I really believe more information and more support needs to be given to new mothers to help with breastfeeding. Unfortunately, this isn't always the case. Breastfeeding is something that seems like it should be easy because it is natural and yet there are many complications that without support and knowledge could cause a woman to give up. After I had my daughter I had no assistance in the hospital and actually had a nurse tell me she should go about 4-5 hours between feedings. This caused her to be extremely hungry and would not latch and she became dehydrated. After spending a very long evening in the ER, we had to start supplementing with a bottle. Luckily, I had a friend who was a lactation consultant who was available to come help me and when my daughter was a week old she finally latched and I was able to exclusively breastfeed until six months and continued to breastfeed until she was a year old.
Not all women have access to support and will give up when it becomes difficult. I also learned that in some countries babies who are not breasfed instead receive low-quality replacement milk which causes poor growth development (Chan, 2011. In 2009 Chine had 13 million children who were stunted because of this problem (Chan, 2011). Breast milk is the best nutrition for a new baby, but if mothers cannot or do not want to breastfeed they still need information and access to quality formula. I am so saddened to read about these children who will be affected for life because their mother did not have the same advantages that I did. I would love to help spread to word of the benefits of breastfeeding, both for mother and child.
Chan, J. (2011). UNICEF: Lack of Optimal Breast Feeding in Developing Countries. Retrieved from http://www.asianscientist.com/health-medicine/unicef-breast-feeding-china-india-mortality-rate/
I breast fed my first child also, too long is what the ongoing joke is in my family. But I was able to stay home with her until she was nearly two so it wasn't a problem. I have parents that attend my center who still provide breast milk and come to breast feed at 15 months. Is there a age cut off?
ReplyDeleteHello Jennie,
ReplyDeleteI also chose breast feeding because this was something that was very important to me because I had a bad experience with breast feeding with my son and it lead to me not being able to breast feed him and this is something that I truly felt terrible about. I am pregnant now and will try again to breast feed because this truly gives them the best healthy start in life and more mothers should understand this and attempt to breastfeed their infant.
Hi Jennie,
ReplyDeleteI also chose breastfeeding because it is something very near and dear to my heart. I nursed both of my older children for 1 year. It was very hard on me because I didn't have a very good support group but I was determined to succeed at it. My mother in law would try to get my husband to talk me out of it saying my children would not eat enough. I am so happy that I was strong enough to continue and fight for what I believed in.