“Apparently the hospitals are designated ‘baby-friendly’ only if they promote exclusive-breastfeeding.”
LifeZette: New mothers need to ignore the ‘lactivists’ — especially if they might have postpartum depression.
It may be difficult for many to understand, but the pressure to nurse a baby today can be extremely overwhelming to a new mother.
In two related stories, nursing is even suggested as a contributing factor to the suicides of two young moms. On the outside, these moms had everything to live for, while on the inside they were struggling terribly — and must have felt completely alone.
New dad Kim Chen of British Columbia, Canada, penned a personal and moving Facebook post on Jan. 17 detailing his wife’s experience with postpartum depression, which led to her suicide. As Chen explained, his wife, Florence Leung, went missing on Oct. 25, 2016. Her body was discovered off the coast of Vancouver three weeks later.
The breast feeding Nazis are another offshoot of the larger Feminazi movement. I had 3 daughters who struggled against this bullshit.
Yeah, they worked their way into my sister’s head about it, too. They actually called and nagged her through texts/ calls throughout the week. Finally, she had enough and told them to kiss her ass and stop bothering her. She nursed and pumped it out until she was ready to stop about 3 months later and that’s the end of that. lol
The most natural thing to do is breastfeed. It should be taught and encouraged since breast milk is the most natural of all for a child. My wife breast fed all of our children. She lost weight, the kids thrived, we saved money and never did we worry about expired formula or a recall on her boobs. Besides they looked great (added bonus). I think it should be encouraged and taught but I understand it’s not for everyone. Their are options but it should be the first choice if possible. My experience is that postpartum depression can happen if you breastfeed or not.
You are naive, and only a man would mention “They looked great.” It certainly does not even work for everyone, so we don’t need a man adding to the guilt trip. You tell me how it feels when you bleed so badly your baby throws up what little they got down.
Comment on things you understand.
Call me naive but I never said it worked for everyone, however it has worked for millennia before formula. Is it not the most natural thing? Should it not be encouraged? I don’t agree with guilting anyone to do anything. I am aware and sorry some have difficulties and I stated there are options and I am glad there are options. And yes I am a man and I don’t apologize for adding levity to my statement. I thought they looked great and much to my chagrin so did many others including my wife.
When I was born, my mother was unable to breast feed (she said the milk wasn’t “strong” enough according to her doctor). The “formula” she fed me and my brother was evaporated milk (from a can) and a tablespoon or two or Karo syrup – the “formula” was a mixture of “2 tablespoons of Karo syrup to a pint of evaporated milk” (or a similar ratio – the ratio was the “formula” for mixing it).
There was no “store bought” formula to buy like there is today that has nutrients added in specific amounts. We both turned out fine and suffered no ill effects from it from infancy to adulthood as far as anyone knows. Many of the children I grew up with were fed this way as well and they appeared to grow up just fine.
It sounds like the “health care” system really is trying to convince new mothers that only breast feeding will do to keep a newborn healthy when many years of experience with millions of mothers proves that there are viable options available that work just fine if breastfeeding isn’t a viable option. Mot unlike a lot of medical advice these days, this seems like a situation of the advice doing as much (or more) harm as good.
I don’t recall any stories throughout history of women committing suicide because of breastfeeding. In fact before pumps, bottles and rubber nipples were invented, it was about the only way to feed an infant. Those few women who did have trouble breastfeeding would find wet-nurses. And Sue, just because you have a vagina does not mean that you are the last word on understanding the female body. Truth be told, most women know less about their own bodies than men do, so please check your female privledge
Sorry, Sue, but your comment added unnecessary hostility to the conversation. First of all, after Petrus’s initial comments, he added a disclaimer–“I understand it’s not for everyone.” And what makes you think he doesn’t understand anything about breastfeeding? Because he is a man? I could be wrong, and am only bringing his gender up because you did. Moreover, you are wrong about how only a man would say “They looked great.” I nursed my son and I did indeed lose baby weight, which gave me a bit of a glow because I was getting a little extra energy from shedding the unwanted poundage. I was washed out toward the end of my pregnancy, felt dumpy and sluggish. Losing weight with nursing and exercise helped me look and feel better.
I lack patience with people who lash out at others for something they never said, and for this whole jump on men’s case thing going around these days. I get that you may not agree with me about the “they looked great thing,” and that’s fine–but don’t ascribe it to some nonexistent sexism.
As for breastfeeding itself, I have a similar opinion as Petrus–there are a lot of good reasons to do it and I’ll support women who want to do it. However, I’ll also support women who don’t want to, and this article brings up another reason not to be pushy about it.
JMV, there probably *aren’t* many stories of women through history committing suicide because of breastfeeding, probably because for most of history it was the only option, with either the new mom or, as you say, a wet nurse. Also, mental health issues were both misunderstood and shamed, so people didn’t really talk about them.
I’m inclined to believe it’s more the pushiness to nurse, followed by inability (if mom is tense, stressed, etc. it’s not uncommon that her body just won’t produce the milk), which then adds to whatever might be going on with post-partum depression. Also, it is probably in many cases the proverbial straw, rather than the main cause.
These are just musings, I don’t know much about post-partum depression.
