Breastfeeding in Real Life: What it REALLY Looks like
While the value of breastfeeding is already well established, there is still work to be done in order that more babies are able to breastfeed, and for longer.
“This past spring, the United States opposed a resolution to encourage breastfeeding in Geneva for the United Nations-affiliated World Health Assembly – a stark contrast to the Obama administration, which supported the World Health Organization’s long-standing policy of encouraging breastfeeding,” Brocker says. “A 2013 study in The Lancet found that universal breastfeeding would prevent 800,000 child deaths a year globally, save US $300-billion in health-care costs and improve economic outcomes for those raised on breast milk.”
With her own baby in a wrap and often nursing on the go, Brocker visited with more than 50 Boston families to capture their unique breastfeeding routines.
“Hearing from the various caregivers reaffirmed how crucial sharing their experiences are,” Brocker says. “Knowing the realities of breastfeeding empowers families and normalizes this very natural and beneficial part of life.”
“The first few weeks of breastfeeding were emotional chaos. The magic of feeding Eleanor with my own body was instantaneous, but it was immediately accompanied by self-doubt, fear, pain, and loneliness. By the third day I was certain I couldn’t continue. By the sixth day I was certain I could. By the tenth I wasn’t certain of anything. Now I can’t stand to think of the day that I finally stop nursing her. So many memories of her first weeks have faded in the months that have followed, but I can summon the simultaneous joy and dread of her first few feedings with no effort at all.”“I have three children, very close in age, that still nurse. I would be the mom that would be wearing a sleeping baby on the front, sitting having a coffee, while the two toddlers were nursing out of each side of the carrier. My husband and I traveled quite a bit before we had children and were lucky to witness breastfeeding in public as a very normal part of everyday life. We spent 60 hours on a bus from Loas to Vietnam with a woman traveling alone with a baby and a toddler. They would go between playing with a couple of toys to checking in with their mom through nursing. They were happy as can be for a 60 hour bus ride. It amazes me that we don’t see this in our culture since full term breastfeeding isn’t the norm.”“Four years ago, I struggled to nurse my preemie twins and breastfeeding was stressful, painful, and only partially successful. My third baby was born full term and nursing has been blissfully easy this time around. Having such different experiences has given me a lot of perspective. I have so much empathy for moms who have difficulty breastfeeding and I don’t take nursing for granted because I know it’s not always as effortless as it looks. I give thanks every time I feed him and I’m savoring every moment of nursing my last baby!”“While pregnant, I had these idyllic visions of working-from-home with my baby: nursing her comfortably in a rocking chair, taking conference calls at my desk while she napped… Then she was born and reality hit! My daughter always seems to wake up and needs to nurse right in the middle of a meeting. My quiet workspace was moved to the middle of the living room, our version of ground control, with toys thrown everywhere and me cradling her in one arm while I check emails. It isn’t pretty, it isn’t perfect – but we make it work.”“My milk took 5 days to come in. I never read it could take that long. No one told me that waiting 3-5 days was typical. I needed a nipple shield for the first 6 weeks, because my nipples were too flat. I couldn’t figure out how to hold the shield in place, hold down Riley’s arms from swatting at me and somewhow shove his head and widen his mouth onto my nipple when I was alone. Our breastfeeding journey is now 7 months strong and I have no intention of weaning. Even though he now gets distracted, pinches and scratches, breastfeeding has been the most bonding and empowering part of motherhood for me.”“I shouldn’t need to justify why I breastfeed my 2-year-old. It soothes him, it tells him that mommy loves him. It empowers me that I can quench his thirst with my metabolism…also because I can quantify this love and feel its flow and multitask while I’m breastfeeding. I breastfeed, because it’s normal to us.”“Bed sharing just seemed natural to my husband and I. It allows for us to get sleep and my son to nurse as he needs throughout the night. After working in Haiti with breastfeeding mothers and being educated as a lactation consultant, I envisioned my personal breastfeeding journey to be easy. It was quite the opposite! My son had a serious tongue tie causing severe nipple pain that took a couple weeks to diagnose and even longer to treat. With serious determination and perseverance we made it to six months of exclusive breastfeeding and continue as we recently introduced solids.”
Hannah Schenker is a freelance writer, editor and regular contributor to The Natural Parent Magazine. She lives with a touch of magic in Golden Bay, New Zealand.
