Please post your blog comments to the readings for week 10 on breastfeeding here.
23 thoughts on “Week Ten Readings, please post your comments here!”
Although I am not yet a breast feeding mother or have yet to go through the struggles of breast feeding, I have already had some life experiences when it comes to breast feeding. The post partum floor on which I work at is indeed “baby friendly†and while reading Maternal Bodies, Breast Feeding, and Consumer Desire in Urban China I felt as if this author was describing the floor I work in. The author mentioned that “posters promoting breast feeding line the hallway leading to the room where women in this study attended breast feeding classâ€. This sentence evoked similar images to the floor that I work on because posters on breast feeding line the hallways not only on the post partum floor where the mothers and babies are staying, but also in the hallways before the patient or visitors are able to enter our unit. (I say able to enter the unit because our unit is constantly locked down and any employee who doesn’t work directly with the post partum floor or visitor has to wait for the secretary or staff to buzz them in because security is very tight on our floor).
Breast feeding is constantly being stressed upon to our patients by our nurses and doctors, and patients who have already made the choice to bottle fed are looked upon openly with disdain. On our floor, women who chose to breast feed are criticized by other nurses and doctors at the nurse’s station and generally categorized as being too uneducated to realize how important breast feeding is for their babies. By the way that nurses and doctors talk about breast feeding I have never even second guessed my decision to breast feed when I decide to have children, but this weeks readings have me completely second guessing my decision.
Working on a post partum floor has drilled into my head that breast milk is best and I should never feed my baby anything other than the milk my body produces. I have never once thought about the struggles that these women go through while trying to breast fed, even though I sometimes get their frantic phone calls when their baby isn’t latching properly or won’t take their breast. I normally just field these phone calls over to the nurse or the lactation consultant and think nothing of their stressors because breast feeding is not part of my job description. I also used to think that these women were just new mothers and didn’t know what they were doing and were acting overly hysterical or simply being drama queens.
I believe that many of the women who have had their children at the hospital I work at indeed have the same experiences as Sonya Huber did when she gave birth. There have been plenty of times where hysterical moms have called me saying they need to speak to the lactation consultant and that they have been calling her and she has yet to get back to them. I constantly have to reassure the new mother that the consultant will be there as soon as she can, but she sometimes has up to thirty to forty patients to see in one day. I have also seen the lactation consultant breeze in and out of a struggling mother’s room, telling her she is doing just fine when she has been struggling with the infant for hours to try and get the infant to feed. I see the desperation, exhaustion, and frustration on their faces, but I think it is hard for me to understand how they are truly feeling because I have yet to experience these types of problems in my life.
I agree with the articles theme – that breast feeding is constantly being pushed upon women as the only “right way†to feed your baby, yet society doesn’t make the option of breast feeding quite easy on these new and inexperienced mothers. I believe that this stipulation also is pushed not only on first time mothers, but also on any mother who doesn’t breast feed their baby for the “optimum amount of time†usually allocated by their physician. Like the case of Joana, in Infant Agency and Its Implication for Breast Feeding Promotion in Brazil, who was an educated receptionist at the health post, and had a hard time breast feeding her second child. In this article Joana spoke of the fight and struggles she had with her infant daughter, simply because she didn’t breast feed for the designated six months. I feel as if Joana didn’t feel as if she were a “fit†mother because of the struggle she induced with her daughter because she only breast fed for only five months instead of the six months recommended by her physician.
I do believe that breast milk is the most nutritious form of food that you can give your child, but from reading these articles and reflecting on my work in the hospital, I can now understand why some women would rather formula feed their children. Women today have many other responsibilities other than just their children and I can see how stressful and taxing that breast feeding can be on the mother and also to the infant. These articles have opened my eyes and made me more understanding and accepting of the women who chose to bottle feed their infants.
Although this blog is probably better geared towards the HPV/HIV week, I just recently began reading this book called, “The Evolution of Infectious Disease”, for one of my classes and I am finding a direct correlation with the information presented in this book and the research that I am doing for my groups presentation on HPV.
In regards to disease, I think that it is essential to first, look at it critically by taking into account an interesectional analysis of the host and then looking at the host-pathogen relationship, by taking into account whether to treat a symptomatic respsonse versus recognizing its benefit to the host. I think that this class has done an excellent job at challenging methods of healthcare, especially in regards to women and this class that I am also taking, is just another method of looking at healthcare in a critical and all-incompassing way.
Relating this back to HPV, my group has been discussing whether a vaccination is the best method of dealing with this disease and initially it seemed that it was definitely not the best answer. However, I have very different reasons for feeling this way, after reading this book and at the same time, all of my reasons are equally important. In relation to a personal experience, I was speaking with a friend who has diabetes and she was discussing how in a particular reading that we are assigned, the person was drawing a direct correlation between diabetes and increased risks to STD’s. However, in doing so, this author failed to take into account that diabetes itself, can wear down your immune system, which does not necessarily make that person more proned to getting the sexually transmitted disease, but once infected with the disease, makes it harder for that person to fight off the disease.
This is just another example of why it is imperative that people within the healthcare field take into account many different factors when treating a disease and attempting to eliminate an epidemic.
I plan on commenting on breastfeeding, but I just got really excited about this realization that I came to after reading this book and thought I would share my perspective.
Why is it that UNICEF and WHO think they always know whats best for every man, woman, and child in every continent, country, region, city, town and village even though these people are incredibly different. How can they think that they can effectively implement standardized programs to people of varied backgrounds, socioeconomic class, religion, and culture? Sometimes their standards are impossible to live up to and clash with one of these factors. Much like in China, where women are pushed to breast feed by the government under the watchful eye of WHO and UNICEF but who cannot do so because they need to get back to work to support their families. That is just one example of how international health organizations are ill-equiped for dealing with the masses and accounting for different lifestyles. They only think they know what everyone needs. They seem to never ask the people what they actually need.
This situation of an omnipotent group setting standards for and trying to change other groups reminds me much of the Peacecorps and other humanitarian organizations. Usually people from upper classes who try to help others within their nation, or people from one nation who travel to another to help those in need, get lost in their purpose. They are there to help people but don’t actually achieve this. Usually, their downfall is how they define “help.” Many times, they apply their culture or their class’s standards to the living situation of the people they’re trying to help. So the people’s needs are set aside because the Peacecorps person thinks they know what’s best for them. This doesn’t work.
In one example I remember well, a Peacecorps member tried to help women from one village free up more time in their day and ease up their daily physical labor. The women in this village ground by hand beans every day for cooking etc. This would take hours and hours every day and was very exhausting. The Peace Corps member thought that by engineering a system where by riding a stationary bicycle, and through a network of pulleys and grind wheels, the beans could be crushed with much less effort and time. The Peacecorps member was very proud of himself and thought he had helped these women like no one else could. However, he didn’t pick up on the fact that women were not allowed to ride bicycles in that culture so his efforts were for naught. He should have consulted their needs and their culture instead of leaping head first into an idea that he thought was the thing they needed.
Applying this to efforts made by UNICEF and WHO to pressure women from all over the world to breat feed, what makes these organizations think that breast feeding is imperative? Maybe these cultures are doing fine, or as well as they can considering their circumstances and they don’t need any help from them. Maybe the children are more sickly because they don’t have access to clean water and sanitary living conditions. Maybe they have lower IQs because they don’t have access to a school. Why doesn’t WHO look into those matters instead and try to solve those problems rather than focusing on a minor detail that doesn’t increase the living standards significantly for the world population? That’s my question.
Two of the readings really affected me this week. One, called Infant Agency and it’s Implication for Breast-Feeding Promotion in Brazil, discusses how the women of Brazil struggle with the affects of trying to breast feed. It really opened my eyes to see how third-world countries need to deal with things so much harder than Americans do. Brazil’s health and sanitary conditions are not as good as they are here in America. Therefore, when a woman decides to stop breast-feeding in Brazil, their baby is more susceptible to disease than a baby would be here in the United States. What really got me on edge was the fact that the WHO and UNICEF had demands for mothers. Every mother’s routine is going to be different, and different things will work for different people. I can see where the WHO and UNICEF were trying to make an effort to help mothers, however, I do not believe they are looking at the whole picture. Also, reading through the different cases that this reader provides, it is evident that the mothers in Brazil have a lack of communication between health care officials that are supposed to be helping them. Educational programs would work the best to help mothers in Brazil adapt to breast feeding. I do not think that breast-feeding is necessary in the United States, but in countries that have worse conditions, I can see how important it is. However, the best way to help out mothers would be to improve these conditions for mothers and babies so if they do not want to breast feed they will not have horrible results.
The next reading that really caught my eye was a lot different than the Brazil article. The article Sucker: Who is God’s Name said Breast is the Best; really put together everything I believe. Being a nursing major and knowing a lot about health, I do believe that breast feeding is the best way to go, if it is working for the mother and the baby. Breast feeding is especially important in the first milk the mother produces called colostrums because it has a lot of important antibodies that the baby needs to survive. However, besides this first initial milk, if breast feeding is not working for the mother or baby I think that formulas are an alright alternative. Both my brother and I were not breast fed. My brother did not have anything wrong with him, my mom was just older and thought formula would be easier for her. However, a few years later when my mom had me, I had a lot of heart and stomach issues. So, my mother’s doctor actually told her to use formula instead. So all these myths about babies not forming their bodies well, or not being as smart as they can be is completely false is my mind. Also, my roommate one of the smartest people I know was not breast fed, so it just makes you think why are women killing themselves over this? I completely understand why they would want to breast feed but if it is not going to work, you are still a woman, still a mom, and your child will love you no matter what.
I have to admit I have never really thought about the physical difficulties of breastfeeding and the social and economic consequences it creates for a woman choosing it. I have read somewhat about women having had to fight for the flexibility at work to make exclusive breastfeeding a possibility for them, but I never put that in the context of a woman’s and her family’s life, and how it might influence her personal freedom and inform her decisions about breastfeeding in general. The difficulties and pain that Sonya Huber described completely altered my perception of breast-feeding as a natural act that was emotionally satisfying and innate to a mother. I think I had fallen into the trap of thinking of any negatives of breastfeeding as a “mother’s responsibility”, and that the infrequent complaints I’ve heard from women about their difficulties were the exception, or somehow resulted from a lack of dedication. The lack of discussion on the difficulties of breastfeeding does seem to make sense in the context of our culture which sees women’s breasts as purely sexual, and makes any public conversation about them otherwise taboo.
I really liked the perspective brought forth in Wayland’s article on the reasons cited by a group of Brazilian women for early termination of breastfeeding. The article very clearly showed the shortcomings of the emphasis of international agencies on educational programs, and how those programs assume that knowledge of “what is best” is enough to allow individuals to alter their behaviors. The disconnect between the messages from the WHO and other organizations and the actual barriers to continuing breastfeeding for the mothers in the study was enlightening. It illustrated that a “one size fits all” approach was not effective in significantly increasing continuation, which may have been worsened by a lack of cultural understanding and relevance, and an overall lack of knowledge about the issue (the difficulties mothers experience in breastfeeding).
I do still think that breastfeeding should be encouraged, as it is linked to better health outcomes in many ways, but I now am more critical as to a black and white view of breastfeeding being good, and formula being bad. When not considering the effects of breastfeeding on a mother, it’s easy to judge someone for not giving their child the “best chance they have” by using formula. But when looking at the negotiations, as Gottschang brought up, a woman has to make in her life in order to breastfeed, it’s entirely understandable that some women may not have the resources or the support to do so. If breastfeeding in public, which may be necessary for women who are outside the home to any degree, is looked down upon by such a large portion of the population, going against social norms to that extent seems like too much to ask many mothers to do. I cannot imagine being looked at as disgusting for nourishing my child as I was designed to, and that split between looking down on mothers for not breastfeeding and looking down on them for breastfeeding outside of their home or a bathroom creates almost a catch 22.
