Your obstetrician, every parenting magazine, and probably a few self-righteous friends and relatives will tell you that breastfeeding is best for your baby. What they may not tell you is that sitting outside nursing on a windy day is really, very cold.
I’ve nursed all three of my sons, now ages five, three, and one, so I’ve spent a lot of time in the last few years breastfeeding, and while I was certainly swayed by all those studies that show that breast milk is wonderful stuff that prevents all kinds of bad things and promotes everything from intelligence to immune-system health, the main reason I nursed was that it was so convenient. You never have to sterilize your breasts, they don’t need refrigeration, you don’t have to worry about running out of milk, and babies love to do it. Plus you don’t have to obsess about how many ounces the baby drank each day.
That said, there are a lot of women who have trouble breastfeeding. Some babies have difficulty latching on. Some moms have nipple problems or pain. Some have too much milk or not enough. Many women have acute illnesses or chronic conditions that require them to take medication that isn’t good to pass on to the baby through breast milk.
I’m glad to see the medical establishment and the media encouraging breastfeeding, but I hate to think of all the guilt they are dumping on new mothers who have a whole lifetime in front of them to feel remorseful for the million little ways they could have been better parents. I wish more people would say, “Breastfeeding is wonderful if you can make it work for you and your baby, and if you can’t, rest assured that formula is a good food and your baby will thrive on it.”
We should support nursing mothers by pressuring employers and public facilities to make breastfeeding easier for women. We need more access to breastfeeding rooms and places to pump at work, for those who don’t have private offices where they can close the door.
