As you can see from my website, I’m a registered nurse.
What you may not know about me is I’m an Internationally Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC)! This is the highest certification one can achieve in the breastfeeding world. The reason I am compelled to tell you all this is that I just took the exam last week to re-certify. Of course, I was spending a good portion of my time prior to the exam studying!
Being immersed in the GLOBAL world of breastfeeding is actually quite astonishing. As I studied, researched, and reviewed, I was appalled at how so much of the information on the exam is NOT what I practice here in the USA!! Here’s an example–If a baby cannot breastfeed, how should you feed the baby? Most people in the US, myself included, would say bottle feeding is the preferred way after breastfeeding. In the global world of breastfeeding, this answer is WRONG. The correct answer? CUP FEEDING. This is just one of many examples of how different the United States is from the rest of the world. Did you know that:
- babies who are NEVER breastfed are more likely to have lower respiratory tract diseases, diarrhea, asthma, and childhood obesity?
- just one bottle of formula can predispose an infant to have more allergies?
- breastfed babies have the LOWEST incidence of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)?
- breastfeeding protects the mom from breast cancer, ovarian cancer and colon cancer?
All of the above statements are strongly supported by evidence. And I could continue this list for a few pages! Yet, here in the USA, many people believe that formula feeding is equivalent to breastfeeding. There is even a an organization devoted to tearing apart valid research to justify this equivalency. Formula companies freely market their products on TV, magazines, etc. with no repercussions. In other parts of the world, this is not allowed.
OK, before you start accusing me of “bashing formula feeding”, let me make one thing perfectly clear.
SOMETIMES FORMULA FEEDING IS APPROPRIATE.
But this “sometimes” is far more frequent in the USA than in other parts of the world! And “sometimes” giving formula can ultimately sabotage exclusive breastfeeding. Specifically, it can decrease how much milk a mom makes, which will lead to more formula feeding, and eventual early weaning. Working with a lactation consultant before a mom starts feeding formula should always happen, as there could be simple solutions that are more supportive of continuing breastfeeding.
Most people understand how important breastfeeding is– over 90% of women in the USA start breastfeeding. By 3 months, depending on where you live, only 40-60% of babies are still exclusively breastfed.
WHY?!?
Truly, as a nation, we do not value the importance of continued breastfeeding for the health of mom and baby. We are the ONLY developed country in the world that does not have mandated paid maternity leave. While the use and availability of breast pumps has increased, returning to work is a factor that ultimately shortens how long we breastfeed. We allow the myth that “formula is equivalent” to be perpetuated by the companies that make formula. Breasts as sexual objects in our culture makes breastfeeding in public difficult for many.
Since my target audience for this blog is mostly people past child bearing age, you may be wondering,
What can we do? How can we influence mothers to breastfeed?
There are MANY things we ALL can do to be more supportive of breastfeeding!! Support mothers that you know who are pregnant or breastfeeding by:
- letting them know how wonderful and important breastfeeding is for them.
- help by making meals, cleaning the house, doing laundry, taking care of siblings so mom and baby can spend quality time together.
- encouraging contact with a lactation consultant or a breastfeeding support group if things are NOT going well.
Do you own a business? How are you supporting your employees to continue breastfeeding? There are grants available to help small businesses create a pump room for mothers to use while working. Contact the local WIC office to see what is available for you locally. Letting your employee know that pumping during work hours is ENCOURAGED would be a wonderful way to support continued breastfeeding!
Finally, sending letters to our Congressmen to let them know how important this issue is for the health of our nation, and supporting paid maternity leave initiatives could make a HUGE difference in supporting breastfeeding!
I have to admit, this blog is a little off my path to teaching how to improve our quality of life as we age! But, this topic is near and dear to my heart, and I believe that supporting breastfeeding at ANY stage of our lives will ultimately benefit our nation as a whole!!
