NewsSquawk, October 22, 2007

Breastfeeding Law: MPs in Australia who also happen to be new moms will now be allowed to nurse their babies in the New South Wales’ Parliament. Speaker Richard Torbay announced that he is permanently changing the rules to allow women to breastfeed in the chamber. This is a first for Austrialia’s legislative chambers. In 2003, MP Zali Steggall was kicked out of the Victoria Parliament for attempting to nurse her 11-day-old baby.

PPD Legislation Update: Last week, the Melanie Blocker-Stokes Postpartum Depression Research and Care Act, aimed at providing more funding for the study of postpartum mood disorders, passed in the House of Representatives, 382-3. The bill now moves to the Senate. According to the American Psychiatric Association, postpartum depression affects around one in ten new mothers; postpartum mood disorders with psychotic features affect between one in 500 to 1000 new moms. You can read more about Ms. Blocker-Stokes here.


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