World Breastfeeding Week

We're in the middle of World Breastfeeding Week--- an international effort to encourage moms to breastfeed.  It's a worthy cause for sure.  Afterall, no one disputes the idea that mothers milk is the best.   But not everyone can or chooses to breastfeed.  And unfortunately we've all seen that it's easy to pass judgement on those who don't.  But those who judge others have no right to do so.

The decision on how a mother feeds her child is a very personal one that can be determined by family dynamics, the mother's health, a work situation amongst other things.   I've had many moms tell me that the reason they stopped breastfeeding or  didn't even start, was that it was better for their family life.  Other siblings could help feed the baby for instance, providing valuable bonding time between baby and siblings.  I know women who couldn't breastfeed because of health reasons and medication they had to take.  And still others had no choice but to go back to work, and sadly their workplaces are not conducive to pumping.   In many of these cases, the mothers were made to feel guilty.  And that's the shame of it.  Lots of mothers supplement breast milk with formula--another good option.

I read an article today about a group of women in New York who nursed their babies on a train ride and then joined a rally outside.  They are lobbying not just for the right to breastfeed in public which is already law in New York.  These women want a Breastfeeding Bill of Rights!  According to The New York Times article, "The law would affirm that pregnant women have the right to information about the “nutritional, medical and psychological benefits of breastfeeding”; the right to stay with their babies immediately and continuously after delivery “to facilitate beginning breastfeeding immediately”; the right to refuse bottle feeding for their newborns in hospitals or other health care facilities; the right to be informed about and refuse any drugs that may dry up breast milk; and the right to “refuse any gifts or take-home packets, distributed by the maternal health care facility, that contain commercial advertising or product samples.” Now most of what they're lobhying for is already on the books in New York.  But the bill's sponsor says the existing law is too limited because it doesn't outright ban "commercial interests from influencing new mothers."  Spare me, please.  (The bill has passed the state Assembly but not the Senate in part because of concerns on the part of he American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists who dont' think medical issues should be legislated). 

Baby formula is not the big evil food.  It's the only safe and healthy alternative to breast milk.  In some cases it can save a child's life.  Every mother wants to do what's best for her child.  But the definition of what's best varies depending on each person's and each family's situation.  And that decision should be respected and indeed supported, not judged.