The Dance
To breastfeed or not to breastfeed? That is the super important question. While preparing for the birth of my first child, I am researching and asking every mom I know about the art of breastfeeding. I call it an art because I relate it as a well-choreographed dance. Everything has to be in place for the act to occur and if one aspect is off, the curtain is closed.
I have heard horror stories of painful milk ducts, bleeding nipples, and engorged breasts that are too heavy to lift. I had a friend tell me how she would place hot compresses every morning on her breasts to loosen her clogged milk ducts for a whole month. Another mother told me how she would cry every time she would breastfeed because her nipples were extremely tender. You would think these stories would discourage me from the idea of breastfeeding. Or place my breasts on lockdown and remove the notion from my brain about the idea of breastfeeding. Call me crazy, but I see a challenge!
Office Space
Why is breastfeeding such a controversy in the U.S.? The CDC reported that 60% of women do not continue to breastfeed for as long as they intend to or end after 3 months. A few factors that have an influence in their decision to shorten breastfeeding are unsupportive work policies and lack of parental leave, lack of support from family or spouses, and cultural stigma. I do recall while working in a corporate environment, listening to the frustrations from returning moms having to deal with the lack of nursing rooms to pump. A mother said she had to sit in a bathroom stall for her entire lunch hour to pump her breasts. Another mom said created a tent-like structure using bedsheets in her cubicle just so she could pump. And we wonder why women cannot continue to breastfeed for the requested 1 year?
Shame, Shame, Shame!
The cultural stigma the U.S. surrounding breastfeeding has caused mothers being shamed, bullied and harassed just for feeding their babies. When I hear stories of mothers being harassed by other mothers for breastfeeding it breaks my heart. Would seeing another woman feed her kid the same way centuries of children have been fed really cause your man to leave you? Or cause your children to turn into perverts? Stop with that nonsense! Why should I be shamed or intimidated because others have chosen to oversexualize breastfeeding?
Wishing and Hoping
My wish is for all mothers to come together and end the shaming and harassing of breastfeeding (and non-breastfeeding) mommies. We have enough to deal with in this world. Where and how we feed our babies should not be the reason for fighting and inflicting hate on each other. I hope to breastfeed my child for a year, or more. If something happens and I cannot produce I hope my tribe of awesome mommies can provide understanding and support for that transition.
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