How does that sound to you? It was a bit of an eyeopener for me when I heard professor Amy Brown say it at the Breastfeeding conference this week. Even though we all realise how much better breast milk is, a lot of women who can breast feed are not confident enough to choose exclusive breastfeeding for their baby. Why do you think this is?
I would like to start with sharing what some of the benefits of breastfeeding are according to research by Amy Brown and Kathleen Kendall-Tackett.
Breastfeeding lowers maternal stress and lowers inflammation. Stress and inflammation both play a really important role in Postnatal Depression. A quote from the research of Kathleen Kendall-Tackett is "Breastfeeding has a protective effect on maternal mental health because it attenuates stress and modulates the inflammatory response". You can find the article here.
When mothers breastfeeds her baby she is raising her oxytocin (love hormone). While oxytocin levels rise, it lowers the cortisol (stress hormone).
Mothers who breastfeed their baby 9 times a day have a lesser chance of depression than mothers who breastfeed their babies 4 times a day.
When you have a vaginal birth your milk supply is likely to kick in after 3 days, when you have a c-section it kicks in after 5 days.
Breastfeeding is hard, you are a hero when you exclusively breast feed.
Now coming back to not letting your baby drink in public. Have you ever taken your dad to a pub and said to him, "you cant' drink here, it's not allowed in public. If you wanted to drink dad, you should have stayed home". Have you?
It is just so weird that there are people not ok with breastfeeding in public. Mothers are feeding their child. What else can you do when the baby is hungry, just tell the baby, "not now, I am in the library, can you please wait half an hour?". Do you tell your friends as well "here is one cup of coffee, you can't have anymore because there will be people coming over and they might see you" . Doesn't it even sound more ridiculous? How is this different from needing to feed your child while s/he hungry?
I can understand that social influence is one of the reasons why mother's are hesitant about breastfeeding in public. In the end it's mother's choice but how free is she really in making her choice? How can she make a choice when she is not supported by maybe even her partner or her mother? Have you heard this phrase before "You look so tired, why don't you let me give the baby a bottle of formula during the night" or "You look so exhausted, just start on formula to top up the baby so you can both have a long sleep". It is all meant well but is it supporting the mother in her breastfeeding journey? It would be much better if they said instead "You look so tired, go lay down in bed, I'll cook and clean for you" or even "I know exclusive breastfeeding is exhausting but you are doing such a fantastic job, I am very proud of you for doing this on your own".
Personally I have no opinion about what any mother does, breastfeed, express, bottle feed, formula feed or mix it all up, it is up to the parents what they think is best for their family. However I do have a problem when society is interfering in a negative way. I do care when there are much more formula commercials than breastfeed commercials. It's time we stand up for breastfeeding and support the mothers who want to breastfeed or/and bottle feed.
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