The first word that came to my mind after reading the “Sucker†article is WOW. First of all, I never realized that breastfeeding can be so painful for women. I have heard that some women find it very uncomfortable, but this article was a reality check for sure. The author described what she was feeling in a truly realistic way and I cringed when I read some of her experiences, such as “prickles of sharp pain when the milk began flowing†and “throbbing breasts.†One notion that the author brought up was that women who do not breast feed their babies “are often subject to a barrage of public judgment from health-conscious strangers,†and I completely agree with this statement. Breast-feeding is ultimately a woman’s choice and I think no one has the right to judge a mother who does not breast feed. Studies have shown the benefits of breast feeding a baby, but a mother who chooses not to do this is not automatically a bad mother. Every woman is in a different situation with her own circumstances so we should not assume the worst of this person because we feel they are not doing the right thing for their baby. We can talk all we want, but until a woman actually breast feeds we really have no idea about what these women must endure during each feeding.
I agree with McLovin’s post when she says that she has been taught that breast milk is the best option for babies, but our society does not acknowledge all the pain women must go through during this process. Growing up I just assumed that breast feeding a baby should be the number one option, but this article makes me think about different perspectives and honestly I’m really not sure what I would do if I was in excruciating pain from a newborn baby killing my nipple. I would probably be frustrated and pissed off. From now on, I have an entirely different outlook on breastfeeding and I with be sympathetic to any woman I encounter who is struggling with this.
I find it upsetting that women are encouraged to breast feed, yet those who choose to do this in public are stared at, looked at as freaks, and scolded. The Social Science and Medicine article talked about the “social disapproval of breast feeding in public, reports of ridicule by friends, lack of support from some health providers, and difficulties associated with working.†In order to make this a more accepted act, we need to raise awareness and teach people about the benefits of breast feeding so people understand that it really isn’t as awkward as it looks. It is unfair to women who want to breast feed but don’t because of the barriers they face while trying to do this. I personally believe that breast feeding is the best way to go when a baby is first born, but sometimes I wonder if the effects of not breast feeding are really even that bad. It is probable that at least one of my good friends was not breast fed, and no one is the wiser. Maybe women who are having troubles with breast feeding should just take a step back and try formula or some other option because it is not worth stressing out and killing our bodies over something that may not even make a difference in the long run.
The reading “Infant Agency and Its Implication for Breast-Feeding Promotion in Brazil†by Coral Wayland, brought up a number of interesting topics concerning breast feeding. One thing to consider when discussing breast feeding internationally is to remember that not all water is clean like in the U.S. In many places like Mexico and Brazil the water is contaminated and contains pathogens which can be quite harmful to those who are not used to them (babies and visitors). So the sterility of breast milk helps to protect the child in the earlier stages of its life, from contaminated foods and water. Mostly these pathogens cause diarrhea, which can cause dehydration and eventual death in an infant. So breast feeding is considered a very important source of sterile water in these countries, thus pushed by public health advocates.
Another topic discussed in this article was mother’s experiences of their infant refusing to breast feed. These women saw their baby’s negative response to nursing as a deliberate choice to stop breast feeding and demand for something else. These encounters of refusal to nurse ended in emotional and physical exhaustion of both mother and child. The author emphasizes how these women believed in their infant’s agency to make feeding decisions. These Brazilian women see breast feeding as a bilateral decision that must be agreed upon by both mother and child. However, in contrast, the medical society sees the decision to breast feed to be made exclusively by the mother, with the infant as a passive agent.
While I have never seen an instance of a child refusing to nurse, and causing such a fuss as discussed in the article, I have seen children who refuse to stop nursing. My sister in law had two children, about one year apart in age. She was still nursing her first child when she had her second child, which she breast fed till the child was six months old. At this time she was really sick of breast feeding, for it had been a year and a half. The older child had grown quite attached to breast feeding and refused to stop. In order for my sister in law to get the kids to stop bugging her about breast feeding, she put band-aids on her nipples and told them that her nipples were broken and no longer worked. A funny, creative idea…but it worked. I felt really bad for her when she stopped because her breasts became engorged with milk, to the point where they were firm and very sore. I imagined the soreness and swelling that occurs in my breasts when I have my period and multiplied that by 10.
In Sonya Huber’s “Suckerâ€, she talks about how her self identity changes while she is lactating. She sees her lactating nipples as the center of her universe, due to the demand of feeding and secluding herself from the outside world. She talks of her self as being “just nipples†at home. In the article about Chinese women’s experiences we also see women seeking to breast feed in private at home and seeing that as restrictive. These women also talk about their lactating bodies and how that affects their identity as good mothers, but also non- sexual beings.
Another thing that was interesting to me in the article about Chinese women’s experiences with breast feeding, was how Traditional Chinese medicine influenced women’s decisions about breast feeding. These included decisions on how long to breast feed for (one month), how women viewed their bodies as weak and depleted, and decisions to supplement their diets to improve the quality of their breast milk. Mostly these Traditional Chinese medicines were recommended by older female family members, showing us how important matriarchal relatives are in younger mothers’ decisions about breast feeding.
I never really thought about breast feeding before – probably because I have not given birth to a child yet. But it really never comes up in mainstream media, movies and television (other than one time in Sex and the City- now that i think of it). Reading the article Low income mothers views on breast feeding it made me think of our discussion last week about our periods and how such a stigma is placed on us to hide it from the world and particularly men. Exposing our breasts is seen as a sexual act but like our menstrual cycle is completely natural and should not be hidden. Like most of the mothers responses that breast fed, they believe that breast feeding provides, not only greater health benefits for themselves and their baby but also an innate connection between mother and child. This is something that shouldnt be mocked or judged. Im the most open person about alot of aspects in my life. I probably shouldnt be as open as i am but i wonder if I would be able to breast feed in public. I can say now that i know i will but will i really be able to overcome such a public stigma…i hope i can.
Another thing.. why if formula is so expensive are low income mothers being recommended to use it? I dont really know why scientifically- cant the milk be stored in the fridge for later use? I thought thats what my mom did when my sister was born. I understand the scheduling thing and that once you start breast feeding you shouldnt stop but i can see how it can conflict with a womans day to day life after pregnancy. But i guess that goes into the discussion of how a woman really isnt free to breast feed because if her day to day schedule involved being in public the case comes again that it isn’t “right” to breast feed in public. America is the land of the free supposedly so women should be able to choose for themselves if they want to breast feed in public and ultimately have the option to choose their level of comfortablity.
Before this week’s readings I did not realize the reality of the physical difficulties that women go through in beginning and continuing to breastfeed. I knew and understood why many women do not breastfeed because they need to work, and how most workplaces do not allow space or time for mothers to pump milk. Also, some women do not have the support or advice from their mothers who grew up when bottle feeding was the health-conscious norm. My own mother told me once how she had tried to breast feed me but stopped because it became so difficult and painful and her family was not supportive; the deciding factor was that she had to go back to work after three months and couldn’t continue.
However like Pomona, I had still thought that mothers whose infants were unable to “latch-on” and continue to breastfeed were simply not dedicated. The article “Sucker” changed my uninformed perspective on breastfeeding. I had known that breast milk is best for infants, however I did not realize that with such a cultural push toward this better alternative there was such little and contradicting information from doctors, nurses, and mothers alike. Sonya Huber’s story illustrated the contradictions of medical professionals’ opinion that “breast is best” in the way she was not given appropriate attention from the hospital’s lactation consultant, and the nurse’s immediate surrender of a prepared bottle of formula. Also the support group she attended seemed to reflect the conventional wisdom of society that women who do not breastfeed or experience difficulty with it, feel angry or depressed, are bad mothers. This is not the support necessary to build breastfeeding awareness and acceptance into our culture. And these are all reasons why women choose to formula feed their infants.
“Low income mothers’ view on breastfeeding” again reiterates American culture’s perception of breastfeeding; its’ best for baby, but in public embarrassing and unaccepted. It demonstrates how society condemns mothers who don’t breastfeed without looking at the factors in their life that might not allow them to; hypocritically society also condemns those that do openly breastfeed. General public distaste of breastfeeding is also the result of women’s bodies being sexualized. I don’t know why something so natural and critical for a newborn infant could be seen as “lewd†or “indecent conduct.†People feel uncomfortable themselves and worry about their children seeing someone breastfeed, when all day they are bombarded with images of nearly naked women everywhere they go.
I have talked about breast feeding with many mothers, even young mothers and have come to realize that each mother makes the decision to breast feed depending on personal experiences and opinions. I have a young friend who had a baby at the age of twenty and decided not to breast feed her son at all. I asked her why she chose not to and she just said that she didn’t want to and didn’t feel comfortable having her son sucking on her nipple. I was kind of surprised because there are other options such as using a pump to get breast milk. I think many times people tend to think that infants only breast feed when they are young but when I worked at a daycare a woman who worked there had a three year-old and still breast fed. Her daughter seemed to love to breast feed and actually seemed attached to it as if it were comforting. I think that is great but I never really thought about how hard it can be for some women to breast feed. In the article, “Infant Agency and its Implication for Breast Feeding Promotion in Brazil,” the woman had such a hard time trying to breast feed their children. I can see how frustrating it can become when you want your child to get the right nutrients to be healthy and it seems like there is no other option but to use formula because the child is refusing breast feeding. I think that often times the educational aspect can place everyone in one group and explaining one “proper” way to breast feed when everyone has different experiences with their children. These women in brazil believed that their infants chose to stop breast feeding and looked at it as a decision that needs to be made between mother and child. Brochures and books tend to focus on the mother and not see the child as being able to refuse and it often makes the mother feel as though she is at fault and that she is doing something wrong. In the article, “Sucker,” the mother had such a hard time breast feeding her child and when she asked for help, people just gave her contradicting ways to feed her child. There were so many different ways that were myths, old-fashioned, and were unhelpful. I think it is crazy that she had to go out of her way to get a lactation consultant. In the article, “Maternal Bodies, Breast-Feeding, and Consumer Desire in Urban China,” I found some of the experiences of the women to be disturbing. I think that social aspects tie into the fact that women choose to stop breast feeding so quickly. One problem is that women are expected and persuaded to breast feed but then when it is done in public or a woman may leak, everyone seems to be in shock. It is natural and should not be such a surprise to people. Its horrible that many of these women wanted to continue to breast feed but they had to go back to work to support their families or did not want to look weak because they had to take time off. I feel that at the young stages of an infant it is very important for the mother to be there. The woman named Cui had a hard time because she worried about being too fat and her husband complained about their sex life. How can he be complaining about that when she is trying to breast feed their child for the better. I just think that every woman has the choice to decide what is best for her and her child and should not be judged about what she chooses to do. My sister who worked at a hospital in the postpartum area, said that many women would not breast feed because the child would refuse the nipple. She said most of the time the women did not know the right technique to latch on to the nipple and were being suffocated by the breast. She said that even women with multiple children had problems with breast feeding but once she was able to help them, they were so thankful and were successful in feeding the child. The problem that most of the women seem to have in the readings is that the children breast feed at first and then refuse the nipple soon after.
The article on infant agency in Brazil seemed interesting due to the fact that their societal ideals are so different from American and European ideals. If a mother allowed for her baby to starve and die in our country they would be faced with murder, but in a country where it is seen as the babies choice to not want to live is so contrary. The whole concept behind why the mothers refuse to nurse or so quickly switch to formula was also confusing but that might be greatly impacted by society’s standards, even though the public health community in Brazil is working to establish the benefits to breast feeding, in hopes that more mothers utilize breast milk. I think the mothers are not being encouraged by their family and peers, and this may be the main reason for them to not breastfeed. It is sad that the places described in China cannot adequately feed the infants. The government and health administration should hold more regulations on the infant formulas that are sold, but yet lack the content a growing infant needs.
I personally grew up, with a mother who asserted me that breast feeding was best for the baby and free, opposed to formula which becomes an expense. My mother has stories of her mother-in-law insisting on formula feeding and introducing solid food before she felt was appropriate. Around the age of twelve I had much experience in the neonatal unit of the hospital, and breast milk was an essential in this department. Mothers who gave birth to premature babies were strongly encouraged to pump milk as much as possible and store what the baby could not consume. I learned about how mothers date and freeze the milk and how they also had access to receive and donate at a milk bank.
