending on infant wakefulness and efficiency.


title: Breastfeeding

text: It is important for parents to recognize the difference between Nutritive and Non-Nutritive Sucking. Nutritive Sucking follows a slow, rhythmic pattern, with 1–2 sucks per swallow. Non-nutritive sucking is a faster-paced sucking pattern with few swallows. This swallow pattern is often observed at the beginning and/or the end of a feed. At the beginning of the feed, this pattern triggers milk letdown, while at the end of the feed, this may be a signal of the infant tired or becoming relaxed with a slower milk velocity.


title: Breastfeeding

text: Numerous health organizations, including, but not limited to, the CDC, WHO, National Health Service, Canadian Pediatric Society, American Academy of Pediatrics, and American Academy of Family Physicians, recommend breastfeeding exclusively for six months following birth, unless medically contraindicated. Exclusive breastfeeding is defined as "an infant's consumption of human milk with no supplementation of any type (no water, no juice, no nonhuman milk and no foods) except for vitamins, minerals and medications." Supplementation with human donor breastmilk may be indicated in some specific cases, as discussed below.


title: Breastfeeding

text: After solids are introduced at around six months of age, continued breastfeeding is recommended. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that babies be breastfed at least until 12 months, or longer if both the mother and child wish. The World Health Organization's guidelines recommend "continue[d] frequent, on-demand breastfeeding until two years of age or beyond.


title: Breastfeeding

text: Extended breastfeeding means breastfeeding after the age of 12 or 24 months, depending on the source. In Western countries such as the United States, Canada, and Great Britain, extended breastfeeding is relatively uncommon and can provoke criticism.


title: Breastfeeding

text: In the United States, 22.4% of babies are breastfed for 12 months, the minimum amount of time advised by the American Academy of Pediatrics. In India, mothers commonly breastfeed for 2 to 3 years.


title: Breastfeeding

text: Supplementation is defined as the use of additional milk or fluid products to feed an infant, in addition to breastmilk, during the first 6 months of life. The Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine recommends only supplementing when medically indicated, as opposed to mixing use of formula and breastmilk for reasons that are not necessarily medical indications. Some medical indications for supplementation include low blood sugar, dehydration, excessive weight loss or poor gain, and jaundice in the infant; true low milk supply; severe nipple pain unrelieved by interventions; and medical contraindications to breastfeeding, as described below. Supplements can be delivered at the breast through a supplemental nursing system in order to stimulate the production of the mother's own milk and to preserve the breastfeeding relationship. Some parents may desire to supplement proactively if early signs of insufficient intake, such as decreased urination, dry mucous membranes, or persistent signs of hunger, are noticed. If these signs are noticed, it is important to have the mother-infant dyad evaluated by a breastfeeding specialist or pediatrician to determine the true cause of the symptoms and determine the need for supplementation. Often, these symptoms are caused by poor milk transfer at the breast, and can be solved with adjustments to the latch, but occasionally they may be caused by other processes, unrelated to breastfeeding, so evaluation is necessary. Supplementation with formula is associated with decreased rates of exclusive breastfeeding at 6 months, and overall decreased length of breastfeeding.


title: Breastfeeding

text: In terms of "what" to supplement with, the first choice is always the mother's own breastmilk, save any medical contraindications to its use. The second best option for supplementation is pasteurized human donor milk. Finally, specific formulas may be used for supplementation if maternal or donor breastmilk are not options. One situation where this may be the case is in cases of infant metabolic diseases, such as galactosemia. The Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine recommends that supplementation only be used when medically indicated and when overseen by a medical professional, such as a pediatrician or family physician, and after consultation with a lactation counselor (CLC or IBCLC). Without sufficient breast stimulation, supplementation can reduce the mother's milk production, so pumping would be indicated in these cases if continued breastfeeding is desired.


title: Breastfeeding

text: Indications for use of donor breastmilk are very closely outlined by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). Due to low availability and high cost of donor breastmilk, the AAP recommends prioritizing the use of the milk for infants born with a weight of less than 1500g (approximately 3lb 5oz), as it is helpful in decreasing rates of the severe intestinal infection, necrotizing enterocolitis, in this population.


title: Breastfeeding

text: Effective positioning and technique for latching on are necessary to prevent nipple soreness and allow the baby to obtain enough milk.


