This article from the BBC made me realize how rarely I actually see women breastfeeding in public. Is our society so schizophrenic that we influence women to be ashamed or embarrassed to breastfeed in public? Breastfeeding has been shown to have enormous benefit for both mother and child. I found this statistic troubling:
Although 69% of mothers initially breastfeed, 21% of these stop within the first fortnight and another 36% within the next six weeks.
They don’t call it ‘mother’s milk’ for nothing!
Related:
- Breast feeding mothers and newborn babies emit odours that may boost the sexual desires of other women. See, breast feeding is sexy!
- TV ‘deters breast feeding’
- US breaks breastfeeding record for simultaneous breastfeeding. 1,000 mothers in Berkely, CA.
- BreastFeeding FAQ from La Leche
Breastfeeding is natural and if a woman is modest in feeding her kid in public it should be no big deal. Sexy? Eh, I guess. I think I’m numb to it because I’ve helped stick nipples into babies’ mouths for so long. That’s one of the many aspects of my job that makes me completely blasé to the entire issue.
I feel like telling the world to just shut the fuck up and worry about things that really matter. Things like whether yogurt should be fruit at the bottom or mixed. Things like whether or not I should put paypal on my site and make people pay for my highlighting. Or hell, they can pay for my legal fees after I kill my ex for being such a rat bastard! Those are important issues. That’s what people should be worried about!
i think i love you.
Awesome post.
Ehhh… The idea of myself ever lactating really sickens me. If I ever have a child, I do not want to breast feed. I think that expecting a woman to breast feed is pretty restricting, that she could be forced to be a human bottle for a year. Not being able to hold a job, or even go out of the house with out the baby. I think that the nutrients of breast milk ought to be relatively easy to replicate, so perhaps mabe its the bonding between the child and the mother that makes the real difference, rather than the milk itself.
That’s understandable, but breastmilk is supposed to have antibodies and other substances which are supposed to strengthen the infant’s immune system which cannot not be replicated.
Heather,
If you feel like breastfeeing would be too restricting to you, then I suggest you consider not having children. Trust me, breastfeeding is the LEAST restrictive thing about being a parent. I’ve held full time jobs and part time jobs, I’ve traveled across country with my children and no other adults (Austin to Portland OR and back, baybee! two glorious weeks!) I homeschool, I work, I write, I live life, I socialize, and my children have never seen the inside of a daycare center.
Chris is correct when he says that breastmilk contains certain antibodies that have never been (and its doubtful that they will be) replicated in artificial breast milk. In addition, you are correct in your assumption that the bonding between the mother and child is very important. But if you are going to bond with the child…um…why not breastfeed? I don’t get it.
Yes, it is a woman’s choice whether or not to breastfeed. I think the point of World Breastfeeding Month and the National nurse out is to ensure that all women have an opportunity to make an informed choice. Currently there is so much corruption in the formula industry (basically, they PAY hospitals to give lots and lots of formula samples to new mothers, and pretty much once you get started on formula, it can be very very difficult to maintain a breastfeeding relationship with your child) and this, among other things, is reason enough to breastfeed just to protest the companies that do this and other things like hard-selling their product to people in developing nations who really NEED to give their children the antibodies only available in breast milk and who really don’t have reliable water sources to ensure their infants don’t die of diarrhea by drinking formula mixed with dirty water, or die of malnutrition as the ratio of powder to water is diluted to save money.
Also, it is not currently the cultural norm here in the United States for women to breastfeed in public, or to talk about breastfeeding, so many women have misgivings and hold false assumptions about the breastfeeding relationship. Basically, breastfeeding loses before it has a chance to compete with the bottle.
Whoah…long winded and probably really not as clear as I would like to be. BUT my point is that breastfeeding is so easy and so convenient, why anyone would think that bottle feeding is somehow less restrictive is a mystery. I go out with my kids. They get hungry. I whip it out and feed them. No mixing, no mess, no CONSUMER WASTE, no bottles to clean, no worry that I just fed my child a chemical latte (because there are very few organic formulas out there, and the ones that do exist are WOW terribly expensive…which reminds me)…no COST.
Wait, I CAN understand why someone would have the idea that breastfeeding is restricting…it’s probably because that’s what’s sold to us as an undercurrent in the media, particularly the advertising industry. If you read a book about babies, you see bottles. If you read a parenting magazine, you see hundreds of ads for artificial breast milk. It’s insidious and it’s fairly evil.
So, in short…if you do ever consider getting pregnant, you might also want to consider that a child needs to be nurtured by (a) caring adult(s) whether you breastfeed or not. So if you go into the parenting situation feeling like you don’t want to be restricted, go get yourself a pet rock instead.
And, yes, I am kind of a zealot. So you will have to excuse me. I strongly believe that breastfeeding is not necessarily all about a mom’s right, but there is also the issue of the child’s right.
Keep in mind, though, that it’s been proven that breastfeeding reduces your chance of getting breast cancer a great deal, even if you have a history of breast cancer in your family…so the mother benefits as well. Not to mention that the chemicals that are released while breastfeeding serve to calm a new mother when she needs most to be calmed.