I don’t really doubt that breastfeeding is nutritionally the best option for the baby, as well as creating a bond between mother and baby that doesn’t really happen with formula feeding. Also, I imagine feeding your baby with something from your own body would be pretty cool.
All the articles this week, however, did a good job of weakening the argument that breastfeeding exclusively until at least 6 months is THE thing to do for your baby, the thing that makes you a bad mother if you choose not to do it.
I read the “Sucker” article first…wow. I thought the writing was really great and it really illustrated the author’s situation well. It also made me want to take my time before having a baby so that experiences like hers aren’t in my very near future.
Women who are taught to believe all their lives that breastfeeding is “natural” would likely have a conception that if it is natural, it will feel natural and right. However, in many cases that does not seem to be true. Perhaps if breastfeeding were presented as more of a challenge, but one with hugely positive outcomes, women would have an easier time taking it on as a challenge and then sticking to it despite the hardships for the good of their babies; if it is presented as something natural and easy, women who start breastfeeding with no knowledge of the difficult side might be more likely to give up and switch to formula, thinking their experiences are unique and that they are not doing a good job of nursing.
I thought it was interesting that in Brazil and China, women often stopped breastfeeding before medically advised, but for completely different reasons. The points brought up about China’s changing society and economy were fascinating; I hadn’t thought of that aspect of the switch to capitalism before, but it definitely makes sense. Womens’ jobs offering them two half-hour breaks per day to breastfeed seems almost like a tease; unless there is an in-house day care center or a friend or family member can bring the baby to the workplace to be fed, half an hour does not seem like nearly enough time to go home, breastfeed, and then come back. I’m not necessarily blaming the businesses for this because they are businesses that exist to make money and any more than an hour off a day would start to look like part-time…I don’t know what the solution to the catch22 of being a professional versus being a nursing mothers, but it seems to be more suited to socialist/communist societies than capitalist. Women in higher paid, white collar positions with private offices would be in a better situation to breastfeed at work, but that leaves the majority of women still out.
The article about Brazil raised some questions for me; mostly in the arena of getting a little annoyed that women doing something common in their cultural frame is viewed as foolish or bad mothering by American/Western “experts.” Yes, it has been shown that breastfeeding is good for babies. But what actually happens to babies who stop breastfeeding when they appear to no longer want to? I’m not denying that breastfeeding is probably best at all, but these articles kept telling us that an entire generation of people (around our parents’ age) were formula-fed. What happened to them? Are they seeing negative health effects because of not being breastfed?
Breasts are extremely sexualized in our culture. They are seen solely for aesthetic purposes and sexual functions. Breasts are every where, all the time: half exposed breasts on TV, the omnipresent discussion of if celebrity so-and-so got breast implants, etc. But when it comes to breastfeeding, it’s a different story. As discussed in the “Low-income mother’s views on breastfeeding†article, there is a catch-22, or a double bind about it. Breastfeeding is generally regarded as something positive for the child and mother, inasmuch that women who don’t breastfeed for whatever reason (if they believe breastfeeding is the best) feel really guilty about not doing it. But while breastfeeding is perceived to be the “right†or “best†method for feeding babies, there are negative connotations if a woman is to breastfeed in public. Which makes me think that in addition to the social contradiction of: breastfeeding-is-good-but-don’t- do-it-when-there’s-other-people-around, there’s an additional bind of: showing off your boobs is good (i’d go as far to say, women are often encouraged to show them in order to prove their feminine, sexual attractiveness) but if you’re breastfeeding, keep them under wraps, nobody wants to see your boobs being used for purposes other than sexual/aesthetic.
I’ve learned in the past of the importance of breastfeeding one’s child: the sterile milk, the fat content, the passing on of immunity, vitamins, the oxytocin/bond between child and mother. However I’ve never been told how excruciatingly painful it can be ( as seen in “Suckerâ€). I think the promotion of breastfeeding is great. However, I think it’s wrong to not address and warn women of possible negative outcomes. There is no warning to women how people view breastfeeding in public as “grossâ€, or how painful it can be. Promoting breastfeeding without all the facts is akin to marketing a drug that can cause you huge, intense amounts of pain, and saying , “you’ll maybe feel sore.†Also, at first it made no sense to me why lower-income women wouldn’t be breastfeeding, after all, formula is expensive, breast milk is free. Wouldn’t it make more sense of higher income women to be purchasing the formula? But after reading the articles it all makes sense. From the barriers of returning to school/work, having family members care for children, cost of lactation coaches, WIC supplementing formula etc.
When I was around 9 years old I went out for pizza with my best friend at the time, her brother, and her mother who had just had a new baby. I was just sitting there eating pizza and her mom whips out her boob and started to breastfeed. I had no idea what was going on and proceeded to be really awkward about it cause I had just seen my best friend’s mom’s boob. Since then I’ve learned what breastfeeding is, and when i (rarely) encounter a breastfeeding women I don’t freak out and get all awkward. If I ever have a baby, I would want to try breastfeeding. If it doesn’t work out, then it doesn’t work out and I won’t feel guilty about it.
This week I liked the Infant Agency article because it really got me thinking about who I thought played a role in the weaning of a child. Obviously being raised in the U.S., as the article said, I have almost always learned that there is no infant agency and that it is the mothers choice as to when to stop breast feeding. Even when you google weaning and read articles on how to do it you what you are reading is ways for the mother to make the decision and ways for the mother to stop the processes. Very little is said about the child aside from maybe some signs that an older child might start to give when they are ready. This is in contrast to the article which discusses the idea of breastfeeding and weaning in Brazil and how there the women say that the baby has a say in how the process goes. I feel as though it is definately a mixed choice by mother and child but I believe that the mother has a little more say in what happens and the outcome. However, I do agree that it is possible for babies to make their own decision to not breastfeed. It is matter of whether or not the baby knows exactly what they are doing. The article says that women in Brazil do feel that the baby knows what their actions are and how they will affect their lives. For example, one woman said that her infant chose to die because the baby would not breastfeed. This woman did not supplement her baby with anything else when the child wouldnt take to the breast because she felt it was the child’s choice and if the child wanted to live than it would start breastfeeding. I think that if you starve a baby long enough it should start breastfeeding for survival reasons and i don’t know why it wouldn’t but there are some babies who still won’t. If this woman lived in the U.S. and basically starved her baby to death, and that is how it would be seen because there is no infant agency here, then she would have probably been put into jail for killing her child. I can understand the want to breastfeed and the need to breastfeed, especially in a poor country like Brazil where the alternatives are miserable, however I believe that it gets to a point where you have to stop being stubborn and let the baby eat, whethere you are giving the child formula or tea.
I have little experience with breastfeeding since I do not have any children but I have baby-sat for a lot of women who breastfed. These women were able to give their child breast milk for as long as they wanted because they had the luxury of buying a breast pump and being able to pump at work. One woman I know is currently still breastfeeding one of her twin daughters and not the other because she said that one just begain to self wean at about a year old. One of the little girls just lost interest in the situation but the other has not. I think this shows that age depending children have agency and I think it increases as the child gets old (obviously).
I found Sonya Huber’s article, “Sucker” absolutely hysterical and poignant. I think personal narratives like these about the experience of motherhood and breastfeeding is so important especially amongst a sea of psychological and scientific studies where women’s stories and individual experiences become just another number or statistic. Although these studies are crucial to the work regarding the social constructions of motherhood in different settings all over the world, Sonya Huber’s story should be valued as equally important because she incorporates her own story which is littered with physical pain, discomfort and harsh truths that many women just dont want to hear, as well as her experience as a patient–what she was told about breastfeeding by the health care community. Receiving conflicting information from health care professionals can often cause unnecessary stress, as exhibited in Huber’s story. Furthermore, I thought her desire to simply share her experience and her story with other mothers was vital because it illustrates the need to build communities where women can discuss the realities of their situation rather than just reading guides on breastfeeding or listening to a healthcare professional talk about what they have seen, which is the average or most common experience, (naturally ignoring the individual experience). In her attempt to connect with other women, Huber states:
“Words jumped in my throat but I didn’t open my mouth. The other thirty women fussed with their babiespatted backs, reached for diapers, wiped tiny lips. Would nobody, including myself, confess to what I knew I’d experienced at 3 a.m., the question of whether to kill myself or sell the baby? Maybe the room was too crowded, or there were too many little ears. Or maybe we were too scared to admit we were each the bad mother who wanted to run away. Someone raised a question about bottle-feeding, and the moment was gone”
It is unfortunate that none of the other women feel comfortable enough to engage in discussion about their own experiences, because my personal feeling is that this sort of facilitated discussion would be very helpful. It is sad that women cannot feel empowered to talk about their personal stories or even to breast feed in public. The source of this discomfort can be traced to the social constructions and valuations of motherhood. In general, I feel that the discussion of good mom/bad mom with regards to breastfeeding can get ridiculous. Who are you or I or we to judge a woman and what she deems is best for both her and her baby?…especially when there is equal, reciprocated judgement on behalf of all the people who disdain public breastfeeding. On this topic, I liked what Eavsie23 has stated above, because she points out that there are many blatant contradictions in our valuation system regarding women’s bodies:
“Low income mothers’ view on breastfeeding†again reiterates American culture’s perception of breastfeeding; its’ best for baby, but in public embarrassing and unaccepted. It demonstrates how society condemns mothers who don’t breastfeed without looking at the factors in their life that might not allow them to; hypocritically society also condemns those that do openly breastfeed. General public distaste of breastfeeding is also the result of women’s bodies being sexualized. I don’t know why something so natural and critical for a newborn infant could be seen as “lewd†or “indecent conduct.†People feel uncomfortable themselves and worry about their children seeing someone breastfeed, when all day they are bombarded with images of nearly naked women everywhere they go.
I also liked the article entitled, “Infant Agency and Its Implication for Breast-Feeding Promotion in Brazil.” I found what they studied regarding the “bilateral” method of breast-feeding very interesting, especially with regards to the personal case studies of Flavia and Joanna. I have always been told and taught that breast-feeding is literally THE BEST thing you can do for your baby which is a notion that propogates the idea of a mother in control, but reading these case studies made me recognize the infant as a separate entity, who very well could be expressing specific wants and needs that might conflict with what a mother was told to do by a doctor or nurse. I agree with the method of using education about breast feeding and the benefits to try and reverse the decreasing percentages of breast-fed babies in Brazil because education is key and allows the woman to be empowered. However, with regards to the studies done on the benefits of breast-feeding and the intense promotion it is receiving, I have the same question proposed by Floyd, who states:
“Yes, it has been shown that breastfeeding is good for babies. But what actually happens to babies who stop breastfeeding when they appear to no longer want to? I’m not denying that breastfeeding is probably best at all, but these articles kept telling us that an entire generation of people (around our parents’ age) were formula-fed. What happened to them? Are they seeing negative health effects because of not being breastfed?”
There seems to be a gaping hole in the studies done on people who have grown up after not being breast fed, are there serious health risks associated with this population?
Reading the article “Sucker” i too was shocked at the pain breastfeeding can cause a woman. It is not widely known that it can be extremely painful for some women, or at least where I am from it is never mentioned. Most babies are breastfed and that is viewed to be the “normal” method, just something that every mother does and discomfort is never brought up. I remember a few years ago I had actually had a conversation with a group of friends where one of them brought up that she was breastfed as a baby and assumed the rest of us were as well. I had said something along the lines of, how do you know you were? did you jusk ask your mom one random day?. and they all stared at me as if to say, yes and how do you not know if you were? I remember my mother telling me neither me nor my sister were breastfed, but either i do not remember why or she didnt tell me why, im not sure. Maybe it was painful, maybe it was for other reasons. For whatever the reason, i do not care i wasnt breastfed, and neither should anyone else. It was my mothers business and me and my sister turned out perfectly healthy and intelligent. My sister is one of the smartest people i know in fact. And as for the issue of women openly breastfeeding their babies in public, many do find that weird. Myself included. It is every woman’s own option to breastfeed or to not, but it does not have to be done so openly in public. Just as many women have strong views on what is appropriate ways to feed their baby, everyone opinions should be kept to themselves, as well as their choice to breastfeed, jsut not in public.
