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For many new mothers, one of the most mysterious and elusive parts of breastfeeding is the latch. While some babies’ mouths manage to automatically make an airtight seal around their mother’s nipple, others can have difficulties, or physical impediments, that make achieving good suction and proper nursing almost impossible. One solution care providers have offered is the nipple shield, a cuplike perforated silicone device that fits on top of a mother’s nipple and areola and improves the way babies make their latch. It’s typically a short-term method for addressing issues ranging from tongue-ties to flat nipples to engorgement. The problem with nipple shieldsand even for those nursing mothers and babies with a textbook latchis that it can be hard for moms to know when milk is actually flowing. [Photo: Munchkin] Baby brand Munchkin is trying to eliminate some of that mystery with the Flow Nipple Shield +, a new baby nutrition device that works like a conventional nipple shield but which also has an innovative extended channel for the milk to flow through, offering mothers a visual confirmation that babies are successfully latched and effectively nursing. Steven B. Dunn, founder and CEO of WHY Brands, Munchkin’s parent company, says the device addresses some of the literal pain points of breastfeeding while aiming at a bigger target. We describe our product as a nipple shield because it helps explain to mom what it is. We’re not selling a product to reduce pain, though it does reduce pain just like another nipple shield. We’re creating and designing a new category, Dunn says. This is a breastfeeding insight tool. [Photo: Munchkin] The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends exclusively breastfeeding newborns for the first six months of life, and supports continued breastfeeding for the first two years of life. But according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, only about 60% of babies in the U.S. are still breastfeeding at six months, and only about a quarter of babies are exclusively breastfed for the first six months. Part of the shortage is that many mothers think they aren’t able to breastfeed effectively. A 2013 study from Pediatrics found that a perception of insufficient milk supply was the leading reason mothers stopped breastfeeding, despite only 5% of mothers actually having those symptoms. That perception led to 60% of mothers stopping breastfeeding earlier than they wanted to. In the face of these numbers, Munchkin saw an opportunity to give mothers more information about what was actually happening during the breastfeeding process. The innovation of the Flow Nipple Shield + is a unique milk channel that brings milk on a looping path from the nipple to the baby’s mouth, jutting out from the latch zone so that a mother (or other observer) can easily see milk moving through. This channel, the width, and dimensions of it, went through a lot of test and learn, test, and learn, says Dunn. It was probably the most difficult product to manufacture in Munchkin’s 30-year history. The nipple shield’s design has been in development for almost a decade. Munchkin’s design and product teams worked with lactation consultants and engineers to fine-tune the form of the device, and to ensure the milk channel was long enough to provide visual confirmation without making it too hard for babies to get the milk all the way through. They also worked to reduce its overall size. We purposely made the product as thin as possible with food grade silicone to maximize the skin-to-skin contact between mom and baby, Dunn says. [Photo: Munchkin] During product development, Munchkin launched a 12-month clinical trial of the device, to gauge its effectiveness in encouraging more breastfeeding. Among the 301 participants in the trial, more than 93% were still breastfeeding at the six-month mark. Our research shows that if moms get confident, especially in the first month of breastfeeding, they’re much more likely to continue, Dunn says. Available in four sizes, the Flow Nipple Shield + retails for $40 and includes a special syringe for cleaning the surface and the milk channel. The device will be available in the U.S., Canada, France, and the United Kingdom. It’s probably the largest global campaign we’ll ever do, says Diana Barnes, chief brand officer at WHY. But the nature of the product has also posed a problem for its marketing. The best way to explain the product, Barnes says, is to show it being used during breastfeeding, which requires at least partial exposure of a breast. Some vendors have chosen not to show our assets, says Barnes I was actually quite disappointed. That hasn’t stopped the company from pursuing ad placements around the world, including in Times Square. Our goal is to normalize what is the most natural thing to women since the beginning of time, Barnes says. The Flow Nipple Shield + is an attempt to make that natural process less mysterious and frustrating. We do not want to be preachy. We don’t want to push. If mom’s goal is a day, if mom’s goal is a month, or six months, or a year, we want to do whatever we can do to provide insights, Dunn says. This just shows your milk is flowing, your milk is not flowing. It’s a green light or red light. And we think that information is so key for mom making her choices, whatever it’s going to be.
