No One Said It Would Be Easy.....oh wait, yes they did!
by Kate Kahn - 18th March 2008
I read a column the other day in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that made a lot of sense. The writer's main point was that if everyone was made aware of the realities of breastfeeding (the good and the bad), then more people might keep at it and not give up when the going gets hard. I think she has a point.
I'd venture to guess that when most women get pregnant they have every intention of breastfeeding. I say this because the statistics bears me out. But breastfeeding can be difficult for some, time-consuming for others, and painful for still others. However, no one tells you that when they're counseling you to do it. Mostly what one hears is that it's best for your baby, best for you, all "good" mothers do it for their children, financially prudent, you'll have support every step of the way, etc etc etc. It all sounds doable.
Then you have your baby. Maybe you get mastitis, maybe your nipples crack and bleed and the last thing you can bear is a baby chomping on them, sometimes a C-section can delay milk production. There are lots of reasons that can make breastfeeding hard. It doesn't mean it's not doable. But it does come as a shock to an already shocked system when it doesn't go smoothly, because we've been led to believe it's easy. And as if motherhood isn't overwhelming enough, when something shocks us further ( in a negative way), it's easy to just want to give up.
I think it's fine to educate women that breast is best, but let's be honest and say that it can also be hard. Be upfront about it before it happens. Just because something is natural, doesn't mean it's easy.
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