I never thought that breastfeeding was so complex and held so many issues for women. The first time I realized this was recently when a cousin of mine had her first child and everyone was asking the obvious questions such as how does she sleep etc etc. My mom pulled her aside and they got into a conversation which I could tell my cousin Dawn was taking very seriously. I asked my mom later what they had been talking about and she said breastfeeding. Months before when asked if she was going to Dawn wasn’t sure, she had heard conflicting views on it. She was nervous for her baby and just wanted to make sure she did the best thing and while many people (older women) were pushing the breastfeeding option on her some young mothers that were friends of hers made her feel that maybe an alternative option was better. She was c oncerned with the baby relieing on only her for feeding and not my cousin Mike. She was afraid she would never be able to leave the house. When I heard this I thought she was being selfish and wrong but af ter reading the ar ticles,especially Who in Gods Name said Breast is Best, I feel bad for ever passing judgement.
Breastfeeding is a tough decesion for mothers today. When Huber says that public breastfeeding is looked down upon now I think that women who go about it in a discreet “Hey I am just trying to feed my baby” way is fine. There was an issue with fans at a pro football game being upset with a woman for breastfeeding in the stands and I agree that is wrong. Not only for making people uncomfortable but why are you putting your baby in that situation anyways? All it takes is to go to the bathroom and do it. I understand that to alot of people that is wrong and they feel the woman shouldnt feel inconvienced but that is just not the place to do that. There are rambunctious fans drinks, swearing, spilling, etc.
Like many of my classmates I have never really contemplated the benefits or the struggles related to breast feeding before now. Since I am not yet a mother, and do not plan to become a mother in the near future I have not paid much attention to the topic. I found this weeks readings not only very informative, but also some to be an excellent form of birth control since I am definitely not ready to deal with the struggles associated with breast feeding.
Although I found all the articles to be quite informative, I found “Sucker” to be the most interesting. “Sucker” was the most interesting and the easiest of the articles to read because it was a personal story, rather than just reports of research findings. I was shocked to read that breast feeding is so painful. I realized that it can be uncomfortable, especially once the infant gets older, but I did not realize that it started off painful and that there was so much pain associated with it in general. As I said above it definitely makes me realize that I am not ready to have kids yet.
Before reading this weeks articles I rarely thought about breast feeding. I have friends that have had children that have breast fed their babies until they needed to return to work and then supplemented with formula and food as well. My friends never really complained of the pain from breast feeding but instead felt as if they could not leave the house for long periods of time because the baby needed to be fed. I find it interesting that we try to encourage people to breast feed because it is supposedly best for the child, but in turn make it very difficult for mothers to do so.
Many of the articles recommended breast feeding as the only feeding method until 6 months. Many mothers need to return back to work long before that, and even those that do not feel uncomfortable going out in public and feeding their child because of all of the awkwardness and negativity surrounding breast feeding in public. I think that it is not only important to educate mothers, and mothers to be regarding breast feeding but it is also important to educate the public. I think that educating others about the benefits of breast feeding, and putting the subject more out in the open could help eliminate some of the uncomfortable feelings regarding the subject, and in turn breast feeding as a more “normal†rather than freakish behavior.
The two most important messages that I took from this week’s reading are that 1) Breastfeeding is beneficial to both infant and mother, but every woman has an individual situation which affects her infant-feeding decisions and 2) Though breastfeeding is strongly promoted, a safe and comfortable is not provided for mothers who need to breast-feed in public.
Reading the article entitled “Sucker”, I am not looking forward to breast-feeding if that is the feeding-method I chose. Even though I may choose this method, my baby may not choose the same method. Breastfeeding is different for every single woman and child. For some, it is enjoyable and an easy activity and others it is truly painful and difficult struggle. I strongly believe that breast-feeding is not for everyone and it should not be forced if it is not working comfortably for mother and child. Breast-feeding isn’t always wonderful and dreamy for the mother, even if the infant appears to be enjoying it. My mother had mixed feelings about breast-feeding; because it could be quite uncomfortable and painful for her…even if her infants were oblivious to her pain. It certainly has many benefits…but can be a physical and emotional struggle for the mother. I can imagine though, that breast-feeding is has a certain level of comfort or discomfort for every woman.
In the study in Trifundo, Brazil it made sense that infants often make their own decisions about when and how to feed. Many mothers cited their infants’ “refusal of the breast” as one of their primary reasons why the baby was weaned earlier than the recommended 6 months. I had never really viewed breast-feeding in this light, that to be successful, both the infant and mother must make their own decisions about breast-feeding. I think that it is wonderful that these Brazilian mothers listen to their infants’ reaction and believe that infants know what they desire. It makes me wonder if more breast-feeding attempts in other parts of the world are too forced, and occur when the infant is blatantly refusing the breast.
I think that many people have such a definite mindset that “Breast is best” and they will do whatever possible to breast-feeding for a full six months or longer in many situations. I just have to wonder if we should be listening to the indications of the infant and holding these in higher regard. This different viewpoint of the women from Trifundo illustrates the fact that women who try breastfeeding and cease this form of feeding early along are not “bad mothers” or lazy or not looking out for the needs of their child. These women are simply tuning into the wants of their infant and adjusting accordingly, whether it is water, tea, formula, cow’s milk, or perhaps complementary foods.
Also, I think that the promotion and education about breast-feeding is a well-publicized practice. What we need now are societal changes and accommodations for women that want to breast-feed outside of their private homes. I think that it will be a while before more of the general public is comfortable with a woman feeding in public. Kudos to those women who breast-feed when they need to, because they are taking care of their child and themselves, regardless of the many dirty looks they might receive. It takes a lot of confidence and I personally think it is a wonderful thing to be able to do.
For women that don’t feel comfortable breast-feeding in public, there need to be spaces available in more job settings, stores and businesses, places of worship, hospitals, health care facilities and other locations. I am aware that some places are already deemed “Mother-friendly” or “Baby-friendly” but I don’t think that enough places offer options for mothers to breast-feed discreetly, if they chose to do so. I wanted to note that the Gap at the Holyoke Mall has a room for mothers and young children, which offers a private place to breast-feed with comfortable chairs. I was surprised to see this type of room available, but I think it is a great space to have and more businesses/companies need to follow in the steps of the Gap.
I didnt mean to submit that part of the comment yet..oops! Sorry!
When reading Huber’s article I felt hopeless for her. She had so much information, too much information, but none of it was the right information. Women need to be able to find the answers they need easily.
I am glad that she decided to use the pump at the end because her self struggle was driving her insane!!
“Breast is Best” as stated in the various readings seems to simplify just a bit too far what breastfeeding is… it is a campaign slogan nonetheless. I do personally agree that breastfeeding is the best thing a mother can give to its child, when possible. I have to disagree with PinkGrl6 when she says she doesn’t think breast-feeding is necessary in the US. Yes, in Brazil and other countries where cleanliness is an issue breast-feeding is a wonderful solution, but it is not the only reason why babies should drink it. Each mother makes a different kind of milk, specifically for their child, for what their child needs. It is a wonder/miracle drink.
“Sucker” article allows the reader to begin to question how hard breast-feeding really is, it tried to express a little how important it is, but this is for readers to research more.
These weeks’ reading really made me mentally visualize my self as a mother to be, hopefully in the future. Unless for real health risk reasons such as diseases, or any chemical that i might of been exposed to in my body and that might be danger to the health of the baby; those are the only motives why i would not breast feed. I know as Mcloving mentioned in her response, that she has seen a lot of negative sort of experiences of breast feeding, but the idea is that what today in this world does not have some little negative touch to it. Actually being sexually active, which is the process that gives origin to a baby, has a lot of negatives experiences and risks. One can get an STD at any time, one can get negatively emotionally attached to the wrong person etc. So, i was very surprised to find out that low-income women rather to not breast feed their infants in the article “low-income mothers’ views on breastfeeding”.
I thought that the low-income mothers who suffers from various oppressions, would not want the same thing happeneing to their babies. Actually back in my country, which is a third world country, who have a lot of low-income mothers, they love breast feeding. These mothers would never give their infants no formula, because they beleive breast feeding is one of the most beautiful contact between a mother and the infant. In addtion it is healthy for both the mother and the child. In some cases it could be unhealthy, such as the young mother in the “Globalization and the politics of native breast feeding article”, who was sent to court for contaminating her baby due to her consumption of aclcohol. In those cases i beleive that not breast-feeding your child is okay. Also if you love and care for your child, you would not consume alcohol, when you know it will do harm to the baby. Another case that i would not oppose breast-feeding is in the case if the mother unintentionally have been exposed to a certain chemical that will interfere with the baby’s health and development.
Finally, breast-feeding one of the healthiest way for one child to develop in normal and healthy conditions. No formulas, or other types of food which all or at least the majority contain pestides residues or some other chemicals, will take the place of breast-feeding.
Currently there is a movement on campus to encourage the University to designate breast feeding areas for mothers who are currently breastfeeding and/or pumping their breast milk. As far as I know there is only one “designated†breastfeeding/pumping friendly place on campus in the Whitmore building. Women are encouraging the University to identify multiple areas on campus where women can comfortably and safely feed and/or pump. One might think that an institution of higher education would understand how important it is for children to be breast fed, and in turn how important it is for breastfeeding mothers to have adequate, comfortable and sanitary places to feed their children or pump their breast milk. Unfortunately the University has yet to respond to this need on campus.
Two of this weeks readings, Sucker and Low Income Mothers really got me thinking about this issue of accommodating mothers on campus in a different way. In Sucker, I felt so bad for Sonya Huber. I can only imagine how it feels to be a new mother, being exhausted, dealing with fluctuating hormone levels, being sleep deprived, the immense pressure and responsibility for this brand new person, feeling inadequate in the ability to care for and feed your child. Sonya Huber talks about having to get out of the house if even for a few hours and her feelings of alienation around other mothers because she feels she can’t be honest about what she is experiencing for fear they might think she is a bad mother. Women already are under immense pressure as mothers, I truly believe that they are trying to do what they believe is best for their children. This is repeatedly demonstrated by Sonya, the women in China and in Brazil and among low income mothers in the U.S. All of these readings provide pictures of women trying to balance what they believe is best for their children amidst all the other social, cultural, familial and economic demands placed on them.
As demonstrated time and time again in the readings over the course of this semester, women are being judged on a certain behavior, in this case feeding their children. They are pressured to do certain things, such as breast feed their children, and they are often judged on the decisions they make, by society, by each other and by themselves. Yet the discussion does not include the whole picture. In the United States, we can judge women who decide to give their children formula over breast milk, but we are not necessarily passing those same judgments on to the systems that make that choice the best option for the mother: Jobs that don’t provide adequate maternity benefits, workplaces that are not friendly to breastfeeding mothers, marketing campaigns, lack of good education, lack of social support, social norms around modesty and the many other responsibilities that fall on women and mothers. Neither the government nor most employers make it possible for most families to have one stay at home parent due to economics. These same entities provide inadequate maternity leaving forcing mothers to return to work in a short period of time, and generally long before their child is one year old, which is the recommended time for children to be fed by breast milk exclusively and often workplaces are not breast feeding mother friendly.
The UMASS campus is a microcosm of this situation. There are mothers on campus who, for whatever reason are not fulltime stay-at-home moms. If they have chosen to breast feed their children and need to either breast feed on campus or pump and store their breast milk, they will have a very difficult time doing so on campus. It is embarrassing to me that at a University with graduate programs in nutrition, nursing and public health as well as a large health center does not provide adequate space to accommodate these mothers. It is a great example of what women may be up against in society and perhaps partly why formula feeding is so prevalent.