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E-Commerce
Like it or not, public speaking is a big part of any leaders job description, and even heads of state are not immune. President Donald Trump will address a joint session of Congress on Tuesday evening (March 4, 2025) for the first time since his second term began. It is technically not a State of the Union speech, but well get into all that and how to watch it live below: A brief history of the State of the Union American presidents are constitutionally mandated to give updates to Congress about the state of the union. The exact number and timing of these progress reports are not specified. In recent history, presidents tend to tackle this duty in late January or early February. George Washington set the precedent of giving a speech to a joint session of Congress and his successor, John Adams, followed his example. Thomas Jefferson broke this tradition and gave his updates via a written report because he didnt want to appear like a monarch. In 1913, Woodrow Wilson revived the in-person speech. In 1923, Calvin Coolidge brought the address to the radio. The first televised address was given by Harry Truman in 1947. Why isn’t tonight’s speech a state of the union? It’s a case of semantics. Because this is the first year of President Trumps second term, this is officially considered a joint address, even though the speech will be similar to a State of the Union. House Speaker Mike Johnson invited Trump via a letter sent in late January. It is expected that next year will be his first official State of the Union. What will Trump talk about? Given Trumps unpredictable nature, truly anything can happen. There are prominent issues that will most likely be covered, one of which involves a possible government shutdown. Federal funding is set to expire on March 14 with no clear plan in place to move forward. On February 27, Trump took to Truth Social and blamed former president Joe Biden for the lack of budget. Additionally, he endorsed a continuing resolution that would fund the government until September. Historically, presidents use their State of the Union or joint address speeches to ask Congress for support in carrying out their political agenda. President Trump does this less frequently than his predecessors. According to Hoffman and Howard, he never made more than 24 requests in his speeches, while the average is 31. Instead, Trump began his second term by issuing a record-breaking number of executive orders, some of which are already being challenged in court. Critics also believe that the creation of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by Elon Musk, may be unconstitutional, since Musk was not confirmed by the Senate. Meanwhile, Trumps quest to cut government spending is also on shaky constitutional grounds, because Congress is supposed to control the purse strings. Other diplomatic issues, such as newly imposed tariffs on Mexico and Canada and Trumps Oval Office disagreement with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine, might make the cut as well. How can I watch or stream Trump’s speech tonight? The stage is set for an intriguing night of political theater. The speech is scheduled to begin at 9 p.m. ET, but most networks will have some sort of pre-show coverage. (C-SPAN’s coverage begins at 8 p.m. ET.) Those with an over-the-air antenna or traditional cable subscription, you can tune into the network of your choosing. For those who cut the cord, live-TV streaming services that carry TV networks as part of a bundle will have the speech. Those include: Fubo Sling YouTube TV Hulu + Live TV Free live-streaming services from the major TV networks are another easy way to watch the speech if you’re not paying for cable. Those include: NBC News Now ABC News Live CBS News Streaming Network Additionally, NPR will cover the speech on your local station and the NPR app. It will also be broadcasting on YouTube, as will PBS NewsHour, which is also embedded below. Immediately following Trumps address, the Democrats will get their chance to weigh in. Senator Elissa Slotkin of Michigan will do the honors in English. Representative Adriano Espaillat of New York’s 13th congressional district will respond in Spanish. Representative Lateefah Simon of California’s 12th district, technically a Democrat, is also speaking for the Working Families Party.
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E-Commerce
More than a decade after Casey Anthony was accused of murdering her daughter in one of the countrys most notorious murder cases, this weekend she emerged on TikTok to reintroduce herself. This is my first of probably many recordings on a series that Im starting, Anthony says in the three-minute-long video recorded from her car. I am a legal advocate. I am a researcher. Ive been in the legal field since 2011 and in this capacity, I feel that its necessary, if Im going to continue to operate appropriately as a legal advocate, that I start to advocate for myself and also advocate for my daughter. @caseyanthony_substack Raw, uncut, unfiltered. Join me on Substack, https://substack.com/@therealcaseyanthony It’s time we stand in the light together. #fyp original sound – caseyanthony_substack Anthony became a national figure when her 2-year-old daughter went missing in the summer of 2008. The childs body was found in December of that same year in a wooded area behind the Orlando home of Anthonys parents. Anthony was ultimately found not guilty of her daughter’s murder in 2011, despite significant pushback from the public. She was, however, convicted of lying to law enforcement. In the TikTok video Anthony introduces viewers to her daughter Caylee Anthony and her parents, George and Cindy Anthony. This is not about them, she says. The whole point of this is for me to begin to reintroduce myself. Comments have been switched off but the video currently has over 3.3 million views at the time of writing. Anthony also used the video to announce shes launching a Substack newsletter, where she will give a voice to people and give people tools and resources that they can utilize. Anthony added that there will be an email address available for people to reach out to her on a limited basis regarding legal matters. As a proponent for the LGBTQ community, for legal community, womens rights, I feel that its important that I use this platform that was thrust upon me and now look at as a blessing, as opposed to the curse that it has been since 2008, she says. In her first post on the blogging platform, Anthony wrote that the presumption of innocence is a sacred right adding, that is not an opinion, it is a fact. We are plagued by a rush to judgment before someone even steps foot into a courtroom. Once a verdict is read, however long the process takes, the public must trust that the system worked the way it was intended. Comments remain open on her Substack posts, and Anthony has proven willing to respond. Hitting back at one of the comments, she wrote, Sadly, if you were to ever be put in a position where you would need a legal defense, you would want someone like me helping to represent you. Someone who knows what it’s like to be accused.
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