title: Breastfeeding

text: Babies can successfully latch on to the breast from multiple positions. Each baby may prefer a particular position. The "football" hold places the baby's legs next to the mother's side with the baby facing the mother. Using the "cradle" or "cross-body" hold, the mother supports the baby's head in the crook of her arm. The "cross-over" hold is similar to the cradle hold, except that the mother supports the baby's head with the opposite hand. The mother may choose a reclining position on her back or side with the baby lying next to her.


title: Breastfeeding

text: No matter the position the parent-infant dyad finds most comfortable, there are a few components of every position which will help facilitate a successful latch. One key component is maternal comfort. The mother should be comfortable while breastfeeding, and should have her back, feet, and arms supported with pillows as necessary. Additionally, when starting the latch process, the infant should be aligned with their abdomen facing their mother, which can be remembered as "tummy-to-mummy," and with their hips, shoulders and head aligned. This alignment helps to facilitate proper, efficient swallowing mechanics.


title: Breastfeeding

text: Sebaceous glands called Glands of Montgomery located in the areola secrete an oily fluid that lubricate and protect the nipple during latching. The visible portions of the glands can be seen on the skin's surface as small round bumps.


title: Breastfeeding

text: The rooting reflex is the baby's natural tendency to turn towards the breast with the mouth open wide. When preparing to latch, mothers should make use of this reflex by gently stroking the baby's philtrum, the area between the upper lip and the nose, with their nipple to induce the baby to open their mouth with a wide gape. One way to help the infant achieve a deep latch is to compress the breast tissue into a "U" or "hamburger shape," so that the infant can fit the breast tissue into their mouth. This is done by the mother placing her thumb and fingers in line with the infant's nose and mouth respectively and using this grip to compress the breast tissue.


title: Breastfeeding

text: If the newborn seems to need help in latching on, the mother should focus on helping the by infant bringing their chin to the breast first. This facilitates a deep, asymmetric latch, and also helps the infant extend their neck and tilt their forehead back to maintain this deep latch and ease the swallowing process.


title: Breastfeeding

text: In a good latch, a large amount of the areola, in addition to the nipple, is in the baby's mouth. The amount of areola visible on either side of the infant's mouth should be asymmetric, meaning most of the "bottom" of the areola should be in the infants mouth and much more of the "top" of the areola should be visible. This position is helpful in pointing the nipple toward the roof of the infant's mouth, helping the infant recruit more milk. The baby's lips should be flanged out. The neck should be extended to facilitate swallowing, and as such, the chin will be close to the breast, and the forehead and nose should be far from the breast. Another sign of a good latch is the contour of the infant's cheeks; the cheeks should be rounded all the way to the edge of the mouth, rather than dimpled or creased at the edge of the mouth. This is a good indicator of effective suck mechanics. Additionally, in order to achieve a deep latch, the infant's mouth must be open wide, preferably wider than 140 degrees.


title: Breastfeeding

text: In a poor, shallow latch, the infant latches close to or at the nipple, causing the mother intense pain during latching that is relieved with infant release from the breast. While the infant is at the breast, the first indicators of a shallow latch are having the areola be largely visible outside the infant's mouth and a narrow infant mouth angle. Additional signs result from poor positioning when the infant comes toward the breast to latch. If the infant leads with their brow or forehead, they are likely to flex their neck; this mechanism of latching causes the nipple to point down and then hit the hard palate during sucking. From an external view, this manifests as the nose and forehead being close to the breast and the chin far from the breast. This neck flexion also obstructs the normal swallowing mechanism, preventing the infant from drinking efficiently. In addition to not being able to swallow properly, this shallow latch prevents the infant from adequately compressing the glandular tissue behind the nipple and stimulating milk flow; thus, they may begin to apply more suction, which manifests externally as cheek dimpling, or sucking their cheeks in.


title: Breastfeeding

text: When the baby suckles muscles in the breast squeeze milk towards the nipples. This is called the let-down reflex. Some women report that they do not experience anything while others report a tingling feeling which is sometimes described as quite strong.


title: Breastfeeding

text: The baby may be seen to respond to the beginning of the flow of milk by changing from quick sucks to deep rhythmic swallows. Sometimes the let-down is so strong that the baby splutters and coughs and the mother may need to remove the baby from her breast for a short time until the flow becomes less forceful. Milk may also let-down unexpectedly when a mother hears her baby cry or even only thinks about the baby. Nursing pads may be made or purchased to absorb unexpected milk flows.