Although I am not yet a breast feeding mother or have yet to go through the struggles of breast feeding, I have already had some life experiences when it comes to breast feeding. The post partum floor on which I work at is indeed “baby friendly†and while reading Maternal Bodies, Breast Feeding, and Consumer Desire in Urban China I felt as if this author was describing the floor I work in. The author mentioned that “posters promoting breast feeding line the hallway leading to the room where women in this study attended breast feeding classâ€. This sentence evoked similar images to the floor that I work on because posters on breast feeding line the hallways not only on the post partum floor where the mothers and babies are staying, but also in the hallways before the patient or visitors are able to enter our unit. (I say able to enter the unit because our unit is constantly locked down and any employee who doesn’t work directly with the post partum floor or visitor has to wait for the secretary or staff to buzz them in because security is very tight on our floor).
Breast feeding is constantly being stressed upon to our patients by our nurses and doctors, and patients who have already made the choice to bottle fed are looked upon openly with disdain. On our floor, women who chose to breast feed are criticized by other nurses and doctors at the nurse’s station and generally categorized as being too uneducated to realize how important breast feeding is for their babies. By the way that nurses and doctors talk about breast feeding I have never even second guessed my decision to breast feed when I decide to have children, but this weeks readings have me completely second guessing my decision.
Working on a post partum floor has drilled into my head that breast milk is best and I should never feed my baby anything other than the milk my body produces. I have never once thought about the struggles that these women go through while trying to breast fed, even though I sometimes get their frantic phone calls when their baby isn’t latching properly or won’t take their breast. I normally just field these phone calls over to the nurse or the lactation consultant and think nothing of their stressors because breast feeding is not part of my job description. I also used to think that these women were just new mothers and didn’t know what they were doing and were acting overly hysterical or simply being drama queens.
I believe that many of the women who have had their children at the hospital I work at indeed have the same experiences as Sonya Huber did when she gave birth. There have been plenty of times where hysterical moms have called me saying they need to speak to the lactation consultant and that they have been calling her and she has yet to get back to them. I constantly have to reassure the new mother that the consultant will be there as soon as she can, but she sometimes has up to thirty to forty patients to see in one day. I have also seen the lactation consultant breeze in and out of a struggling mother’s room, telling her she is doing just fine when she has been struggling with the infant for hours to try and get the infant to feed. I see the desperation, exhaustion, and frustration on their faces, but I think it is hard for me to understand how they are truly feeling because I have yet to experience these types of problems in my life.
I agree with the articles theme – that breast feeding is constantly being pushed upon women as the only “right way†to feed your baby, yet society doesn’t make the option of breast feeding quite easy on these new and inexperienced mothers. I believe that this stipulation also is pushed not only on first time mothers, but also on any mother who doesn’t breast feed their baby for the “optimum amount of time†usually allocated by their physician. Like the case of Joana, in Infant Agency and Its Implication for Breast Feeding Promotion in Brazil, who was an educated receptionist at the health post, and had a hard time breast feeding her second child. In this article Joana spoke of the fight and struggles she had with her infant daughter, simply because she didn’t breast feed for the designated six months. I feel as if Joana didn’t feel as if she were a “fit†mother because of the struggle she induced with her daughter because she only breast fed for only five months instead of the six months recommended by her physician.
I do believe that breast milk is the most nutritious form of food that you can give your child, but from reading these articles and reflecting on my work in the hospital, I can now understand why some women would rather formula feed their children. Women today have many other responsibilities other than just their children and I can see how stressful and taxing that breast feeding can be on the mother and also to the infant. These articles have opened my eyes and made me more understanding and accepting of the women who chose to bottle feed their infants.
Although this blog is probably better geared towards the HPV/HIV week, I just recently began reading this book called, “The Evolution of Infectious Disease”, for one of my classes and I am finding a direct correlation with the information presented in this book and the research that I am doing for my groups presentation on HPV.
In regards to disease, I think that it is essential to first, look at it critically by taking into account an interesectional analysis of the host and then looking at the host-pathogen relationship, by taking into account whether to treat a symptomatic respsonse versus recognizing its benefit to the host. I think that this class has done an excellent job at challenging methods of healthcare, especially in regards to women and this class that I am also taking, is just another method of looking at healthcare in a critical and all-incompassing way.
Relating this back to HPV, my group has been discussing whether a vaccination is the best method of dealing with this disease and initially it seemed that it was definitely not the best answer. However, I have very different reasons for feeling this way, after reading this book and at the same time, all of my reasons are equally important. In relation to a personal experience, I was speaking with a friend who has diabetes and she was discussing how in a particular reading that we are assigned, the person was drawing a direct correlation between diabetes and increased risks to STD’s. However, in doing so, this author failed to take into account that diabetes itself, can wear down your immune system, which does not necessarily make that person more proned to getting the sexually transmitted disease, but once infected with the disease, makes it harder for that person to fight off the disease.
This is just another example of why it is imperative that people within the healthcare field take into account many different factors when treating a disease and attempting to eliminate an epidemic.
I plan on commenting on breastfeeding, but I just got really excited about this realization that I came to after reading this book and thought I would share my perspective.
Why is it that UNICEF and WHO think they always know whats best for every man, woman, and child in every continent, country, region, city, town and village even though these people are incredibly different. How can they think that they can effectively implement standardized programs to people of varied backgrounds, socioeconomic class, religion, and culture? Sometimes their standards are impossible to live up to and clash with one of these factors. Much like in China, where women are pushed to breast feed by the government under the watchful eye of WHO and UNICEF but who cannot do so because they need to get back to work to support their families. That is just one example of how international health organizations are ill-equiped for dealing with the masses and accounting for different lifestyles. They only think they know what everyone needs. They seem to never ask the people what they actually need.
This situation of an omnipotent group setting standards for and trying to change other groups reminds me much of the Peacecorps and other humanitarian organizations. Usually people from upper classes who try to help others within their nation, or people from one nation who travel to another to help those in need, get lost in their purpose. They are there to help people but don’t actually achieve this. Usually, their downfall is how they define “help.” Many times, they apply their culture or their class’s standards to the living situation of the people they’re trying to help. So the people’s needs are set aside because the Peacecorps person thinks they know what’s best for them. This doesn’t work.
In one example I remember well, a Peacecorps member tried to help women from one village free up more time in their day and ease up their daily physical labor. The women in this village ground by hand beans every day for cooking etc. This would take hours and hours every day and was very exhausting. The Peace Corps member thought that by engineering a system where by riding a stationary bicycle, and through a network of pulleys and grind wheels, the beans could be crushed with much less effort and time. The Peacecorps member was very proud of himself and thought he had helped these women like no one else could. However, he didn’t pick up on the fact that women were not allowed to ride bicycles in that culture so his efforts were for naught. He should have consulted their needs and their culture instead of leaping head first into an idea that he thought was the thing they needed.
Applying this to efforts made by UNICEF and WHO to pressure women from all over the world to breat feed, what makes these organizations think that breast feeding is imperative? Maybe these cultures are doing fine, or as well as they can considering their circumstances and they don’t need any help from them. Maybe the children are more sickly because they don’t have access to clean water and sanitary living conditions. Maybe they have lower IQs because they don’t have access to a school. Why doesn’t WHO look into those matters instead and try to solve those problems rather than focusing on a minor detail that doesn’t increase the living standards significantly for the world population? That’s my question.
Two of the readings really affected me this week. One, called Infant Agency and it’s Implication for Breast-Feeding Promotion in Brazil, discusses how the women of Brazil struggle with the affects of trying to breast feed. It really opened my eyes to see how third-world countries need to deal with things so much harder than Americans do. Brazil’s health and sanitary conditions are not as good as they are here in America. Therefore, when a woman decides to stop breast-feeding in Brazil, their baby is more susceptible to disease than a baby would be here in the United States. What really got me on edge was the fact that the WHO and UNICEF had demands for mothers. Every mother’s routine is going to be different, and different things will work for different people. I can see where the WHO and UNICEF were trying to make an effort to help mothers, however, I do not believe they are looking at the whole picture. Also, reading through the different cases that this reader provides, it is evident that the mothers in Brazil have a lack of communication between health care officials that are supposed to be helping them. Educational programs would work the best to help mothers in Brazil adapt to breast feeding. I do not think that breast-feeding is necessary in the United States, but in countries that have worse conditions, I can see how important it is. However, the best way to help out mothers would be to improve these conditions for mothers and babies so if they do not want to breast feed they will not have horrible results.
The next reading that really caught my eye was a lot different than the Brazil article. The article Sucker: Who is God’s Name said Breast is the Best; really put together everything I believe. Being a nursing major and knowing a lot about health, I do believe that breast feeding is the best way to go, if it is working for the mother and the baby. Breast feeding is especially important in the first milk the mother produces called colostrums because it has a lot of important antibodies that the baby needs to survive. However, besides this first initial milk, if breast feeding is not working for the mother or baby I think that formulas are an alright alternative. Both my brother and I were not breast fed. My brother did not have anything wrong with him, my mom was just older and thought formula would be easier for her. However, a few years later when my mom had me, I had a lot of heart and stomach issues. So, my mother’s doctor actually told her to use formula instead. So all these myths about babies not forming their bodies well, or not being as smart as they can be is completely false is my mind. Also, my roommate one of the smartest people I know was not breast fed, so it just makes you think why are women killing themselves over this? I completely understand why they would want to breast feed but if it is not going to work, you are still a woman, still a mom, and your child will love you no matter what.
I have to admit I have never really thought about the physical difficulties of breastfeeding and the social and economic consequences it creates for a woman choosing it. I have read somewhat about women having had to fight for the flexibility at work to make exclusive breastfeeding a possibility for them, but I never put that in the context of a woman’s and her family’s life, and how it might influence her personal freedom and inform her decisions about breastfeeding in general. The difficulties and pain that Sonya Huber described completely altered my perception of breast-feeding as a natural act that was emotionally satisfying and innate to a mother. I think I had fallen into the trap of thinking of any negatives of breastfeeding as a “mother’s responsibility”, and that the infrequent complaints I’ve heard from women about their difficulties were the exception, or somehow resulted from a lack of dedication. The lack of discussion on the difficulties of breastfeeding does seem to make sense in the context of our culture which sees women’s breasts as purely sexual, and makes any public conversation about them otherwise taboo.
I really liked the perspective brought forth in Wayland’s article on the reasons cited by a group of Brazilian women for early termination of breastfeeding. The article very clearly showed the shortcomings of the emphasis of international agencies on educational programs, and how those programs assume that knowledge of “what is best” is enough to allow individuals to alter their behaviors. The disconnect between the messages from the WHO and other organizations and the actual barriers to continuing breastfeeding for the mothers in the study was enlightening. It illustrated that a “one size fits all” approach was not effective in significantly increasing continuation, which may have been worsened by a lack of cultural understanding and relevance, and an overall lack of knowledge about the issue (the difficulties mothers experience in breastfeeding).
I do still think that breastfeeding should be encouraged, as it is linked to better health outcomes in many ways, but I now am more critical as to a black and white view of breastfeeding being good, and formula being bad. When not considering the effects of breastfeeding on a mother, it’s easy to judge someone for not giving their child the “best chance they have” by using formula. But when looking at the negotiations, as Gottschang brought up, a woman has to make in her life in order to breastfeed, it’s entirely understandable that some women may not have the resources or the support to do so. If breastfeeding in public, which may be necessary for women who are outside the home to any degree, is looked down upon by such a large portion of the population, going against social norms to that extent seems like too much to ask many mothers to do. I cannot imagine being looked at as disgusting for nourishing my child as I was designed to, and that split between looking down on mothers for not breastfeeding and looking down on them for breastfeeding outside of their home or a bathroom creates almost a catch 22.
