Another article on breastfeeding! I know, I have posted a lot lately, but there has been so much great literature available since it is World Breastfeeding Week. I love it!!!!!! Thanks to my friend Mairi for the link!
Nursing Made Normal
Posted by Lillian Shipman on August 10, 2010 at 8:00am 
At one of my first prenatal appointments my midwife asked if I was planning to breastfeed. Apparently my “yes!” was resounding and refreshing, as she explained that most women said “Well…I’m going to try.”The thought of bottles and breastfeeding never entered my mind during my pregnancy. Nursing my baby was just something I would do.
It seem fitting then, that through my troubles with nursing my first baby I met and got to know one of the first and best known breastfeeding experts to propose we ditch “breast is best.” In her 1996 essay “Watch Your Language,” Diane Weissinger argues that this phrase formulated by the formula industry elevates breastfeeding to an unattainable fantasy. So little in our lives falls into the "best possible" or perfect dreams we have for ourselves. Putting breastfeeding in this category makes it easy to brush aside as one of those parts of parenthood that only the special few attain. While this mind set can definitely affect individuals, I believe it is best looked at on the societal level. It is also a two-fold issue; nursing needs to be a normal action in culture, just as breastfeeding deserves to be recognized as the biological norm.
The cultural issue basically comes down to this rarely heard point: girls and young women learn about breastfeeding by seeing it. I often hear that contrary to popular thought nursing does not happen naturally but needs to be learned. But how much of that would change if a woman had seen her mother, sisters, friends and even strangers on the street navigating their end of the nursing relationship, instead of retreating to another room or covering up for a feeding. We as women would know what a normal latch looks like, what positions are comfortable and the differences between each mother and baby pair is a wide sea of normal. No longer would we require “experts” to tell us how to do it, except in the most necessary cases. The difference would be that of over time soundly learning material for a test compared to cramming for it at the very last moment.
Recognizing breastfeeding as what a baby is biologically expecting adds another level to this. This is a beautifully complex system that has worked for thousands of years. If it didn’t none of us would be here. At this time only a fraction of it is scientifically understood. But it is known that it is more than food; it is comfort, part of a baby’s early immune system, and access to vital skin-to-skin contact that promotes brain development. These things are not just nice side affect, but part of the normal development of a human being.
We can see that formula has silently become the norm of measurement when the health difference in breastfed children over formula-fed children are called benefits, advantages, and the like. Rarely are tables turned and we label formula in this way. What would we call this substance when compared to breastmilk as the biological standard? With increased chances of later obesity, childhood ear infections, even death (yes, even in the US) words like risky and substandard come to mind.
When my own first son was born I wouldn’t call our situation normal. He was born at 34 weeks gestation. He had twig like arms and the tale-tell bug eyes of a preemie. After a twelve hour separation breastfeeding was a struggle. When supplementation started I was heart-broken. From years of learning since then, I know there was much mismanagement of our case, and I still debate with myself whether the formula was necessary. I have come to terms that if it was a necessity then it was truly life-saving in our situation where no donor milk was available. There is no denying that formula is a lifesaving substance for those who truly cannot breastfeed and are unable to obtain donor milk.
I feel fortunate to have worked through my difficulties nursing, stopping supplementing by six weeks and to go on to have a long-living nursing relationship. I give a large chunk for credit for this to my belief from the beginning that this was just what was done.
What this all comes down to for society, women and babies, is that changes in out perception of breastfeeding need to change. Until the healthcare community recognizes breastfeeding as the norm, formula will continue to be pushed with little regard for the risks. Situations like mine, in the mean time can leave mothers with guilt, denial and confusion as they wonder if the risk was worth it, along with the babies left more vulnerable. Struggles in nursing are generally solvable with more breastfeeding. Support focused on this from the medical community, paired with a lifetime of exposure and learning behind them could very well empower women to continue breastfeeding when faced with difficulties.
[Photo: Flickr member c r z licensed for use under Creative Commons license Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic
(http://www.wearegoodkin.com/family/community-story/nursing-made-normal)
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