title: Breastfeeding

text: Infants of mothers with inverted nipples can still achieve a good latch with perhaps a little extra effort. For some women, the nipple may easily become erect when stimulated. Other women may require modified breastfeeding techniques, and some may need extra devices, such as nipple shells, modified syringes, or breast pumps to expose the nipple. La Leche League and Toronto Public Health offer several techniques to use during pregnancy or even in the early days following birth that may help to bring a flat or inverted nipple out.


title: Breastfeeding

text: The World Health Organization's Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding recommends total avoidance of pacifiers for breastfeeding infants. In 2016 a large review of studies reported that the use of a pacifier beginning at birth or after lactation was established did not significantly affect the duration of exclusive and partial breastfeeding up to four months of age. The CDC, however, currently (2022) reports that early use of pacifiers can have a negative outcome on the success of breastfeeding and they suggest that it should be delayed until breastfeeding is firmly established.


title: Breastfeeding

text: Ankyloglossia, also called "tongue-tie" may cause shallow latch, poor milk transfer, and other problems with breastfeeding. There are two types of tongue-ties; an anterior tongue-tie occurs when a band of tissue, known as the frenulum, attaches the tongue to the base of the mouth, restricting the tongue's vertical movement and preventing the infant from pressing the breast and nipple into the soft palate. A posterior tongue-tie is a band of tissue that can only be "felt" on exam, and tends to impact breastfeeding less severely than its anterior counterpart. If it is determined that the inability to latch on properly is related to ankyloglossia, a simple surgical procedure to clip the frenulum can correct the condition. The Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine and the Australian Dental Association have raised concern over the growing trend of oral tie surgeries, due to evidence for benefit being low-quality, inconsistent, or unsupported.


title: Breastfeeding

text: Engorgement is the swelling and stretching of the breast tissue due to accumulation of fluid in the tissue surrounding and supporting the milk-producing cells and ducts. Engorgement most frequently occurs as milk "comes in" and during the weaning process. As milk is coming in, several processes occur. At the end of pregnancy there is dilation of the blood vessels which supply the breast, allowing for leaking into the tissue or interstitial space. Additionally, the birth of an infant is followed by massive fluid shifts to both offload excess fluid, which had been used to supply oxygen and nutrients to the fetus through the placenta, which is no longer needed, and supply additional fluid to the breasts in order to start the process of making milk. These fluid shifts often result in some of this excess fluid leaking into the breast tissue. Finally, milk "coming in" can create an uncomfortably full feeling, which combined with the aforementioned fluid accumulation in the breast tissue, can cause severe pain. If breastfeeding is suddenly stopped a woman's breasts are likely to become engorged. Pumping small amounts to relieve discomfort helps to gradually train the breasts to produce less milk. There is presently no safe medication to prevent engorgement, but cold compresses and ibuprofen may help to relieve pain and swelling. Pain should go away with emptying of the breasts. If symptoms continue and comfort measures are not helpful a woman should consider the possibility that a blocked milk duct or infection may be present and seek medical intervention.


title: Breastfeeding

text: Although very common, nipple pain and nipple trauma (cracking, open sores) should not be normalized, as these are often signs of a shallow latch or other underlying problem that can be evaluated and fixed. In addition to shallow latch, other causes of nipple pain include, but are not limited to, skin infection or inflammation, blood vessel spasm or the equivalent of Raynaud Syndrome in the breast, mastitis, plugged ducts, and nipple blebs. Pain caused by a problem deep in the breast may also present with nipple pain due to the paths of nerves in the breast. In addition to the serious nature of many of these causes, nipple pain is a common reason for a mother stopping breastfeeding, so it is important that mothers experiencing nipple pain be evaluated.


title: Breastfeeding

text: While milk normally "comes in" by 3 days after birth, there are several reasons this may be delayed. Risk factors for this delay include maternal diabetes, stressful delivery, retained placenta, prolonged labor and birth by C-section. Mothers experiencing a delay in their milk coming in should consult with a lactation specialist and their pediatrician, as they may need to supplement with donor milk or formula to help the infant gain weight and pump to encourage milk to come in sooner and in greater volume.