The first word that came to my mind after reading the “Sucker†article is WOW. First of all, I never realized that breastfeeding can be so painful for women. I have heard that some women find it very uncomfortable, but this article was a reality check for sure. The author described what she was feeling in a truly realistic way and I cringed when I read some of her experiences, such as “prickles of sharp pain when the milk began flowing†and “throbbing breasts.†One notion that the author brought up was that women who do not breast feed their babies “are often subject to a barrage of public judgment from health-conscious strangers,†and I completely agree with this statement. Breast-feeding is ultimately a woman’s choice and I think no one has the right to judge a mother who does not breast feed. Studies have shown the benefits of breast feeding a baby, but a mother who chooses not to do this is not automatically a bad mother. Every woman is in a different situation with her own circumstances so we should not assume the worst of this person because we feel they are not doing the right thing for their baby. We can talk all we want, but until a woman actually breast feeds we really have no idea about what these women must endure during each feeding.
I agree with McLovin’s post when she says that she has been taught that breast milk is the best option for babies, but our society does not acknowledge all the pain women must go through during this process. Growing up I just assumed that breast feeding a baby should be the number one option, but this article makes me think about different perspectives and honestly I’m really not sure what I would do if I was in excruciating pain from a newborn baby killing my nipple. I would probably be frustrated and pissed off. From now on, I have an entirely different outlook on breastfeeding and I with be sympathetic to any woman I encounter who is struggling with this.
I find it upsetting that women are encouraged to breast feed, yet those who choose to do this in public are stared at, looked at as freaks, and scolded. The Social Science and Medicine article talked about the “social disapproval of breast feeding in public, reports of ridicule by friends, lack of support from some health providers, and difficulties associated with working.†In order to make this a more accepted act, we need to raise awareness and teach people about the benefits of breast feeding so people understand that it really isn’t as awkward as it looks. It is unfair to women who want to breast feed but don’t because of the barriers they face while trying to do this. I personally believe that breast feeding is the best way to go when a baby is first born, but sometimes I wonder if the effects of not breast feeding are really even that bad. It is probable that at least one of my good friends was not breast fed, and no one is the wiser. Maybe women who are having troubles with breast feeding should just take a step back and try formula or some other option because it is not worth stressing out and killing our bodies over something that may not even make a difference in the long run.
The reading “Infant Agency and Its Implication for Breast-Feeding Promotion in Brazil†by Coral Wayland, brought up a number of interesting topics concerning breast feeding. One thing to consider when discussing breast feeding internationally is to remember that not all water is clean like in the U.S. In many places like Mexico and Brazil the water is contaminated and contains pathogens which can be quite harmful to those who are not used to them (babies and visitors). So the sterility of breast milk helps to protect the child in the earlier stages of its life, from contaminated foods and water. Mostly these pathogens cause diarrhea, which can cause dehydration and eventual death in an infant. So breast feeding is considered a very important source of sterile water in these countries, thus pushed by public health advocates.
Another topic discussed in this article was mother’s experiences of their infant refusing to breast feed. These women saw their baby’s negative response to nursing as a deliberate choice to stop breast feeding and demand for something else. These encounters of refusal to nurse ended in emotional and physical exhaustion of both mother and child. The author emphasizes how these women believed in their infant’s agency to make feeding decisions. These Brazilian women see breast feeding as a bilateral decision that must be agreed upon by both mother and child. However, in contrast, the medical society sees the decision to breast feed to be made exclusively by the mother, with the infant as a passive agent.
While I have never seen an instance of a child refusing to nurse, and causing such a fuss as discussed in the article, I have seen children who refuse to stop nursing. My sister in law had two children, about one year apart in age. She was still nursing her first child when she had her second child, which she breast fed till the child was six months old. At this time she was really sick of breast feeding, for it had been a year and a half. The older child had grown quite attached to breast feeding and refused to stop. In order for my sister in law to get the kids to stop bugging her about breast feeding, she put band-aids on her nipples and told them that her nipples were broken and no longer worked. A funny, creative idea…but it worked. I felt really bad for her when she stopped because her breasts became engorged with milk, to the point where they were firm and very sore. I imagined the soreness and swelling that occurs in my breasts when I have my period and multiplied that by 10.
In Sonya Huber’s “Suckerâ€, she talks about how her self identity changes while she is lactating. She sees her lactating nipples as the center of her universe, due to the demand of feeding and secluding herself from the outside world. She talks of her self as being “just nipples†at home. In the article about Chinese women’s experiences we also see women seeking to breast feed in private at home and seeing that as restrictive. These women also talk about their lactating bodies and how that affects their identity as good mothers, but also non- sexual beings.
Another thing that was interesting to me in the article about Chinese women’s experiences with breast feeding, was how Traditional Chinese medicine influenced women’s decisions about breast feeding. These included decisions on how long to breast feed for (one month), how women viewed their bodies as weak and depleted, and decisions to supplement their diets to improve the quality of their breast milk. Mostly these Traditional Chinese medicines were recommended by older female family members, showing us how important matriarchal relatives are in younger mothers’ decisions about breast feeding.
I never really thought about breast feeding before – probably because I have not given birth to a child yet. But it really never comes up in mainstream media, movies and television (other than one time in Sex and the City- now that i think of it). Reading the article Low income mothers views on breast feeding it made me think of our discussion last week about our periods and how such a stigma is placed on us to hide it from the world and particularly men. Exposing our breasts is seen as a sexual act but like our menstrual cycle is completely natural and should not be hidden. Like most of the mothers responses that breast fed, they believe that breast feeding provides, not only greater health benefits for themselves and their baby but also an innate connection between mother and child. This is something that shouldnt be mocked or judged. Im the most open person about alot of aspects in my life. I probably shouldnt be as open as i am but i wonder if I would be able to breast feed in public. I can say now that i know i will but will i really be able to overcome such a public stigma…i hope i can.
Another thing.. why if formula is so expensive are low income mothers being recommended to use it? I dont really know why scientifically- cant the milk be stored in the fridge for later use? I thought thats what my mom did when my sister was born. I understand the scheduling thing and that once you start breast feeding you shouldnt stop but i can see how it can conflict with a womans day to day life after pregnancy. But i guess that goes into the discussion of how a woman really isnt free to breast feed because if her day to day schedule involved being in public the case comes again that it isn’t “right” to breast feed in public. America is the land of the free supposedly so women should be able to choose for themselves if they want to breast feed in public and ultimately have the option to choose their level of comfortablity.
Before this week’s readings I did not realize the reality of the physical difficulties that women go through in beginning and continuing to breastfeed. I knew and understood why many women do not breastfeed because they need to work, and how most workplaces do not allow space or time for mothers to pump milk. Also, some women do not have the support or advice from their mothers who grew up when bottle feeding was the health-conscious norm. My own mother told me once how she had tried to breast feed me but stopped because it became so difficult and painful and her family was not supportive; the deciding factor was that she had to go back to work after three months and couldn’t continue.
However like Pomona, I had still thought that mothers whose infants were unable to “latch-on” and continue to breastfeed were simply not dedicated. The article “Sucker” changed my uninformed perspective on breastfeeding. I had known that breast milk is best for infants, however I did not realize that with such a cultural push toward this better alternative there was such little and contradicting information from doctors, nurses, and mothers alike. Sonya Huber’s story illustrated the contradictions of medical professionals’ opinion that “breast is best” in the way she was not given appropriate attention from the hospital’s lactation consultant, and the nurse’s immediate surrender of a prepared bottle of formula. Also the support group she attended seemed to reflect the conventional wisdom of society that women who do not breastfeed or experience difficulty with it, feel angry or depressed, are bad mothers. This is not the support necessary to build breastfeeding awareness and acceptance into our culture. And these are all reasons why women choose to formula feed their infants.
“Low income mothers’ view on breastfeeding” again reiterates American culture’s perception of breastfeeding; its’ best for baby, but in public embarrassing and unaccepted. It demonstrates how society condemns mothers who don’t breastfeed without looking at the factors in their life that might not allow them to; hypocritically society also condemns those that do openly breastfeed. General public distaste of breastfeeding is also the result of women’s bodies being sexualized. I don’t know why something so natural and critical for a newborn infant could be seen as “lewd†or “indecent conduct.†People feel uncomfortable themselves and worry about their children seeing someone breastfeed, when all day they are bombarded with images of nearly naked women everywhere they go.
I have talked about breast feeding with many mothers, even young mothers and have come to realize that each mother makes the decision to breast feed depending on personal experiences and opinions. I have a young friend who had a baby at the age of twenty and decided not to breast feed her son at all. I asked her why she chose not to and she just said that she didn’t want to and didn’t feel comfortable having her son sucking on her nipple. I was kind of surprised because there are other options such as using a pump to get breast milk. I think many times people tend to think that infants only breast feed when they are young but when I worked at a daycare a woman who worked there had a three year-old and still breast fed. Her daughter seemed to love to breast feed and actually seemed attached to it as if it were comforting. I think that is great but I never really thought about how hard it can be for some women to breast feed. In the article, “Infant Agency and its Implication for Breast Feeding Promotion in Brazil,” the woman had such a hard time trying to breast feed their children. I can see how frustrating it can become when you want your child to get the right nutrients to be healthy and it seems like there is no other option but to use formula because the child is refusing breast feeding. I think that often times the educational aspect can place everyone in one group and explaining one “proper” way to breast feed when everyone has different experiences with their children. These women in brazil believed that their infants chose to stop breast feeding and looked at it as a decision that needs to be made between mother and child. Brochures and books tend to focus on the mother and not see the child as being able to refuse and it often makes the mother feel as though she is at fault and that she is doing something wrong. In the article, “Sucker,” the mother had such a hard time breast feeding her child and when she asked for help, people just gave her contradicting ways to feed her child. There were so many different ways that were myths, old-fashioned, and were unhelpful. I think it is crazy that she had to go out of her way to get a lactation consultant. In the article, “Maternal Bodies, Breast-Feeding, and Consumer Desire in Urban China,” I found some of the experiences of the women to be disturbing. I think that social aspects tie into the fact that women choose to stop breast feeding so quickly. One problem is that women are expected and persuaded to breast feed but then when it is done in public or a woman may leak, everyone seems to be in shock. It is natural and should not be such a surprise to people. Its horrible that many of these women wanted to continue to breast feed but they had to go back to work to support their families or did not want to look weak because they had to take time off. I feel that at the young stages of an infant it is very important for the mother to be there. The woman named Cui had a hard time because she worried about being too fat and her husband complained about their sex life. How can he be complaining about that when she is trying to breast feed their child for the better. I just think that every woman has the choice to decide what is best for her and her child and should not be judged about what she chooses to do. My sister who worked at a hospital in the postpartum area, said that many women would not breast feed because the child would refuse the nipple. She said most of the time the women did not know the right technique to latch on to the nipple and were being suffocated by the breast. She said that even women with multiple children had problems with breast feeding but once she was able to help them, they were so thankful and were successful in feeding the child. The problem that most of the women seem to have in the readings is that the children breast feed at first and then refuse the nipple soon after.
The article on infant agency in Brazil seemed interesting due to the fact that their societal ideals are so different from American and European ideals. If a mother allowed for her baby to starve and die in our country they would be faced with murder, but in a country where it is seen as the babies choice to not want to live is so contrary. The whole concept behind why the mothers refuse to nurse or so quickly switch to formula was also confusing but that might be greatly impacted by society’s standards, even though the public health community in Brazil is working to establish the benefits to breast feeding, in hopes that more mothers utilize breast milk. I think the mothers are not being encouraged by their family and peers, and this may be the main reason for them to not breastfeed. It is sad that the places described in China cannot adequately feed the infants. The government and health administration should hold more regulations on the infant formulas that are sold, but yet lack the content a growing infant needs.
I personally grew up, with a mother who asserted me that breast feeding was best for the baby and free, opposed to formula which becomes an expense. My mother has stories of her mother-in-law insisting on formula feeding and introducing solid food before she felt was appropriate. Around the age of twelve I had much experience in the neonatal unit of the hospital, and breast milk was an essential in this department. Mothers who gave birth to premature babies were strongly encouraged to pump milk as much as possible and store what the baby could not consume. I learned about how mothers date and freeze the milk and how they also had access to receive and donate at a milk bank.
