Thursday, January 21, 2010

New Moms: Don't feel Guilty if You're not Breastfeeding




****DISCLAIMER**** I do not personally agree with this article at all....I am simply posting it so I can share the intelligent response from lacitvist Helen Schwalme (see below)


New Moms: Don’t feel guilty if you’re not breastfeeding
Written by yvonnethornton on January 21st, 2010

If you’re pregnant or have recently had a baby, you’ve probably heard that breastfeeding is one of the best things you can do for your baby. Other mothers will tell you so. Books extol breastfeeding’s virtues. Even the government gives mothers a nudge in this direction.

But what if your schedule doesn’t make breastfeeding a viable option?

Don’t let anyone make you feel like you’re an inadequate parent if you give your baby a bottle instead. There are no randomized clinical trials that prove the virtues of breast milk over formula feeding. And most working mothers simply don’t have the opportunity to breastfeed in our society, at least not exclusively.

When public lactation stations become the norm, and when most workplaces have specifically designated areas for breastfeeding, then it will make sense for more women to consider the breastfeeding-only option.

Until then, in a society where many women are either single parents or are the primary family breadwinners, exclusive breastfeeding must be seen as an unrealistic – and maybe even a chauvinistic — recommendation.

- Yvonne S. Thornton, MD, MPH


Helen Schwalme's comment:

Quote~~So does the same Doctor feel people should not be pressured to give up smoking? Or lose weight if they are over weight? Or as an OB does she never pressure her patients to have a c-section or induction or epidural that they don’t want???

Breastfeeding is the human norm, the only way it will return to the accepted human norm is if everyone including Doctors supports and promotes it. This is not helping babies Dr Thornton!~~

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Sickening reading this.

I agree with Helen completely.

How about encouraging human mother's to feed their children the way HUMAN's were designed to be fed...for their OWN health as well as their babies. What about the environment? Petitioning workplaces etc to become BF'ding friendly instead of encouraging and "OH WELL" attitude. Embracing our design is not chauvinistic. Ignoring it...buying man made products and going to work for "the man" IS.

I agree women should not feel guilty if for some reason they are told that they can't BF or if they feel that they can't BF'd (society has too many misinformed people spouting things like this) as well as girls being brought up to think bottles are the "norm" as all dolls come with them for some odd reason... writing things like this is quite discouraging and potentially harmful.

Why feel guilty...? Feel angry... Angry that you were given BAD advice...angry that you were raised to feel more comfortable with a bottle...angry that you were discouraged or made to feel that work was far more important etc. I know I'm mad about these things...guilt is a waste of time.

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