My View on Breastfeeding

I was just reading this post about breastfeeding (or rather, not breastfeeding) on Marriage Confessions and it made me sad.

The author explains her reasons for not breastfeeding, which are: 1. she is very modest and found the idea icky; 2. she wanted her child to sleep as long as possible, since she had to work; 3. it would be hard for her to pump while working, though not impossible; and 4. she wanted her husband to bond with the baby equally. I can understand these reasons, and certainly don't want to condemn anyone who does not breastfeed.

But I find it very sad that she is not breastfeeding all the same. First of all, breastfeeding is much better for the health of both mother and baby. For the baby, it reduces their risk of a large number of health problems (including asthma, obesity, leukemia, diabetes, and various infections); raises their IQ as much as 10 points (which is a lot in the world of IQ: the difference between normal and gifted, for example); and is easier for babies to digest, meaning that they have fewer stomach and digestive problems. For mothers, it prevents postpartum hemorrhage and helps the uterus return to its previous size; helps them lose weight (burns 500 calories/day); and reduces women's risk of heart attacks, rheumatoid arthritis, and osteoporosis. It also delays the return of periods and fertility: having children less than 18 months apart is worse for the health of both mother and baby (correlated with higher risk of miscarriages, premature birth, etc.). Interestingly, the author of the blog post has two children who are only about a year apart, perhaps partly as a result of her decision.

Secondly, as someone who has been breastfeeding exclusively for the last 3.5 months, I think it has tremendous psychological benefits for the mother. When you breastfeed, hormones are released which make you calm, sleepy, and give a sense of bonding (the same hormones are released when you are in love). Based on my own experience, breastfeeding really does have a profound psychological impact on me, and I think has helped me bond with my daughter. When she was first born, I loved her, but she also seemed like a strange little alien. Breastfeeding helped me feel as if we were a unit and connected in a special way. It also does calm me down (important because parenting can be stressful), and makes it easier to fall asleep at night. Breastfeeding women generally have lower blood pressure and respond less to stress than non-breastfeeding mothers, so I don't think this is just me. Breastfeeding may also offer a protective effect against the otherwise significant negative effects of sleep deprivation (and breastfeeding mothers report feeling less fatigued on average).

I am not sure about the psychological impact of breastfeeding on my daughter. But she definitely prefers breastfeeding over a bottle, and seems to find breastfeeding much more relaxing and soothing. When she eats from a bottle, she enjoys it; but breastfeeding seems to make her so happy and calm. Whether this is from the close contact (which of course you can do with bottle feeding, but in my experience people do not usually do) or something else, I don't know, but it seems sad to deprive your child of that experience of perfect pleasure and rest.

Of course, it also is more convenient (since you don't have to prepare anything) and cheaper (no formula to buy). The cheapness of breastfeeding is probably one reason why it tends to be discouraged, since then no formula company is making money. Even though I always planned to breastfeed, I still received formula samples in the mail: the power of the capitalist machine!

I know that many people say they had a lot of difficulty in breastfeeding, so gave it up. For me, while it was somewhat painful at first (and when little R had reflux, frustrating as well), it came pretty naturally and I didn't have any real problems. I know some people have special health concerns (breast reduction, medications, etc.) which make breastfeeding impossible or very difficult, but I do wonder about why so many people say it was a horrible experience for them.

Until very recently there was no other way for babies to eat, and if the mother couldn't breastfeed, then the baby would frequently die (over time if not immediately). We are all descended from people who could breastfeed successfully, often for several years. Even today, in many countries virtually all women breastfeed their babies (true even in wealthy countries where formula could easily be afforded). If breastfeeding was intrinsically so difficult, I don't believe this would be the case.

I think that the difficulty people have with breastfeeding is primarily due to a cultural environment which is fundamentally not very supportive of breastfeeding. As a result, they feel conflicted about doing it (like the blogger above) since it seems unpalatable; get bad medical advice which discourages breastfeeding (like people who are told to supplement their milk to help with jaundice); and live in circumstances which make it hard to breastfeed, like having to go back to work after 6 weeks (also like the blogger above). While there is a lot of lip service paid to breastfeeding, in reality it embarrasses people and makes them uncomfortable (I have experienced this myself many times, even though I am very modest). It is also inconvenient, not to the mother, but to others: her employer, people surrounding her (who would have to see breastfeeding), perhaps her husband.

I think it's really sad that something so fundamental to the health of mothers and babies is treated as an optional extra. It's also sad that there is so little societal support for mothers and babies, so that mothers aren't even able to feed their children in the best way possible. I think that the fact that only 70% of US women even start breastfeeding, and that only a third are still doing it at 4-6 months, is a sign that our society is broken.