The other day Adam and I were walking down the boardwalk and ran into a friend. One of the ladies accompanying our friend just had a baby. She was so cute, only 6 weeks old.
We started talking about my due date and how her delivery went.
Then breastfeeding came up. She had already given up on breastfeeding and started using formula. I thought to myself, that was quick. Then another lady that knew the group also strolled up with her 9 week old and joined the conversation. She too had also given up on breastfeeding.
What is strange to me is, why do women give up so soon. One of the ladies stated that she could not produce enough milk.
Obviously our bodies were designed to feed our babies. Nature would not give you these tools if you could not use them. Why could she not produce?
Was it that they were in a rush and didn't have the time? Or she really did not have milk? Did they not like to breastfeed? Or did it interfere with their lifestyle.
I later saw my midwife and asked her about this and she said most women just don't know. They think they are not producing enough milk and give up, when really they just needed to be patient and feed for several hours.
Especially when the baby is going through a growth period. They just want to eat all day. With continual feeding hormones will kick in and the breast gets flooded with milk.
Patience these days seems hard to come by with our rapid changing world and all our stresses. Maybe this too is a factor for lots of women.
I have a business and a plate load of things to do also. Will I have these same issues? I think we need to be creative with our time and figure ways to make it work.
Luckily we live in a progressive state, California has a law that employers must allow employees to pump at work even if you can not breastfeed during work hours. This law will take place in July in Indiana as well.
Ideally I plan to sling my baby for most of the time while I work or just doing house work. This way if she's hungry she can eat and I can continue daily routines. Or just enjoy the time with her in a glider feeding.
We shall see ...
1 comment:
My mom actually had the same problem...and had to switch me to formula. She wasn't producing enough milk so the doctor told her that she had to switch it up. My friend Yonalis has a 3 month old son and has given up on the boob, too. She says that she prefers the formula route.
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