http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/jun/27/breastfeeding-is-creepy-outrage
I get it, everyone is entitle to their opinion, but when you are the deputy director of a parents magazine, you have to keep some of your opinions to yourself, unlike Kathryn Blundell. Not only has she upset breastfeeding mothers, but even mothers who formula feed feel upset by what she has said.
First of all, breastfeeding is not "creepy" by any means. It is the way mothers choose to feed their babies, some try it for a little while and others will nurse until their nursling self-weens. Breastfeeding and giving baby pumped milk immediately after a mother is finished pumping is the only way for a baby to get all the proper nutrients and the antibodies they need in order to thrive and have an easier time fighting off practically any illness. Breastfed babies have less stomach upsets, ear infections and can digest breastmilk easier than formula.
Second, "I wanted my body back. (And some wine)… I also wanted to give my boobs at least a chance to stay on my chest rather than dangling around my stomach." For those who don't know, when you breastfeed, you can easily return to your pre-pregnancy weight. According to Nutrition Data I burn 3240.0 kcal/day from my daily routine, including breastfeeding. If I weren't breastfeeding, I would only burn 2840 kcal/day with my current lifestyle. By the way, my current lifestyle includes walking 30-60 minutes at least three time a week, using my WiiFit three times a week doing mostly yoga and housework. And about the comment she makes about her boobs, well that is just ridiculous. Pregnancy, poor posture and a bad bra. When you're pregnant, your ligaments and tendons relax and loosen to the point that your boobs will sag on their own.
According to Brian Rinker, MD, an assistant professor of plastic surgery at the University of Kentucky Medical Center, in Lexington, he heard so many patients blame sagging breasts on breastfeeding that, to see if there really is a connection, he surveyed 132 moms who had sought him out for breast lifts or augmentation. Turns out that age, smoking, being overweight pre-pregnancy, and large breast size, not to mention pregnancy itself (which increases breast size), are all associated with a greater likelihood of sagging. But, surprisingly, breastfeeding is not. "The bottom line is that breastfeeding doesn't have an impact," Dr. Rinker says.
Here is what she feels is creepy: "They're part of my sexuality, too – not just breasts, but fun bags. And when you have that attitude (and I admit I made no attempt to change it), seeing your teeny, tiny, innocent baby latching on where only a lover has been before feels, well, a little creepy." Like I've said, everyone is entitled to their own opinions, but this just demoralizes women. We are made to help create life and to nurture that life. The best way to nurture that new life is to feed from your breast milk that is full of antibodies and vitamins that help protect the new life we have created.
Did this lady happen to think about what we're trying to accomplish in other countries? We want to push breastfeeding awareness because there are some countries that do not have the safest water, and giving formula mixed with bad/unsafe water to a baby is not safe at all. Do babies not have a right to the best possible future? And if she couldn't handle a "teeny, tiny, innocent baby latching on where only a lover has been before" than why not pump? Pumping is there to help women who work, go out for a period of time or who have trouble getting their newborn to latch on. Was pumping not an option for this woman?
And her comment on the studies not being enough of a concern for her to want "to stick [her] nipple in a bawling baby's mouth" is unbelievable. I'm helping to lower my risk of breast cancer, but more importantly I am helping to lessen the stomach upsets my baby would get had I fed him formula. By the way, I did do partial formula in the beginning because I wasn't sure about breastfeeding and I wanted him to be full longer. After about a week I began to exclusively breastfeed because the formula was causing a lot of problems. I pumped after the daytime feedings and had enough milk over night that my husband could feed our son so I could also get some sleep.
She continues: "I don't think I'm the only one, either – only 52% of mums still breastfeed after six weeks. Ask most of the quitters why they stopped and you'll hear tales of agonising three-hour feeding sessions and – the drama! – bloody nipples. But I often wonder whether many of these women, like me, just couldn't be fagged or felt like getting tipsy once in a while."
Ok, I'm not sure who has ever had a three hour nursing session before. The most I have had is thirty to forty-five minutes each side, but that was when William was younger than three months. Now, that's not to say someone hasn't gone through a three hour feeding session, but from my experience, a baby doesn't feed for three hours, instead they are suckling after about half an hour, maybe even forty-five minutes. And the bloody nipples can happen, but usually it is caught right away and you can use lanolin and your own breastmilk to heal the cracked skin.
