Breast-Free Breastfeeding
Exclusive pumping's growing popularity.
by Kate Tuttle
January 14, 2008
Carrie Mehi has been feeding her daughter expressed breast milk for nearly
all her six months of life. Before having her baby, Mehi says she tried nursing, but found it a psychological struggle. "This
is a part of my body that's always been reserved for sexual activity," she said, gesturing toward her breasts. "And I sort of assumed my brain would
make whatever necessary adjustments it had to do to make [breastfeeding] not a completely creepy experience for me." She was determined to overcome her aversion, because she wanted the health advantages for her daughter. But after a bad hospital experience — cancelled
breastfeeding classes, brusque or unavailable lactation consultants — Mehi, a lawyer in Cambridge, Massachusetts, turned to the pump. She and her husband gave their baby a bottle the first night they were home from the hospital.
Even though she figured the pump and bottle regimen was only temporary, Mehi
said, "I really don't think we tried breastfeeding after the first
day we left the hospital. I was not interested in having my sweet baby crying
at my breast for one more minute. I just wanted her fed. [Breastfeeding] was
an unpleasant sensation to me, and I thought, you know what, if I'm flinching,
I
might
as well flinch to a machine instead of to my girl."
After a couple of months, Mehi's supply caught up to her daughter's
appetite and from the second month on, she's been an exclusive pumper. Efficient
and organized, she has created a smooth system: a pump For the next baby, she won't
even try to nurse; she'll go straight to the pump.
at work and another at home, a stash in the freezer, and a baby who will take
milk even when it's not warm. For the next baby, Mehi said, she won't
even try to nurse; she'll go straight to the pump.
Mehi is one of a new generation of mothers who feed their babies exclusively
breast milk but never nurse them directly. While no reliable statistics exist
on whether more women are exclusively pumping, and the breastfeeding activist
organization
La Leche League declined several requests for comment, there's been more and
more
talk
about
it in recent years — especially online.
©2008 Kate Tuttle and Nerve Media
About the Author
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Kate Tuttle is a writer and editor raising two children just outside Boston. |
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