Here's the thing about the breast is best debate. Do we really care what another mother does with her boobs?
No, really. You might say you care that she gets the best medical advice, that that precious little baby gets the best start to life. But when your kid and her kid sit side by side in kindergarten, holding hands, is it really going to matter who did what on day thirty-six of that baby's life?
Sometime Babble contributor Lynn Harris turned her often irreverant sense of humor to the oh so serious topic of breastfeeding on NPR this week, and though she treats the subject with all due respect (she is, after all, a mother), she pokes her fun where it's due. The breastfeeding debate, she says, is nothing but "a tempest in a sippy cup."
For MOST women, it isn't about whether or not they think breastfeeding is good for babies, or even whether they WANT to do it. Says Harris:
"Because we don't read the Journal of the American Medical Association
to decide whether, or how long, to breast-feed. We consider our bodies:
Are we physically able to nurse in the first place? Or are we plagued,
as I was with my first child, by plugged ducts and serious mastitis? We
consider the child: Did we, luck of the draw, get one who just says no
to latching? We consider our workplace: How long is our maternity
leave? Where can we pump when we go back?"
And that, my friends, is where the debate needs to take a hike. You want to breastfeed? You made it work? Woohoo! Fabulous! Really. I'm not being facetious here. I'm happy for you that you are able to nourish your child with your breastmilk, that you have got the latch down and find the appropriate place to pump if need be.
Not breastfeeding? Didn't want to? OK, well, that's your choice. Did want to, but couldn't? I'm sorry, is there anything we can do? Other than berating you and telling you you're feeding your child pure evil in liquid form and forcing you onto mega doses of Paxil to handle your postpartum depression caused by feelings of inadequacy?
Here's why everyone needs to read Harris' essay: she puts blame where blame is due. On the crappy advice in hospitals. On the crappy employers who don't give moms appropriate time for pumping. On the family medical leave act's lack of depth and the lack of paid leave time available for new mothers. On the public breastfeeding conundrum, especially for women who are shy and uncomfortable out in the public eye.
"Show me a lactation room at the Qwik Mart, and I'll show you a woman
more willing to leave the maternity ward without her care package of
free formula," Harris says (see, told you she was a bit irreverant).
Come on moms, let's look at who you're really mad at. It's not each other.
Image/Source: NPR
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