I had to hit up a British dictionary to translate what this woman was saying. When she says "just couldn't be fagged" she is saying she didn't have enough energy or interest to do something. So you're saying that it's easier to get up in the middle of the night, spend the time to make a bottle or warm one up, feed it to your baby and can get them back to sleep right away? When you breastfeed, you have the option of sitting in a chair and breastfeeding, if you feel like getting up and moving in the middle of the night, or laying in the bed and breastfeeding your baby, where both you and the baby will not doubt fall back to sleep. Now, let me remind you not to practice sleeping in the bed with your baby if you are a hard sleeper, taking medications or are overweight. I couldn't sleep for the first week because I was afraid I would crush my baby, but I fell in sync with my baby, learned how to sleep differently and haven't had any problems since he was born, and he is almost seven months.
Who says a breastfeeding mother can't get a little tipsy? Now I'm not for drinking and breastfeeding, but if you feel you want to, you can pump enough to last, drink and then pump and dump until your milk is no longer affected with alcohol. There are strips you can get from Walgreen's that test for alcohol in your milk, but I haven't used them, so I don't know their accuracy. I haven't had a drink since we decided we wanted to have a baby and I don't regret my decision one bit. I'm happy with not drinking, and I can go out with my husband or some friends and have fun without having a drink. Plus, I don't want my son to see me intoxicated and I don't want to be around my son when I am intoxicated. Who knows what could happen.
Hopefully, if you had the chance to breastfeed and didn't, it was because of complications or your milk never came in or you had a low milk supply. Now, it is every woman's choice whether she wants to breastfeed or formula-feed, but knowing what breastfeeding does for a baby's delicate system and knowing what formula does, there is a reason why those of us who can breastfeed choose to do it. I enjoy telling everyone what the benefits are and how it is safer and healthier for a baby, but ultimately it is their decision. I was a formula fed baby because my mother had a hard time breastfeeding and for some reason my brother and I didn't like the taste of her milk. There are some parents who will tell their daughters or daughters-in-law that formula feeding is just as good because they and or their other children turned out just fine and that a baby doesn't really know the difference. A baby can tell the difference if you allow them the chance to find out. I like to encourage new mother's to try breastfeeding if they feel they don't want to do it at all because of lack of support or their own idea about how it's going to impair their life.
Mother & Baby has received scores of letters and emails in praise of the piece. Reader Emma Dwight emailed: "I love your article! Not only does it completely sum up the minds of us formula-feeding mothers, but does it with humour and respect for those breastfeeders too." This was in no way respectful to breastfeeding mothers. Calling breastfeeding creepy, saying that breastfeeding mothers are just too tired to do anything else and can't have a drink because of their choice is not correct. Breastfeeding may not always be easy in the beginning, but it does get easier and I have found that it does not impede on my life in any way, shape or form. It is one of the best things in life I have ever done and my son and I have bonded so greatly because of this. Now, it's not to say formula-fed babies and their mothers don't bond, but there is a special connection between a breastfeeding mother and her baby that just can't be described.
Mother & Baby in no way felt there was a need for an apology. They felt that because this was Blundell's personal experience she had every right to say what she did and that it is an encouragement for all formula feeding families. Though, I do feel those who choose to formula feed do get a bad rap, it is ultimately their decision to make. We do not raise each others kids and there shouldn't really be any reason why they should be shunned for their choice. Some women have no choice but to formula feed, such as those who choose to adopt. Unfortunately, milk banks are expensive and insurance will not cover the expense, so they are left to formula feed. If they can afford it, there is an extra expense to have the birth mother pump her milk so the adoptive child can have breastmilk, but this also can be expensive and unfortunately some children are put up for adoption because the birth mother is on drugs, drinks or smokes and their milk may do more harm than good.
I hope at the end of this, you understand why from this breastfeeding mother's point of view that such an article is unbelievable and should never have been printed the way it was. I was tired in the beginning, like all new mother's are, but I slept when my baby slept and eventually we became accustomed to each other enough that being "fagged" was no longer an issue after some time. I understand the pressure that formula families must feel, but surely there could have been a more appropriate way Kathryn Blundell could have spoken her peace.