I don’t really doubt that breastfeeding is nutritionally the best option for the baby, as well as creating a bond between mother and baby that doesn’t really happen with formula feeding. Also, I imagine feeding your baby with something from your own body would be pretty cool.
All the articles this week, however, did a good job of weakening the argument that breastfeeding exclusively until at least 6 months is THE thing to do for your baby, the thing that makes you a bad mother if you choose not to do it.
I read the “Sucker” article first…wow. I thought the writing was really great and it really illustrated the author’s situation well. It also made me want to take my time before having a baby so that experiences like hers aren’t in my very near future.
Women who are taught to believe all their lives that breastfeeding is “natural” would likely have a conception that if it is natural, it will feel natural and right. However, in many cases that does not seem to be true. Perhaps if breastfeeding were presented as more of a challenge, but one with hugely positive outcomes, women would have an easier time taking it on as a challenge and then sticking to it despite the hardships for the good of their babies; if it is presented as something natural and easy, women who start breastfeeding with no knowledge of the difficult side might be more likely to give up and switch to formula, thinking their experiences are unique and that they are not doing a good job of nursing.
I thought it was interesting that in Brazil and China, women often stopped breastfeeding before medically advised, but for completely different reasons. The points brought up about China’s changing society and economy were fascinating; I hadn’t thought of that aspect of the switch to capitalism before, but it definitely makes sense. Womens’ jobs offering them two half-hour breaks per day to breastfeed seems almost like a tease; unless there is an in-house day care center or a friend or family member can bring the baby to the workplace to be fed, half an hour does not seem like nearly enough time to go home, breastfeed, and then come back. I’m not necessarily blaming the businesses for this because they are businesses that exist to make money and any more than an hour off a day would start to look like part-time…I don’t know what the solution to the catch22 of being a professional versus being a nursing mothers, but it seems to be more suited to socialist/communist societies than capitalist. Women in higher paid, white collar positions with private offices would be in a better situation to breastfeed at work, but that leaves the majority of women still out.
The article about Brazil raised some questions for me; mostly in the arena of getting a little annoyed that women doing something common in their cultural frame is viewed as foolish or bad mothering by American/Western “experts.” Yes, it has been shown that breastfeeding is good for babies. But what actually happens to babies who stop breastfeeding when they appear to no longer want to? I’m not denying that breastfeeding is probably best at all, but these articles kept telling us that an entire generation of people (around our parents’ age) were formula-fed. What happened to them? Are they seeing negative health effects because of not being breastfed?
Breasts are extremely sexualized in our culture. They are seen solely for aesthetic purposes and sexual functions. Breasts are every where, all the time: half exposed breasts on TV, the omnipresent discussion of if celebrity so-and-so got breast implants, etc. But when it comes to breastfeeding, it’s a different story. As discussed in the “Low-income mother’s views on breastfeeding†article, there is a catch-22, or a double bind about it. Breastfeeding is generally regarded as something positive for the child and mother, inasmuch that women who don’t breastfeed for whatever reason (if they believe breastfeeding is the best) feel really guilty about not doing it. But while breastfeeding is perceived to be the “right†or “best†method for feeding babies, there are negative connotations if a woman is to breastfeed in public. Which makes me think that in addition to the social contradiction of: breastfeeding-is-good-but-don’t- do-it-when-there’s-other-people-around, there’s an additional bind of: showing off your boobs is good (i’d go as far to say, women are often encouraged to show them in order to prove their feminine, sexual attractiveness) but if you’re breastfeeding, keep them under wraps, nobody wants to see your boobs being used for purposes other than sexual/aesthetic.
I’ve learned in the past of the importance of breastfeeding one’s child: the sterile milk, the fat content, the passing on of immunity, vitamins, the oxytocin/bond between child and mother. However I’ve never been told how excruciatingly painful it can be ( as seen in “Suckerâ€). I think the promotion of breastfeeding is great. However, I think it’s wrong to not address and warn women of possible negative outcomes. There is no warning to women how people view breastfeeding in public as “grossâ€, or how painful it can be. Promoting breastfeeding without all the facts is akin to marketing a drug that can cause you huge, intense amounts of pain, and saying , “you’ll maybe feel sore.†Also, at first it made no sense to me why lower-income women wouldn’t be breastfeeding, after all, formula is expensive, breast milk is free. Wouldn’t it make more sense of higher income women to be purchasing the formula? But after reading the articles it all makes sense. From the barriers of returning to school/work, having family members care for children, cost of lactation coaches, WIC supplementing formula etc.
When I was around 9 years old I went out for pizza with my best friend at the time, her brother, and her mother who had just had a new baby. I was just sitting there eating pizza and her mom whips out her boob and started to breastfeed. I had no idea what was going on and proceeded to be really awkward about it cause I had just seen my best friend’s mom’s boob. Since then I’ve learned what breastfeeding is, and when i (rarely) encounter a breastfeeding women I don’t freak out and get all awkward. If I ever have a baby, I would want to try breastfeeding. If it doesn’t work out, then it doesn’t work out and I won’t feel guilty about it.
This week I liked the Infant Agency article because it really got me thinking about who I thought played a role in the weaning of a child. Obviously being raised in the U.S., as the article said, I have almost always learned that there is no infant agency and that it is the mothers choice as to when to stop breast feeding. Even when you google weaning and read articles on how to do it you what you are reading is ways for the mother to make the decision and ways for the mother to stop the processes. Very little is said about the child aside from maybe some signs that an older child might start to give when they are ready. This is in contrast to the article which discusses the idea of breastfeeding and weaning in Brazil and how there the women say that the baby has a say in how the process goes. I feel as though it is definately a mixed choice by mother and child but I believe that the mother has a little more say in what happens and the outcome. However, I do agree that it is possible for babies to make their own decision to not breastfeed. It is matter of whether or not the baby knows exactly what they are doing. The article says that women in Brazil do feel that the baby knows what their actions are and how they will affect their lives. For example, one woman said that her infant chose to die because the baby would not breastfeed. This woman did not supplement her baby with anything else when the child wouldnt take to the breast because she felt it was the child’s choice and if the child wanted to live than it would start breastfeeding. I think that if you starve a baby long enough it should start breastfeeding for survival reasons and i don’t know why it wouldn’t but there are some babies who still won’t. If this woman lived in the U.S. and basically starved her baby to death, and that is how it would be seen because there is no infant agency here, then she would have probably been put into jail for killing her child. I can understand the want to breastfeed and the need to breastfeed, especially in a poor country like Brazil where the alternatives are miserable, however I believe that it gets to a point where you have to stop being stubborn and let the baby eat, whethere you are giving the child formula or tea.
I have little experience with breastfeeding since I do not have any children but I have baby-sat for a lot of women who breastfed. These women were able to give their child breast milk for as long as they wanted because they had the luxury of buying a breast pump and being able to pump at work. One woman I know is currently still breastfeeding one of her twin daughters and not the other because she said that one just begain to self wean at about a year old. One of the little girls just lost interest in the situation but the other has not. I think this shows that age depending children have agency and I think it increases as the child gets old (obviously).
I found Sonya Huber’s article, “Sucker” absolutely hysterical and poignant. I think personal narratives like these about the experience of motherhood and breastfeeding is so important especially amongst a sea of psychological and scientific studies where women’s stories and individual experiences become just another number or statistic. Although these studies are crucial to the work regarding the social constructions of motherhood in different settings all over the world, Sonya Huber’s story should be valued as equally important because she incorporates her own story which is littered with physical pain, discomfort and harsh truths that many women just dont want to hear, as well as her experience as a patient–what she was told about breastfeeding by the health care community. Receiving conflicting information from health care professionals can often cause unnecessary stress, as exhibited in Huber’s story. Furthermore, I thought her desire to simply share her experience and her story with other mothers was vital because it illustrates the need to build communities where women can discuss the realities of their situation rather than just reading guides on breastfeeding or listening to a healthcare professional talk about what they have seen, which is the average or most common experience, (naturally ignoring the individual experience). In her attempt to connect with other women, Huber states:
“Words jumped in my throat but I didn’t open my mouth. The other thirty women fussed with their babiespatted backs, reached for diapers, wiped tiny lips. Would nobody, including myself, confess to what I knew I’d experienced at 3 a.m., the question of whether to kill myself or sell the baby? Maybe the room was too crowded, or there were too many little ears. Or maybe we were too scared to admit we were each the bad mother who wanted to run away. Someone raised a question about bottle-feeding, and the moment was gone”
It is unfortunate that none of the other women feel comfortable enough to engage in discussion about their own experiences, because my personal feeling is that this sort of facilitated discussion would be very helpful. It is sad that women cannot feel empowered to talk about their personal stories or even to breast feed in public. The source of this discomfort can be traced to the social constructions and valuations of motherhood. In general, I feel that the discussion of good mom/bad mom with regards to breastfeeding can get ridiculous. Who are you or I or we to judge a woman and what she deems is best for both her and her baby?…especially when there is equal, reciprocated judgement on behalf of all the people who disdain public breastfeeding. On this topic, I liked what Eavsie23 has stated above, because she points out that there are many blatant contradictions in our valuation system regarding women’s bodies:
“Low income mothers’ view on breastfeeding†again reiterates American culture’s perception of breastfeeding; its’ best for baby, but in public embarrassing and unaccepted. It demonstrates how society condemns mothers who don’t breastfeed without looking at the factors in their life that might not allow them to; hypocritically society also condemns those that do openly breastfeed. General public distaste of breastfeeding is also the result of women’s bodies being sexualized. I don’t know why something so natural and critical for a newborn infant could be seen as “lewd†or “indecent conduct.†People feel uncomfortable themselves and worry about their children seeing someone breastfeed, when all day they are bombarded with images of nearly naked women everywhere they go.
I also liked the article entitled, “Infant Agency and Its Implication for Breast-Feeding Promotion in Brazil.” I found what they studied regarding the “bilateral” method of breast-feeding very interesting, especially with regards to the personal case studies of Flavia and Joanna. I have always been told and taught that breast-feeding is literally THE BEST thing you can do for your baby which is a notion that propogates the idea of a mother in control, but reading these case studies made me recognize the infant as a separate entity, who very well could be expressing specific wants and needs that might conflict with what a mother was told to do by a doctor or nurse. I agree with the method of using education about breast feeding and the benefits to try and reverse the decreasing percentages of breast-fed babies in Brazil because education is key and allows the woman to be empowered. However, with regards to the studies done on the benefits of breast-feeding and the intense promotion it is receiving, I have the same question proposed by Floyd, who states:
“Yes, it has been shown that breastfeeding is good for babies. But what actually happens to babies who stop breastfeeding when they appear to no longer want to? I’m not denying that breastfeeding is probably best at all, but these articles kept telling us that an entire generation of people (around our parents’ age) were formula-fed. What happened to them? Are they seeing negative health effects because of not being breastfed?”
There seems to be a gaping hole in the studies done on people who have grown up after not being breast fed, are there serious health risks associated with this population?
Reading the article “Sucker” i too was shocked at the pain breastfeeding can cause a woman. It is not widely known that it can be extremely painful for some women, or at least where I am from it is never mentioned. Most babies are breastfed and that is viewed to be the “normal” method, just something that every mother does and discomfort is never brought up. I remember a few years ago I had actually had a conversation with a group of friends where one of them brought up that she was breastfed as a baby and assumed the rest of us were as well. I had said something along the lines of, how do you know you were? did you jusk ask your mom one random day?. and they all stared at me as if to say, yes and how do you not know if you were? I remember my mother telling me neither me nor my sister were breastfed, but either i do not remember why or she didnt tell me why, im not sure. Maybe it was painful, maybe it was for other reasons. For whatever the reason, i do not care i wasnt breastfed, and neither should anyone else. It was my mothers business and me and my sister turned out perfectly healthy and intelligent. My sister is one of the smartest people i know in fact. And as for the issue of women openly breastfeeding their babies in public, many do find that weird. Myself included. It is every woman’s own option to breastfeed or to not, but it does not have to be done so openly in public. Just as many women have strong views on what is appropriate ways to feed their baby, everyone opinions should be kept to themselves, as well as their choice to breastfeed, jsut not in public.
