The Department of Health and Hospitals says 82 percent of birth hospitals in Louisiana are providing families with access to breastfeeding support and resources. Michelle Southern reports…:
CUT 1 (30) “I’m Michelle Southern”
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The state Department of Health and Hospitals announce the discovery of the brain eating amoeba in a water system in Ouachita Parish. Eric Gill reports…
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The Department of Health and Hospitals says 82 percent of birth hospitals in Louisiana are providing families with access to breastfeeding support and resources. Amy Zapata is the Bureau of Family Health Director at DHH. She says improving breastfeeding rates is one of the most profound, low-cost measures to promote health of mothers and babies…:
Zapata says their goal is to help educate Louisiana mothers on the importance of breastfeeding their infants and to help hospitals strengthen support offered to new moms. She says one of their initiatives hospitals can participate is a program called “The Gift”…:
Zapata says the steps that the hospitals are implementing for new moms are very important for relationships and connections with families and their babies. She says skin to skin contact with parents right after delivery, learning the signs and signals your baby shows when they are hungry — are all a child’s very first language with their caregivers..:
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Minden Congressman John Fleming has sent a letter to President Obama urging him to hold a National Day of Prayer to stop the violence against police officers. Louisiana has already lost six law enforcement officers in the line of duty this year. Fleming says we can’t allow this pattern of targeting officers to continue.
Fleming is not sure if President Obama will grant this official day but says he needs to do something to reverse this attitude. He says the way the President currently addressing the issue of cop killing isn’t good for our society.
Fleming says if this continues, police officers are going to be reluctant to respond to crimes and this day of prayer is a way send a signal to the country that the President believes violence against law enforcement must stop. But he says he’s not going to stop there.
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The state Department of Health and Hospitals announce the discovery of the brain eating amoeba in a water system in Ouachita Parish. State Health Officer Dr. Jimmy Guidry says the amoeba was found in the North Monroe Water System, which serves the town of Sterlington. Guidry says this is the fourth discovery this summer and there is a common thread…
A 60 day chlorine burn on the system will begin as soon as possible. He says chlorine acts as a disinfectant for the amoeba and when chlorine levels drop, the amoeba can enter a water system. Guidry says it’s a challenge for water systems to maintain a proper chlorine level through the entire system, especially during the summer…
There will be a town hall meeting tonight in Sterlington to answer questions and alleviate residents’ fears. Guidry assures residents that there is no way you can become infected with the amoeba by drinking water from the system…
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The FDA has sent warning letters to 5 distributors of pure powdered caffeine and Louisiana Poison Control Center Director Mark Ryan agrees the product puts consumers at risk. He says while smaller doses of caffeine in coffee or sodas are okay, danger enters the equation when you’re dealing with powder caffeine in a bulk container..:
The warning letters follow caffeine overdose deaths last year of two people. Ryan says they have seen cases of people in Louisiana emergency rooms who have had way too much powder caffeine. He says one teaspoon of pure powdered caffeine is equivalent to more than 30 cups of coffee all at once…:
Ryan says they mostly see young adults using the powder for an energy boost, a pick-me-up before work outs or to control weight gain. He advice is to simply just stay away from this stuff…:
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