on my soap box...

Today I had the opportunity to go to Summertown, Tennessee to a place known as "The Farm".  If you don't know about it...google it....

I was able to listen to a talk by a midwife named Ina May Gaskin who is one of the nation's leading midwives.  She has been involved in many, many home deliveries through the years and the experience she brings to the table is so amazing.  I say all that to get to the point of my soap box.  Her experiences, along with the mothers in Haiti, Africa,  and other 3rd world countries;   the mothers who delivered babies hundreds of years ago and all the way back to Adam and Eve...BREASTFEEDING HAS SUSTAINED MANKIND.  I don't think this a a revelation but based on my past 25 years experience, the "amazingness" of breastmilk obviously got lost in translation. 

Now let's look at the facts:
    the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months of a baby's life and continued through at least the first year of life.
    the World Health Organization recommends it through the 2nd year of life.
    the Surgeon General has made statements about the benefits at regular intervals for the past 25 years and just came out with the Call to Action to Support Breastfeeding urging health care providers (obstetricians, pediatricians, OB nurses, Pediatric nurses...etc...) to encourage and support breastfeeding.
and last but not least, Michelle Obama, Rep. Bachmann and Sarah Palin are all making supportive (?) comments about the importance.
With all of that said....here's what I think...
Number one--I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings so if I write something making you uncomfortable,  remember, if you choose or chose not to breastfeed then you are wasting your time reading this and if you care enough to read this then you probably have some kind of feelings about your choice. (my mom bottlefed me)!
Number two--If you couldn't breastfeed because of a breast anomaly or for one of the reasons listed on Joint Commissions reasons not to exclusively breastfeed then again, I am sorry for you and your circumstances.
Number three--The other reasons most women end up not breastfeeding fall into one or more of the following categories:  lack of education, lack of understanding of the importance,  lack of support, and an abundance of bad advice whether it comes from a grandma, a nurse, a dad, a doctor, a political figure or even a best friend.
Number four--I just wish the marketing of the importance of breastfeeding got as much publicity as putting babies on their backs to sleep, or the laws regulating the use of car seats.  Whoever was in charge of those campaigns did a fine job and I wish breastfeeding and the importance of breastmilk could be presented the same way.  Not to say those things aren't important because they are very important but definitely not more important than the benefits of breastmilk.  So if the health benefits of breastfeeding and the hazards of formula could be presented to parents  the same way the importance of "Back to Sleep" and "Car Seat Safety" are presented we would probably have alot more moms breastfeeding.  Breastfeeding is much easier than getting a baby up to a  five year old...in and out of those car seats!
And for those who are saying they don't want to breastfeed because it is just too time consuming or invasive or embarrassing or whatever other reason comes to mind then just go ahead and put your babies on their tummies to sleep and skip the car seat......

And for all of the doctors, nurses, lactation consultants, child birth educators, families and friends who are too "politically correct"  to encourage a mom to breastfeed because of feeling you might hurt someone's feelings or intrude, then please keep your comments to yourself when you look over and see a mom in a car with the windows rolled up, smoking a cigarette, and no one actually strapped in the car seats correctly with bottles of formula hanging out of the mouths of babes!  You might hurt their feelings or get too personal if you tell them those are not acceptable parenting skills. I rest my case....