Breast actually IS best.

Now… I don’t like getting into the dramafest that the internet can be.  This is not an attempt at that.  This is just me, speaking my mind about something I feel fairly strongly about, so hear me out and don’t get all huffy, please.  Or do, if you want to, I guess… freedom of speech.

Anyway. My friend Lauren posted recently about the recent study that found that breastfeeding actually does save lives. She posted what I thought was a pretty straightforward statement of fact (rather than a dramatic controversial spiel, which is totally how I’ve seen it come off in a couple of other blogs recently!) and yet she still received backlash on her comments.

So here’s the scoop: the study finds that it would save almost 1,000 babies lives and at least $13 billion (BILLION!!) if babies were breastfed for their first six months of life.  Seriously, read the article.  Here’s the link, go, I’ll wait here for you.

See? It’s not like they’re being all judgmental and preachy and telling you that they are the bomb because they nursed their baby til he was four years old and thus they are a better mother than you.  They’re stating the facts: breastfeeding is better for babies.  It can save their lives.  Period.

It’s also stating that hospitals are largely responsible for the low success rate of breastfeeding in the US.  Which I wholeheartedly agree with!  See, before you get all “DON’T JUDGE ME!!!!” on me, listen to my story.

I was your typical uninformed first-time mom.  Sure, I’ll breastfeed!  It’ll be easy!  If other people can do it, I probably can too!

Hailey was an emergency c-section after hours and hours of unproductive labor.  I’m sure that experience was traumatic for her, hours of being stuck in the birth canal (she had the bruises to prove it, too!) and then being yanked back up the other way.  And she was big, nine pounds even- and I’m only five foot three.  So, of course, because I had to go to recovery, it was a while before I could even attempt to nurse her.  And once I did, she just cried.  I realize now, it was probably just because of discomfort/shock at the birth experience but one of the CNAs here at our (small, rural) local hospital insisted it was because she was big.  And big babies need formula, or their sugar levels drop too fast! So they told me it was either the formula or she’d need an IV!  Of course, if you scare a new mom into thinking that her child’s health is at risk, she’s pretty much gonna do whatever you say.  I still have no idea what her sugar levels really were, or if there was ever really a concern about it all.  I was too exhausted and clueless to even find out.  I agreed to give her formula.  There was no lactation support there.  I even asked specifically for someone to help me with her latch and instead of a lactation consultant, I got the formula-pushing CNA, who came in and roughly grabbed my breast in one hand and Hailey’s little tiny baby head in the other hand (and I seriously mean, she was ROUGH! We both had red fingerprints left!) and shoved her onto my boob, told me “You’re gonna have to learn to do this on your own, I’m not coming home with you!” and walked out, leaving both Hailey and I in tears.

I failed at breastfeeding my daughter.  It’s not something I’m terribly happy about.  A combination of lack of support- which I desperately needed as we had some major latch issues that caused lots of bleeding and extreme pain, plus what I think was a little PPD, led to failure after about a month of breastfeeding. I’m not trying to cop out on it, I could have made it work if I’d tried harder and I’d known more- but the hospital here really, really hindered our breastfeeding relationship!

When I became pregnant with my son, I researched breastfeeding resources endlessly!  I watched hours and hours of video on youtube about getting a proper latch.  I read books about breastfeeding.  I learned about possible problems and solutions.  I found contact info for the nearest lactation consultant.  And guess what?  Success, from day one.  And really, I just got lucky that Keegan was a good nurser.  Other than the fact that I was well-informed… nothing had changed.  The hospital still lacked support.  The same CNA was there and the minute she came in the room to ask about feeding, I snapped at her to bugger off and she left, looking sheepish.  My body was still the same one that I was told couldn’t produce enough milk for a big baby, last time.  Guess what?  It could.  And it did, until that baby was almost a year old.

So, what’s my point here?  Well, simply this: YES, you have the right to decide what choices you are going to make for your baby.  If you want to forumla-feed your baby, that’s completely up to you- but make sure it is an informed decision!  And own that decision.  Don’t cop out, saying that you’re pretty sure you can’t breastfeed because you’ve got small boobs, or you’ve had a breast surgery in the past.  Or that your mother was unable to breastfeed, so you can’t either.  Being unable to breastfeed for a medical reason is an exception. So, if you really would just rather formula feed, don’t blame it on non-working breasts.  Your body was made to do this.  (If you actually cannot breastfeed for a medical reason, obviously I am not talking to you.  But do consider milk banks!) And don’t get defensive and claim you’re being judged when yet another study comes out telling you that science has proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that breastmilk is the best food for infants.