Saturday, March 10, 2012
Breastfeeding Perspectives
I looked briefly at breastfeeding in the United States and in Africa in general. In Africa, the most evident issue is the danger of passing the HIV virus from mother to breastfed infant as opposed to increasing the likelihood of survival of the child in general. There was a multitude of information available on this topic. Some people believe that the risk of passing on the HIV virus is too high, so HIV infected mothers should not breastfeed at all. Some believe they should breastfeed for a short time, and others believe that with the use of antiretroviral drugs, the risk of HIV is reduced enough to allow for breastfeeding. The research seems to be continuing, and the debate will continue as well. The information about breastfeeding in the United States varied. There is research about the length of time mothers breastfeed and the health benefits of breastfeeding. The most prevalent information about American mothers seems to be about how willing they are to breastfeed in public, based on others' perceptions of that, and how difficult it is to comfortably breastfeed while remaining in the workforce (whether you make arrangements to feed your baby throughout the day, or pump breast milk for later use). The one common thread between the two is that breast milk has health benefits for the child, and we should recognize and address the needs of both the mother and child in this regard.
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I agree that there is a health benefit to the child when a mother chooses to breast feed. However, I do not feel that people who decide not to breast feed should be looked down upon. As you stated with the HIV information, there can be other reasons why women choose to not breast feed. There could be medical problems, or medications that the mother is taking that the child should not get second hand through the breast milk.
ReplyDeleteOn the way opposite side of that I took a group of children to the park and another mother and I got to talking. She was there with her 6 year old son. About thirty minutes into out park visit the mother went and sat on a park bench so that her 6 year old could breast feed because he requested to. I found myself being a little uncomfortable with the situation. Nevertheless that uncomforted was nothing compared to the uncomforted I had when the children I had taken to the park (a group of 4 and 5 year olds) started asking questions about what the boy was doing. We decided to take a walk in the nearby woods for a while and come back to the park. I didn't know what else to do as I thought that the situation should be up to each child's parent how how their beliefs felt about the situation. What would you have done?
I have heard from a lot of my friends that accommodations for them to breastfeed at work, whether directly or to store, is huge factor in deciding to breast feed or not. Many places do not offer lactating rooms for mothers and often times mothers are sent to pump in a closet or even the bathroom. I think it is crazy that negative perceptions have been created around breast feeding in public when it is one of the healthiest things a mother can do for her child. I do agree that we, as a society, should recognize the healthy benefits of breast feeding and not focus on the negative outlooks that have been created.
ReplyDeleteI breastfed my children and loved the experience. I was sad not to have the ability to pump enough to make bottles while away at work. Unfortunately, I had to switch to formula after 3 months for both children. I wish employers were more sensitive to new mothers and their children. Breastfeeding is nothing to be ashamed of and should be allowed in public with discretion.
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