The fact is that it’s a natural process, like birth, that corporations have stolen from women and tried to re-sell as a packaged item. It’s not anti-feminist to breastfeed. It’s anti-feminist to swallow the tripe that the medical and pharmaceutical industries feed to us to make us think that we need them to birth and care for our children.
Um…I’m sure I have more to say, but maybe I should get my own fucking blog. Oh, yeah…I have one. hahaha.
LOL. You’re welcome any time!
Drublood,
If I have children, I will most likely not have the financial resources that allow me to be with my child 24 hours a day to “whip it out” to them whenever they are hungrey, and to ensure they never need a day care, or a babysitter, or leave the house to go to school. I will have to hold a job to support the children. That does not mean I will be a bad or unworthy mother. You can rant as much as you like about the perills of formula, just keep in mind that most mothers do not have your $$$.
Good grief!
1. what a mad assumption, only people who are rich enough to stay home are going to breastfeed, wtf?
2. dru is rich!! I had no idea, I’ll be much nicer to her in the future.
3. you can work and breastfeed, I do it, dru does it – millions of women do it.
4. breastfeeding is free, formula costs money.
I’ve been interupted, I have to go whip it out for my fifteen month old!
That’s hilarious Heather…I work part time right now and am skating the edge of the poverty line because my priority is to lead an enjoyable life in which everyone in my family feels fulfilled and nurtured, including myself, including my children, including my husband.
Yes, I do have more money than many people in the country and the world, but um, I’m far far far from being rich.
And, believe me, there are just as many rich women who refuse to breastfeed their children due to their self-inflicted desire for money as there are poor women who don’t breastfeed because they are misinformed about the benefits of breastfeeding.
People in the poorest parts of the world breastfeed because it’s FREE. Like I said above (and it’s obvious that you didn’t read what I said) breastfeeding is FAR LESS EXPENSIVE than formula.
Thanks for the laugh, heather. I think I’m going to go home and tell my stay at home husband that we’re rich!
Heather –
I suggest that you take a look at http://www.promom.org. There is a list entitled 101 Reasons to Breastfeed. There is also an excellent book called Milk, Money and Madness: THe Culture and POlitics of Breastfeeding which is very informative.
With something as important as breastfeeding it’s essential to be fully informed before you choose not to do it, and before you buy into and propagate the misinformation and misunderstandings surrounding such a vital, joyful, natural part of parenting.
Choosing between breastmilk and formula is not a decision to be made lightly. It is a decision that has many ramifications for baby and mother and society! Formula is great for the women and babies who really need it, but not wanting to BF just because you don’t want to be restricted? Not a very convincing reason in my book.
By the way, I have been lactating for almost four years now. My two kids stay at home (daycare costs money, too). I was enrolled in grad school when my first was born. I was a midwife’s apprentice for a year. We have traveled extensively. We don’t have much money. I don’t feel restricted. Breastfed babies are extremely portable.
Oh yeah, and if we’re gonna talk money – breastfed babies are generally healthier than formula fed babies. Fewer incidences of diarrhea, ear infections, allergies… Fewer illnesses mean fewer doctor’s bill.
NOthing personal, just don’t slam BF till you know more about it! KWIM?
Rachel
Oh, and by the way, My children have never seen the inside of a daycare because my husband and I worked our ASSES off on swing shifts to ensure that we didn’t leave our children in the care of an institution.
We found, though, that it was much easier for one of us to stay home while the other worked, and to deal creatively with the limitations of a lack of income.
I am aware that I have a good deal of privilege over someone who must use daycare, but my point is that you CAN breastfeed and work. You CAN breastfeed and use daycare. AND ALSO that there are more choices and options than the media and ad industry want you to believe. It’s the formula companies and their ad campaigns that want you to feel restricted by your children and your breastfeeding. They want to restrict you for money. Any restrictions that come from your children have a much higher return for you personally.
Uhm…you don’t know me…I wandered over here, hopped from Holly’s blog to Full Bleed to here. I hope you don’t mind if I say something to Heather. I have a 14 month old that I am breastfeeding and it’s the most wonderful fulfulling thing I have done as a mother.
But the reason I am posting is to say that he was in daycare for months 3-6 and I worked fulltime. He never had formula, because it’s so easy to pump. As long as you have a good pump like a Medela PIS, supply does not drop. It made me feel good to pump my milk for him when I couldn’t be with him. And let me just say that when most of the kids in his daycare had green boogies (which was ALL the time), my son only had a few sniffles. The antibodies in my milk gave him a huge advantage over the f fed kids.
I remember before I had kids, that I had all kinds of specific ideas about what I would and wouldn’t do and while it’s good to give things thought, a lot of it changes once you actually have a baby. I have found that it’s not restricting, rather one of the most empowering things I’ve done as a woman, super-easy in that it’s all portable, no clean-up. Please try it before you write it off. And I highly recommend the books and resources mentioned above.
Thank you for letting me share my two cents.
Reese
Oops! One last thing, because Heather had mentioned how bm components are easily duplicated. I have the rare privilege of saying that my son has never been constipated, never had a stomach-ache and never had a fever. Talk to your f-feeding friends and I think you’ll hear about a whole range of related problems. Add to that the risk of kicking off food allergies from introducing dairy or soy too early in life. They really aren’t identical substances. Best of luck to you.
Reese