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I know this will anger people but I think all women should be required to at least try to breastfeed. Obviously I'm a huge bfing advocate and have nursed 4 children for a total of 10 yrs. Yes, I had problems, it wasn't always a walk in the park.
But NO ONE ever said parenting was going to be easy and when research has continually shown that "breast is best" I feel like women should at least try it.
Many medical personnel that SHOULD help moms nurse, don't and I think that's why many fail at breastfeeding which is VERY frustrating.
I was a LLL leader and got help calls on the phone every week of moms getting wrong, bad, or discouraging advice from nurses or drs and that's why they were having a hard time nursing. These drs and nurses need more training on correct breastfeeding information.
A lot of women say they "couldn't" breastfeed, but in reality, it's rare for a woman not be able to nurse adequately. More likely, it's was just stink'n hard work and they didn't want to work at it any more. I get it, I remember how sleep deprived and stressed I was but I did it anyway. Is that harsh, yes it is. Is being a new mom really stressful, yes it is. But if you decide to make a baby, then you make the choice to raise that child the best you can and that included breastfeeding.
I strongly feel the health and mental benefits for baby outweigh the stress and physical challenges for mom. There are soooo many babies with allergy issues with formula and moms have to try 3 or 4 different types just to find one that will work when breastmilk would have been best. No child is allergic to mom. (Though sometimes mom has to eliminate food that passes through breastmilk that affect baby).
I encountered many challenges with nursing and working and pumping too. It took me 6 months to get nursing to work with my son but I never gave up because I knew it was best for him. Then after going back to work I had to pump 2x just for 1 feeding. It was HARD. But that was my job as a parent.
So that's OPINION which many won't agree with, but that's OK because they are not raising my kids.
Many mothers of preemies do have a harder time breastfeeding. I saw 3 different LC's (one being an IBCLC) and nothing worked. We did every single thing we could. I chose to pump and supplement (about half and half) since it was clear breastfeeding wasnt going to work.
I know this will anger people but I think all women should be required to at least try to breastfeed. .
Require and try are mutually exclusive concepts. To really try something with a goal of succeeding requires something from within, a personal motivation. The key to breastfeeding expansion is not the shaming or belittling of those who don't understand, but their education and some empathy. IMO.
I know this will anger people but I think all women should be required to at least try to breastfeed. Obviously I'm a huge bfing advocate and have nursed 4 children for a total of 10 yrs. Yes, I had problems, it wasn't always a walk in the park.
But NO ONE ever said parenting was going to be easy and when research has continually shown that "breast is best" I feel like women should at least try it.
Many medical personnel that SHOULD help moms nurse, don't and I think that's why many fail at breastfeeding which is VERY frustrating.
I was a LLL leader and got help calls on the phone every week of moms getting wrong, bad, or discouraging advice from nurses or drs and that's why they were having a hard time nursing. These drs and nurses need more training on correct breastfeeding information.
A lot of women say they "couldn't" breastfeed, but in reality, it's rare for a woman not be able to nurse adequately. More likely, it's was just stink'n hard work and they didn't want to work at it any more. I get it, I remember how sleep deprived and stressed I was but I did it anyway. Is that harsh, yes it is. Is being a new mom really stressful, yes it is. But if you decide to make a baby, then you make the choice to raise that child the best you can and that included breastfeeding.
I strongly feel the health and mental benefits for baby outweigh the stress and physical challenges for mom. There are soooo many babies with allergy issues with formula and moms have to try 3 or 4 different types just to find one that will work when breastmilk would have been best. No child is allergic to mom. (Though sometimes mom has to eliminate food that passes through breastmilk that affect baby).
I encountered many challenges with nursing and working and pumping too. It took me 6 months to get nursing to work with my son but I never gave up because I knew it was best for him. Then after going back to work I had to pump 2x just for 1 feeding. It was HARD. But that was my job as a parent.
So that's OPINION which many won't agree with, but that's OK because they are not raising my kids.
Yes, you are correct, this post makes me pretty angry. I worked in Maternal Child health for a few decades, worked as a midwife, worked for LLL, worked in child health.
There are many aspects to providing the best environment in which to nurture a healthy child, breast feeding is just one of them. I absolutely abhor the "breastfeed at all costs" mentality. Focus on nutrition in general (for mother and baby) and post-partum depression are hugely important too.
Some breastfeeding advocates do more harm than good with their overzealous attitudes. The vast majority of adults are well aware of the advantages of breastfeeding, gentle guidance and realistic expectations are far more helpful that judgement.
Yes, you are correct, this post makes me pretty angry. I worked in Maternal Child health for a few decades, worked as a midwife, worked for LLL, worked in child health.
There are many aspects to providing the best environment in which to nurture a healthy child, breast feeding is just one of them. I absolutely abhor the "breastfeed at all costs" mentality. Focus on nutrition in general (for mother and baby) and post-partum depression are hugely important too.
Some breastfeeding advocates do more harm than good with their overzealous attitudes. The vast majority of adults are well aware of the advantages of breastfeeding, gentle guidance and realistic expectations are far more helpful that judgement.
I agree that some bfing advocates do more harm than good with their militant attitudes but I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about the idea that all women should "try" to bf their babies and that more medical personal should be trained to help them. Many women don't even try because it's "hard" or because they think formula is just as good and why bother with bfing. That's the attitude that I "abhor."
I'm talking about the idea that parenting is HARD but that should not give one a reason to quit something that is inherently the best thing for a baby. The idea that our culture is so programmed to instant gratification and that if something is difficult then it's OK to quit and try the easier way out. That's what I abhor.
And finally, as i stated, this is just my OPINION which we are all entitled to. Does it make me popular, no. But that's OK because I know I did the best possible things for my kids and if someone else thinks the same for the job they did with their kids, then great for them!
I'll admit that I struggle to understand why breast feeding is so often portrayed as being difficult. For me, it was the easiest thing in the world once established. Maybe I was just lucky?
I think OBs and others who deliver babies should be "breast-feeding friendly", but that's as far as I would go. Some breast feeding advocates are promoting the idea of practically forcing women to try to breast feed. Even the WHO/UNICEF Breastfeeding program is a little over the top IMO. Now for the disclaimer, I breast fed both my kids, one for 20 months, and one for 23 months. But I still think it should be the individual mother's choice.
I'll admit that I struggle to understand why breast feeding is so often portrayed as being difficult. For me, it was the easiest thing in the world once established. Maybe I was just lucky?
It was terrible for us. The nurse had already given her formula in a bottle very first feeding so there was no convincing her to latch on after that. It was horribly stressful and a dreadful experience. For some, it is difficult. Especially the every second day trip to the ped to try and figure out how to balance keeping trying with her not putting on any weight. Which the doctor had no patience for at all. Screaming hungry babies are not terribly sympathetic to your difficulties. So you do what you can. But it sucks hearing all the judgment about how if you were a better parent you'd make it work.
I don't think making it a "requirement" is in anyway helpful or even meaningful.
The best thing is to make breastfeeding the socially accepted norm it is becoming. As for guilt, if breastfeeding doesn't work out. Even when breastfeeding was the only option, if a woman couldn't breastfeed, it was not something people made a thing over. A wet nurse was found, and that was that. Now it is even less of a thing, because there are other options that don't require those extremes.
Just reading this is making my boobs tingle and I haven't nursed anybody for three years.
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