World Breastfeeding Week

My husband informed me yesterday, while reading the newspaper, that August 1-7 is World Breastfeeding Week.  My response:  "Exactly how does one go about celebrating World Breastfeeding Week when I don't have a baby to nurse?"  I joked with him that I could blog about it all week, and we both just laughed.  How...awkward. 

I decided last night that maybe I should blog about it, despite my modesty and the awkwardness of the subject.  For one thing, I really do believe it's best.  Statistics back that up.  (Want to check them out?  Here are a couple of lists of the benefits of breastfeeding, one by the NRDC and another on Babycenter.) But most women know that it's the healthy thing to do.  The primary reason I want to share our breastfeeding story with you, even knowing that a blog is completely public, is to encourage you, should things become difficult.  Some of you may think, like I did, that breastfeeding should be easy.  After all, it's the natural thing to do.  Your baby's instinct is to nurse, and your body's instinct is to feed it.  How hard could it possibly be? 

Incredibly hard.  But not for everyone, and not for every baby.  Some women find it to be incredibly easy.  For us, it was a struggle.  We fought to make it happen. 

I want to share that struggle with you as an encouragement, so that you don't feel alone should it become difficult for you.  When I was pregnant, the ladies at church had a baby shower for us, and one of their gifts to me was a book of advice and encouragement.  It was a great chance for moms to share their parenting tips and advice with me.  The women of our church shared great things about priorities, treasuring every moment, and grace with your spouse.  But one friend of mine, a godly women that I really look up to, gave practical advice.  She shared with me her own personal breastfeeding struggle.  She told me that with her first child, it got so hard that she had to stop early, around 6 weeks.  With her second, she decided to push through the difficulties, and once they did, she was rewarded with a great nursing experience.  Free milk, convenient, and no bottles to wash.  Breastfeeding is win-win.  When Isabelle and I were struggling to nurse, I kept reading this woman's encouraging note, and I would think "I'm not the only woman in the world to deal with this.  If _____ could fight through it, so can I."  And we did, and were rewarded with 17 months of successful nursing.  I weaned my daughter and found out a week and a half later that I was pregnant with #2!     

I also think that one barrier to successful nursing is a lack of good information.  Being well-informed is half the battle.  Maybe we can counteract some of that by sharing information with each other.

Another barrier to successful nursing is a lack of a supportive community.  Many women don't know anyone else who exclusively breastfed their babies for the first 6 months (which is why people who hardly know me have asked me questions about breastfeeding--they have no one else to turn to).  Few of us have mothers who nursed, so there's little support from the previous generation, and often our spouses weren't breastfed either, so there may be little support for women.   

For all the talk of "breast is best," the statistics that show just how many women nurse are quite shocking.   CDC data shows that 62.5% of women nursed their babies in the hospital, but by 6 months, only 14.2% of women were still nursing.  Where the drop off occurs and why is hard to say, but I know from my conversations with many mothers that even the 62.5% number is a bit inflated, because within a matter of weeks, that number probably drops off considerably.  For a variety of reasons, many women are not able to continue nursing their babies. 

One thing I don't plan to do this week is make you feel guilty.  If you weren't able to breastfeed at all, or not as long as you would've liked, please know that I understand where you're coming from.  It was so hard for us that I can't fault you for having to stop.  I'm the last person to be judgmental.  We were so close to having to stop several times in those first two weeks.  Please know that how you feed your baby doesn't make you a good or a bad mother.  I won't judge you for using disposable diapering, for giving your child apple juice, or any of the other crazy things that I don't do.  And I won't judge you for giving your child formula.

But since nursing can be difficult, and since not many people are able to sustain it, I would like for us to discuss it this week to encourage those of you who do nurse or are thinking about nursing.    


I would like to lay out a few ground rules for discussion this week. 

1. Please make comments or ask questions through my blog, and not through Facebook.  Blogger automatically posts on Facebook anytime I post a blog, and I may delete these this week.  If I'm not able to, please comment on the blog, not on Facebook, since the nature of the issue is somewhat private.  If I wanted the info. on Facebook, I'd put it there.  Also, some people just aren't interested, so we don't want to give them unwanted info.  If they wanted to read about breastfeeding, they'd click onto the blog.   
2. Feel free to e-mail me personally or message me on Facebook with any personal questions or comments.
3. If you're a guy friend of ours who occasionally stops by my blog, please do us a favor and click the X at the top of your screen.  Let's keep the discussion limited to women.  Thanks!
4. Let's keep our comments encouraging and not put down anyone who nurses or bottle feeds their children.  There are many things I said I'd never do prior to having kids, and later I had to eat my words (like I would never nurse my child after a year!).

Here's the agenda for this week:
Tuesday:  Every Reason to Succeed.  I'll share with you why it should've been a piece of cake for me.
Wednesday:  Struggles.  I'll tell you all the nitty gritty details of our nursing problems during those first two weeks.
Thursday:  Success!  With the help of a good support system, lactation specialists, and much prayer, we had a break through and it finally worked for us.
Friday:  My favorite gear for successful breastfeeding.  Some you'll expect, but others might surprise you!