I never thought that breastfeeding was so complex and held so many issues for women. The first time I realized this was recently when a cousin of mine had her first child and everyone was asking the obvious questions such as how does she sleep etc etc. My mom pulled her aside and they got into a conversation which I could tell my cousin Dawn was taking very seriously. I asked my mom later what they had been talking about and she said breastfeeding. Months before when asked if she was going to Dawn wasn’t sure, she had heard conflicting views on it. She was nervous for her baby and just wanted to make sure she did the best thing and while many people (older women) were pushing the breastfeeding option on her some young mothers that were friends of hers made her feel that maybe an alternative option was better. She was c oncerned with the baby relieing on only her for feeding and not my cousin Mike. She was afraid she would never be able to leave the house. When I heard this I thought she was being selfish and wrong but af ter reading the ar ticles,especially Who in Gods Name said Breast is Best, I feel bad for ever passing judgement.
Breastfeeding is a tough decesion for mothers today. When Huber says that public breastfeeding is looked down upon now I think that women who go about it in a discreet “Hey I am just trying to feed my baby” way is fine. There was an issue with fans at a pro football game being upset with a woman for breastfeeding in the stands and I agree that is wrong. Not only for making people uncomfortable but why are you putting your baby in that situation anyways? All it takes is to go to the bathroom and do it. I understand that to alot of people that is wrong and they feel the woman shouldnt feel inconvienced but that is just not the place to do that. There are rambunctious fans drinks, swearing, spilling, etc.
Like many of my classmates I have never really contemplated the benefits or the struggles related to breast feeding before now. Since I am not yet a mother, and do not plan to become a mother in the near future I have not paid much attention to the topic. I found this weeks readings not only very informative, but also some to be an excellent form of birth control since I am definitely not ready to deal with the struggles associated with breast feeding.
Although I found all the articles to be quite informative, I found “Sucker” to be the most interesting. “Sucker” was the most interesting and the easiest of the articles to read because it was a personal story, rather than just reports of research findings. I was shocked to read that breast feeding is so painful. I realized that it can be uncomfortable, especially once the infant gets older, but I did not realize that it started off painful and that there was so much pain associated with it in general. As I said above it definitely makes me realize that I am not ready to have kids yet.
Before reading this weeks articles I rarely thought about breast feeding. I have friends that have had children that have breast fed their babies until they needed to return to work and then supplemented with formula and food as well. My friends never really complained of the pain from breast feeding but instead felt as if they could not leave the house for long periods of time because the baby needed to be fed. I find it interesting that we try to encourage people to breast feed because it is supposedly best for the child, but in turn make it very difficult for mothers to do so.
Many of the articles recommended breast feeding as the only feeding method until 6 months. Many mothers need to return back to work long before that, and even those that do not feel uncomfortable going out in public and feeding their child because of all of the awkwardness and negativity surrounding breast feeding in public. I think that it is not only important to educate mothers, and mothers to be regarding breast feeding but it is also important to educate the public. I think that educating others about the benefits of breast feeding, and putting the subject more out in the open could help eliminate some of the uncomfortable feelings regarding the subject, and in turn breast feeding as a more “normal†rather than freakish behavior.
The two most important messages that I took from this week’s reading are that 1) Breastfeeding is beneficial to both infant and mother, but every woman has an individual situation which affects her infant-feeding decisions and 2) Though breastfeeding is strongly promoted, a safe and comfortable is not provided for mothers who need to breast-feed in public.
Reading the article entitled “Sucker”, I am not looking forward to breast-feeding if that is the feeding-method I chose. Even though I may choose this method, my baby may not choose the same method. Breastfeeding is different for every single woman and child. For some, it is enjoyable and an easy activity and others it is truly painful and difficult struggle. I strongly believe that breast-feeding is not for everyone and it should not be forced if it is not working comfortably for mother and child. Breast-feeding isn’t always wonderful and dreamy for the mother, even if the infant appears to be enjoying it. My mother had mixed feelings about breast-feeding; because it could be quite uncomfortable and painful for her…even if her infants were oblivious to her pain. It certainly has many benefits…but can be a physical and emotional struggle for the mother. I can imagine though, that breast-feeding is has a certain level of comfort or discomfort for every woman.
In the study in Trifundo, Brazil it made sense that infants often make their own decisions about when and how to feed. Many mothers cited their infants’ “refusal of the breast” as one of their primary reasons why the baby was weaned earlier than the recommended 6 months. I had never really viewed breast-feeding in this light, that to be successful, both the infant and mother must make their own decisions about breast-feeding. I think that it is wonderful that these Brazilian mothers listen to their infants’ reaction and believe that infants know what they desire. It makes me wonder if more breast-feeding attempts in other parts of the world are too forced, and occur when the infant is blatantly refusing the breast.
I think that many people have such a definite mindset that “Breast is best” and they will do whatever possible to breast-feeding for a full six months or longer in many situations. I just have to wonder if we should be listening to the indications of the infant and holding these in higher regard. This different viewpoint of the women from Trifundo illustrates the fact that women who try breastfeeding and cease this form of feeding early along are not “bad mothers” or lazy or not looking out for the needs of their child. These women are simply tuning into the wants of their infant and adjusting accordingly, whether it is water, tea, formula, cow’s milk, or perhaps complementary foods.
Also, I think that the promotion and education about breast-feeding is a well-publicized practice. What we need now are societal changes and accommodations for women that want to breast-feed outside of their private homes. I think that it will be a while before more of the general public is comfortable with a woman feeding in public. Kudos to those women who breast-feed when they need to, because they are taking care of their child and themselves, regardless of the many dirty looks they might receive. It takes a lot of confidence and I personally think it is a wonderful thing to be able to do.
For women that don’t feel comfortable breast-feeding in public, there need to be spaces available in more job settings, stores and businesses, places of worship, hospitals, health care facilities and other locations. I am aware that some places are already deemed “Mother-friendly” or “Baby-friendly” but I don’t think that enough places offer options for mothers to breast-feed discreetly, if they chose to do so. I wanted to note that the Gap at the Holyoke Mall has a room for mothers and young children, which offers a private place to breast-feed with comfortable chairs. I was surprised to see this type of room available, but I think it is a great space to have and more businesses/companies need to follow in the steps of the Gap.
I didnt mean to submit that part of the comment yet..oops! Sorry!
When reading Huber’s article I felt hopeless for her. She had so much information, too much information, but none of it was the right information. Women need to be able to find the answers they need easily.
I am glad that she decided to use the pump at the end because her self struggle was driving her insane!!
“Breast is Best” as stated in the various readings seems to simplify just a bit too far what breastfeeding is… it is a campaign slogan nonetheless. I do personally agree that breastfeeding is the best thing a mother can give to its child, when possible. I have to disagree with PinkGrl6 when she says she doesn’t think breast-feeding is necessary in the US. Yes, in Brazil and other countries where cleanliness is an issue breast-feeding is a wonderful solution, but it is not the only reason why babies should drink it. Each mother makes a different kind of milk, specifically for their child, for what their child needs. It is a wonder/miracle drink.
“Sucker” article allows the reader to begin to question how hard breast-feeding really is, it tried to express a little how important it is, but this is for readers to research more.
These weeks’ reading really made me mentally visualize my self as a mother to be, hopefully in the future. Unless for real health risk reasons such as diseases, or any chemical that i might of been exposed to in my body and that might be danger to the health of the baby; those are the only motives why i would not breast feed. I know as Mcloving mentioned in her response, that she has seen a lot of negative sort of experiences of breast feeding, but the idea is that what today in this world does not have some little negative touch to it. Actually being sexually active, which is the process that gives origin to a baby, has a lot of negatives experiences and risks. One can get an STD at any time, one can get negatively emotionally attached to the wrong person etc. So, i was very surprised to find out that low-income women rather to not breast feed their infants in the article “low-income mothers’ views on breastfeeding”.
I thought that the low-income mothers who suffers from various oppressions, would not want the same thing happeneing to their babies. Actually back in my country, which is a third world country, who have a lot of low-income mothers, they love breast feeding. These mothers would never give their infants no formula, because they beleive breast feeding is one of the most beautiful contact between a mother and the infant. In addtion it is healthy for both the mother and the child. In some cases it could be unhealthy, such as the young mother in the “Globalization and the politics of native breast feeding article”, who was sent to court for contaminating her baby due to her consumption of aclcohol. In those cases i beleive that not breast-feeding your child is okay. Also if you love and care for your child, you would not consume alcohol, when you know it will do harm to the baby. Another case that i would not oppose breast-feeding is in the case if the mother unintentionally have been exposed to a certain chemical that will interfere with the baby’s health and development.
Finally, breast-feeding one of the healthiest way for one child to develop in normal and healthy conditions. No formulas, or other types of food which all or at least the majority contain pestides residues or some other chemicals, will take the place of breast-feeding.
Currently there is a movement on campus to encourage the University to designate breast feeding areas for mothers who are currently breastfeeding and/or pumping their breast milk. As far as I know there is only one “designated†breastfeeding/pumping friendly place on campus in the Whitmore building. Women are encouraging the University to identify multiple areas on campus where women can comfortably and safely feed and/or pump. One might think that an institution of higher education would understand how important it is for children to be breast fed, and in turn how important it is for breastfeeding mothers to have adequate, comfortable and sanitary places to feed their children or pump their breast milk. Unfortunately the University has yet to respond to this need on campus.
Two of this weeks readings, Sucker and Low Income Mothers really got me thinking about this issue of accommodating mothers on campus in a different way. In Sucker, I felt so bad for Sonya Huber. I can only imagine how it feels to be a new mother, being exhausted, dealing with fluctuating hormone levels, being sleep deprived, the immense pressure and responsibility for this brand new person, feeling inadequate in the ability to care for and feed your child. Sonya Huber talks about having to get out of the house if even for a few hours and her feelings of alienation around other mothers because she feels she can’t be honest about what she is experiencing for fear they might think she is a bad mother. Women already are under immense pressure as mothers, I truly believe that they are trying to do what they believe is best for their children. This is repeatedly demonstrated by Sonya, the women in China and in Brazil and among low income mothers in the U.S. All of these readings provide pictures of women trying to balance what they believe is best for their children amidst all the other social, cultural, familial and economic demands placed on them.
As demonstrated time and time again in the readings over the course of this semester, women are being judged on a certain behavior, in this case feeding their children. They are pressured to do certain things, such as breast feed their children, and they are often judged on the decisions they make, by society, by each other and by themselves. Yet the discussion does not include the whole picture. In the United States, we can judge women who decide to give their children formula over breast milk, but we are not necessarily passing those same judgments on to the systems that make that choice the best option for the mother: Jobs that don’t provide adequate maternity benefits, workplaces that are not friendly to breastfeeding mothers, marketing campaigns, lack of good education, lack of social support, social norms around modesty and the many other responsibilities that fall on women and mothers. Neither the government nor most employers make it possible for most families to have one stay at home parent due to economics. These same entities provide inadequate maternity leaving forcing mothers to return to work in a short period of time, and generally long before their child is one year old, which is the recommended time for children to be fed by breast milk exclusively and often workplaces are not breast feeding mother friendly.
The UMASS campus is a microcosm of this situation. There are mothers on campus who, for whatever reason are not fulltime stay-at-home moms. If they have chosen to breast feed their children and need to either breast feed on campus or pump and store their breast milk, they will have a very difficult time doing so on campus. It is embarrassing to me that at a University with graduate programs in nutrition, nursing and public health as well as a large health center does not provide adequate space to accommodate these mothers. It is a great example of what women may be up against in society and perhaps partly why formula feeding is so prevalent.