1/20/2006
Promotion, Propoganda or Cult-like Beliefs?
(gets on soap box)
I have a problem. Its an issue I don't understand. Its also something I can't 100% identify with but at some level can.
Breastfeeding. No not those who tend to not care about the environment in which they do it, though some tend to believe there is never a 'wrong-place' for such an action, but those who promote it.
Acutally no, not those who promote it, those who are freaking Nazi's about it.
There are basically two options to such crazy people, breastfeeding or bottle feeding. To such people bottle feeding is the devil, an instrument of satan himself.
Now while I don't and never will doubt the pros of breastfeeding there are many cons to the way it is promoted. Again, yes, many many pros of breastfeeding. What I don't understand is the emphasis on the actual act of breastfeeding and not the emphasis on the breast milk itself. To me they're kind of missing the boat. Talk with these 'people with blinders on' and you hear all about the greatness of the milk but never much about pumping and storage and all that. They don't make that connection. The train is...milk is good, so breastfeed. Even trains have the ability to switch tracks.
So persistant is the propoganda that its hurtful. Mentally or emotionally uncomfortable with breastfeeding? Well your just a bad mother. Calm down there with your Tom Cruise like crazyness. Some people just are uncomfortable with it. Some people just can't handle it or just can't do it. There is nothing wrong with these mothers besides being human.
Again (yes, tons of disclaimers to avoid nasty annoying people who don't understand my point because they're blind to anything beyond breastfeeding) I do agree there are many pros to breastfeeding, not just utilization of the milk produced, and believe if you can do it and are comfortable doing it its the best option. My point is, the crazy people act like its the only option a real mother would choose.
All they accomplish is lowering the self esteem of expectant mothers who have a problem with it. What about the new mothers who really believe in it and really want to do it but for some meta-physical reason can't? Can't produce enough milk? Oh yeah well your a bad mother because you can't breastfeed. Child having problems latching on? Your a bad mother and are doing it wrong. Sure they don't say this outright but that scenario never plays in their minds. Breastfeeding or hell is the stance they project.
Good strategy. Women go through all these crazy changes phsyically, mentally, emotionally, chemically. 9 months of all this stuff going on, all of it culminating in a couple of hours (if your lucky). Your stance? Breastfeed or go home. Gee, good support system. Good looking out for the health of ALL involved.
So thank you to all those nazi breastfeeding propoganda-ites. Thanks for making my wife feel like a bad mother-to-be. Yes we both know of many people who have bottle fed (with breast milk and/or formula) with success and have raised wonderful human beings...but talking to you people you wouldn't think they existed.
(gets off soap box)
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Milk. It does a baby good.
ReplyDeleteHere's the problem. The medical profession in general, and hospital staff in particular do not like breastfeeding. Particularly with NICU infants, breastfeeding makes more work, interrupts their "schedule", etc, etc. So they discourage it, either implicitly or overtly.
ReplyDeleteWhat this does is place several large obstacles in the way of a woman who desires to nurse her baby. When the baby is first born, it will have to feed every two hours, or mother will not have her milk production stimulated, nor will baby get enough to live on. This is viewed by many NICU nurses as a gigantic pain in their often-fat asses.
By contrast, formula-fed babies can get a lot more food and thus sleep longer, resulting in fewer "disruptions" to the NICU staff. And supplementing breast-fed babies with formula leads down the same path - milk production isn't stimulated. You can see what happens.
Outside the NICU, our culture offers absolutely NO support for breastfeeding. So I can understand why the La Leche people get a little "Nutzi" about it - they are just trying to give women a choice, as they see it. The fact that some of them are overzealous is a function of how stacked the deck is against breastfeeding. No reason for them to insult your wife though.
How do I know this? My wife was a NICU nurse for 12 years, and is currently nursing our 3-month old, after having the above experience with our 18-month old.