The value of breastfeeding is well-known. Breastfed babies have fewer upper respiratory infections, a lower risk of SIDS, fewer ear infections. Studies also suggest that breastfed babies have higher IQs. In addition, breastfeeding is good for the mom and is associated with a decreased risk of breast cancer. So why do so few women breastfeed?
Yes, the rates of breastfeeding are improving. However, when you look at the data, a lot of the numbers refer to the breastfeeding rate within the first month, but the number of women who breastfeed really drops off within the next months. I'm sure part of this is because many women have to return to work, and pumping is HARD. I have a good situation because I have my own private office, and I can close the door and close the shades. However, many women don't have a similar luxury. Some women pump in bathrooms !?! Many pump in their cars. Even large employers typically don't have a dedicated safe place for women to pump. It wouldn't take much--a closet with an outlet? I think this can't be entirely blamed on the employers. I would not be at all surprised to learn that many women don't inform their employers that they're pumping, and that they don't ask for dedicated time to pump. That's another way that I'm lucky--our clinic managers are all female, and all are very approachable. I asked for dedicated time to pump during my afternoon clinics, and it was quickly granted. When women don't pump during the day and instead replace those feedings with formula, their supply decreases. If they don't make a big effort to continue to breastfeed aggressively when they're at home, they are less able to provide for their babies, and end up stopping.
The main thing I wanted to write about in this post is the prejudice in this country against breastfeeding. Despite all the evidence that breastmilk is best for babies, stories abound about people telling women not to breastfeed in public. I read one story yesterday about a woman breastfeeding in a pizza joint in Florida. The server came over and told her to cover up and then tried to cover the baby several times with a napkin. When the woman refused, the server then told all of her colleagues to stare at the woman. This despite Florida law, which explicitly lays out that breastfeeding is allowed in all public locations in Florida, and that exposure of the nipple, while breastfeeding, is not indecent. I personally am a fan of covering up during breastfeeding. I have a great cover which allows me to see Lydia but which keeps everything covered (http://shop.bebeaulait.com/shop/hhnc/hot_dots) However, so little is really visible while breastfeeding, and I think it's completely OK for women to breastfeed in public however they want to do it. No one would ever tell a woman who was bottlefeeding to stop feeding her baby. And no other country besides the US and Canada requires legislation protecting the right to breastfeed in public locations. It makes me so angry. But I still worry, because Michigan does not have any protective legislation. And some women have been confronted by naysayers while breastfeeding with a cover. Where is it safe to breastfeed in public? Yes, I have my cover-up, but no one wants to be confronted by someone and called names. I ran into this issue fairly early when I was at Twelve Oaks mall. Nordstrom had a great mothers' area in its bathroom, but there were no other protected areas, so I ended up feeding a screaming Lydia on a somewhat protected bench, but I was really nervous. I hate that this country, which prides itself on being so free and so well-informed, is one of the few countries that allows open prejudice against breastfeeding moms. It's really unfortunate that breasts are on display all over the place, but that public breastfeeding, known to be best for baby, is frowned upon.
3 comments:
Amen sister. I'll want to breastfeed when the time comes and was counting on my own prudishness to make it uncomfortable for me to do it in public. I hadn't thought about the fact that people give mothers a hard time about it.
I totally agree with you--especially that last sentence ("People, this is what they're FOR!"). I'm lucky because PA passed a law last fall, so if necessary, I could defend myself, but it's more the public perception and fear of offending others that can be stressful for me. Still, in spite of my self-consciousness (which I'm trying to get over), one thing that has really helped is that I've never personally encountered any hostility and have been compelled by my hungry baby to breastfeed all over the place. In fact, for the most part, people have been very nice about it, giving me privacy, etc., and/or ignoring me altogether, which is of course my preference.
I thought my dad might be uncomfortable with it, but he's been really sweet. He actually took a picture of me nursing Allison Clare on the boardwalk in New Jersey because he thought it showed a new stage in our lives. It was really reassuring, as well as nice to have the photo verification that I am totally covered up by my Maya sling . . . in fact, way more covered under yards of fabric than when not nursing.
Tell it like it is Yo!!! This is one of my pet peeves. why is there any controversy about it at all and why don't more moms do it. it's so hard to understand but yet it's just another example of how perverted this country can be.
Post a Comment