title: Breastfeeding

text: Breast milk supply augments in response to the baby's demand for milk, and decreases when milk is allowed to remain in the breasts. When considering a possibly low milk supply, it is important to consider the difference between "perceived low milk supply" and "true low milk supply". Perceived low milk supply occurs when mothers, for a variety of reasons, believe that they are not making enough milk to feed their infant. These reasons may include fussiness, colic, preference for the bottle as opposed to the breast, long nursing duration, decreased sensation of breast fulness, and even decreased frequency of infant stools. However, in these cases, it important to reassure the parent that infant weight gain is absolute proof of adequate milk intake. Thus, if the infant breastfeeding exclusively, and is gaining weight appropriately, then the parent can be reassured that they are producing enough milk.


title: Breastfeeding

text: True low milk supply can be either "primary" (caused by medical conditions or anatomical issues in the mother), "secondary" (caused by not thoroughly and regularly removing milk from the breasts) or both. Primary causes may manifest prior to or during pregnancy, during labor, and even after birth. Secondary causes are far more common than primary ones. One study found that 15% of healthy first-time mothers had low milk supply 2–3 weeks after birth, with secondary causes accounting for at least two-thirds of those cases.


title: Breastfeeding

text: Poor milk intake is signaled by poor infant weight gain, signs of dehydration, and hypoglycemia. Poor milk intake can be caused by poor milk transfer by the infant or by true low milk supply by the mother. When the milk "comes in" appropriately, but is followed by decreased milk supply, this is most often caused by allowing milk to remain in the breasts for long periods of time, or insufficiently draining the breasts during feeds. If the baby is latching and swallowing well (signs of good milk transfer), but is not gaining weight as expected or is showing signs of dehydration, low milk supply in the mother can be suspected, and a lactation specialist should be consulted.


title: Breastfeeding

text: More than 80% of newborns develop jaundice within several days of birth. Jaundice, or yellowing of the skin and eyes, occurs when bilirubin, a biproduct of the breakdown/recycling of red blood cells, builds up in the newborn's bloodstream faster than the liver can break it down and excrete it through the baby's urine and stool. By continuing to breastfeed frequently (start at 8-12 times per day), the infant's body can usually rid itself of the bilirubin excess by encouraging more urine and stool production. However, in some cases, the infant may need additional treatments, such as UV light therapy or additional feedings (see Supplementation) to keep the condition from progressing into more severe problems.


title: Breastfeeding

text: Breastfeeding jaundice is quite common and may occur in the first week of life in conjunction with ongoing weight loss. The cause is thought to be low caloric intake. Formula-fed infants tend to lose less weight after birth compared to breastfed infants, supporting the hypothesis that breastfeeding jaundice is related to caloric intake rather than volume intake. While breastfeeding is a risk factor for severely high levels of bilirubin, it is important to note that the risk factor is very common, and the risk of severely high bilirubin remains small. Thus, individual risk factors, including breastfeeding, are not "predictive" of developing severe jaundice.


title: Breastfeeding

text: Breast milk jaundice is jaundice that persists despite appropriate weight gain. This type of jaundice may start as breastfeeding jaundice and persist, or may not appear until after the baby has begun to gain weight, typically around 4–5 days old. It often persists beyond the second and third weeks of life. There is no single cause of breast milk jaundice; rather, the causes are multifactorial and frequently debated in the literature. The causes of breast milk jaundice include variations in bilirubin metabolism, genetic variations, and variations in breastmilk, including the harmless and helpful germs found naturally on the surface of the skin and in the breastmilk. Breast milk jaundice is usually not a reason to stop nursing. It is important to consult with a physician to determine when it may be necessary to test for other causes of jaundice that may require additional treatment, such as enzyme deficiencies or problems with the red blood cells (i.e., elliptocytosis, spherocytosis, hemolysis, glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency).


title: Breastfeeding

text: Weaning is the process of replacing breast milk with other foods; the infant is fully weaned after the replacement is complete. Psychological factors affect the weaning process for both mother and infant, as issues of closeness and separation are very prominent. Unless a medical emergency necessitates abruptly stopping breastfeeding, it is best to gradually increase the period between feedings and/or eliminate feedings to allow the breasts to adjust to the decreased demands without becoming engorged. La Leche League advises parents to shift their children's focus at bedtime away from breastfeeding, as it is often the most difficult feeding for them to let go.