I breastfed A for a
full year. It certainly wasn’t an easy thing for me, but I set this goal for
myself and am glad I stuck to it. My main reasons for breastfeeding were: 1 my baby’s health 2. Not spending money on
unnecessary formula, 3 shedding the pounds 4 not getting my period back (it
sounds dumb but it’s a great motivator). I was able to do it, in part thanks to
those lactation consultants and Leche League members who helped and encouraged
me along the way. I took a class at the hospital before giving birth, and in
the maternity ward, the nurses were incredibly helpful. The hardest part for me
was probably having to pump at work and worrying about having pumped enough.
The bonding part they talk about? I didn’t really get that… my son couldn’t
stand being talked to while eating and would promptly stop if I said anything.
He also never looked at me while eating. His feedings were about 30-40 minutes
long, so no; it was not a simple, easy thing. But knowing that it was the best
thing for my son kept me going.
What shocks me the
most is how it’s so often women who are their own worst enemies when it comes
to breastfeeding. Like Whoopi and that
dimwit Elizabeth Hasselbeck did on the show, I often hear women deride La Leche
League and accuse hospital lactation consultants of being horrendous militants
barging into new moms’ hospital rooms and guilting them into breast feeding. I
am not sure how they operate in other hospitals, but in the one where I
delivered, the main problem I encountered with the lactation consultant was
that she wasn’t available enough. I never saw anyone from the League, but when
I needed advice, I did pick up the phone and call a woman from the local
chapter and she was incredibly helpful.
I pumped three times a
day at work for about nine months (I had a three-months maternity leave). I was lucky to have my own office, so I
just had to shut the door and pump. When I was done, I would put my bottles in
the community fridge and rinse my apparatus in the kitchen sink. I never heard
a word about it from any of my male coworkers. That’s right, it was the women
in the workplace who gave me “the look”, and the women who made comments about
my milk in the fridge. Seriously, what is so gross about human milk in closed
bottles? You drink the same thing that comes out of a cow’s teats every day. At
the time I worked in a store, and I heard female coworkers comments several
times about women breastfeeding in the store and how “wrong” it was, suggesting
they go to the bathroom to do it. Nothing angered me more. I didn't really care about any of this, because I knew I was doing what was best, and other people's opinions didn't matter to me, but I could see how it could discourage other people.
My point is that it
seems that women DO need to be educated about breastfeeding, so yes, Whoopi and
Elizabeth, it is a good idea to encourage it. It’s easy to make fun of things
and act like a 6 year old about anything that involves boobs, but it’s time
women grow up and support each other instead. Breastfeeding is one of the best
things you can do as a new mom, but it’s not an easy thing, so new moms need
all the help they can get. Thank you Mayor Bloomberg for taking the initiative
to help our families, and sorry that some women don’t see what good you are
doing.
Did you have a hard time breastfeeding? Did you encounter weird looks and comments about your breastfeeding?
Did you have a hard time breastfeeding? Did you encounter weird looks and comments about your breastfeeding?
