Supporting Breastfeeding
Posted by Lisa Hendey in Health on Thursday, September 25, 2008 11:30 AM
In the last few weeks, there was a good amount of publicity given in my hometown to a choice by local hospitals that will ultimately impact upon the number of mothers who choose to breastfeed their babies in California’s Central Valley.
According to this article in The Fresno Bee, local hospitals have made the decision to eliminate the practice of gifting new moms with freebie formula samples upon being discharged from the hospital. Comparing the breast-feeding statistics of area hospitals, it is clear that in our local community, economic elements are at play in mothers’ decisions about whether or not to breastfeed.
Let me say up front that I know that this can be an emotionally charged issue and that my impetus in bringing up the topic is not to bring judgment upon moms for their feeding decisions. With my sons, I had polar opposite experiences when it came to my ability to successfully breastfeed. When my first baby had tremendous feeding issues and had to supplement with formula, I felt like a mothering failure - nothing I’d read had prepared me for the fact that it might be so tremendously difficult to get this kid to eat!
I truly believe that, at least here where I live, there is a sad disparity between economic classes in many ways, including the early health of our babies. It seems that perhaps long overdue attention is being given to helping less economically advanced moms a better education about breast-feeding and more emotional and physical support.
I wish that back when my little Eric was born, someone had taken the time prior to his birth to explain to me that there might be problems with his feeding and that it wasn’t necessarily due to something I had done “wrong” and I also wish I wouldn’t have had so many guilt feelings about being a bad mom for all that we went through.
I’d love to know from you what advice and support on the topic of breast-feeding you’d give to new moms, including very young and inexperienced ones, who are anticipating the birth of their babies. What do you wish someone had told you? What worked for you, and what didn’t?
And finally, do you think that a hospital’s decision not to give out free formula to new families can have an impact upon this important health care issue?
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