There are some valid reasons for not breastfeeding after the initial colostrum (ABO incompatibility for one, can cause issues — I had that become an issue for 2 of my 5 to the point that no breastfeeding allowed, it aggravated their jaundice). These folks do not care; they will hound and bedevil you — to the point of even refusing to bring a bottle after you (and your former labor/delivery head mom AND the doctors) have explained why no breastfeeding. Crazy wankers! They can really drive a person batty at a delicate and stressful time. I’ve seen it and witnessed it.
And sometimes a mom who is having a hard go of it needs a time out to regroup (and the baby needs some food because it’s frantic — frantic, hungry babies don’t settle down to nurse well). Being stressed certainly doesn’t help the mother or the infant!
And from what I’ve seen of the Lechezis, they are more about getting everyone to bow down to their cult than actually helping the mother and child.[a sister in law was encouraged to keep breastfeeding by her doctor who was a Lechenut even after she was diagnosed as septic with mastitis…and the idiot went along with it because “breastmilk is healthiest” until both she and her child were both sharing the same infection that had gotten into her bloodstream…yeah, a 103 degree fever is just so good for a week old baby!]
In the “old days” that a lot of people are so gung ho for that would mean a wet nurse stepped in, somebody used an adequate substitute (Mom used the old condensed milk and Karo trick before formulas came out — before that Great grandma used to go looking for somebody with a nanny goat and molasses back in the real old days before access to a doctor — happened quite a bit and nobody batted an eye at it — the baby getting fed was the important thing), or the baby could die…let’s hear it for modern medicine and baby formula; it’s probably saved a lot of kids!
Yes, by all means breastfeed…but a lot of people have fallen in love with the one tree and could care less about the forest if you ask me.
A lot of it seems to be so much virtue-signaling.
One thing I’ll agree on with Sue is about the bleeding and infected nipples. It does pass to the baby (infection of the pallet. Forget the name. ) Holy cow y’all. lol.
People I know have gone through it and at one point, my friend thought her nipple was going to separate from her breast and it was so painful. She breastfed only from one side and after a couple of weeks she gave up. My sister went through something similar. Less drastic, but still.
It’s great when you can breastfeed and it should be encouraged, but I’m not about to nag somebody through texts, emails, filling out charts. Charts that had to be turned in like you were doing some breast milk contest for prizes, you guys.
I’m with Petra.
My wife breastfed all three kids, and it was totally beneficial and all up-side. Luckily, my wife was producing an excess of milk, and she donated some of it, as some infants have a medical need for it. Breast milk freezes well and stores for up to six months. She too lost weight, and the kids were literally never sick until they started school. And yes, she looked GREAT, too! (Sorry, Sue… just a normal red-blooded man, here!)
Sadly, the “fors” and “againsts” are killing a lot of the even-handed, grow-up discussion that should take place.
“You are naive, and only a man would mention “They looked great.” It certainly does not even work for everyone, so we don’t need a man adding to the guilt trip. You tell me how it feels when you bleed so badly your baby throws up what little they got down.
Comment on things you understand.”
Oh silly little Sue! You don’t understand that you do not need to be a woman in order to understand and comment on feminine issues. All you have to do is just say you are of the correct gender and everyone will acknowledge your authority on said issue. Don’t you remember that Oblamey said that men can now use the ladies room if they say they are women inside of themselves? I guess you want to keep you double standard and eat it as well.
Mom fed me with a sling shot, and I turned out just fine.
“You are naive, and only a man would mention “They looked great.”
Ya know, post-partum ain’t exactly sexy, so anything helps get through that with the hubby! It was the only time in my life I ever even HAD breasts. I breastfed for 6 years, cumulative, and hated most of it, truth be told. Was very, very jealous of women who could just hand the baby off with the bottle – and I probably would have, but that wasn’t the path that was chosen for me. Just do WHATEVER WORKS best for you and yours, and NEVER pass judgement on anyone else or tell them what to do, because they are probably doing their best as well. There, problem solved.
Its true, we should have mercy on each other and not shove. Titties are best, but some titties just don’t cooperate.
OMG! Liberal shaming going on.
My mom had three kids. All were bottle fed. We turned out OK.
I had two kids. Both were bottle fed.
Both turned out OK.
When my daughter had a baby in 2015, the hospital shamed her because she wasn’t able to produce breast milk. That sent her into a depression.
Thankfully, she recovered and the grandson is awesome!
When did all this “lactivism” begin?! My son was a premie, born 23 yrs ago. I tried to breastfeed, but my little guy wasn’t strong enough, so I tried pumping and it worked for a little while. The NICU nurses were so supportive and never made me feel bad about it. The pumping really ‘sucked’ after a while! Painful!!
My wife shared both bottle and natural. If anybody would have given
her drama about it, I mighta just punched them,
but I’m simple like that.
“When did all this “lactivism” begin?!” Well, I know it was starting over 40 years ago with the La Leche League (no joke). My ex-wife bought in to their BS, and breast-fed my son, but he wasn’t getting enough nutrition and nearly starved before we realized what was happening and got him on formula. everything turned out ok, but after that the rest of the kids were supplemented with formula.
The article is really about the lactation consultants that swoop in on new mothers after giving birth. They are aggressive, self aggrandizing and persistent to the point of annoyance. It’s like the are recruiting for a cult.
My wife had some trouble with breast feeding our first, it was terribly painful and only by using the “cadillac pump” (the most expensive one) and bottles was she able to get through it.
Conversely we knew some people at the same time who had a 2.5 year old boy who was still drinking at the tap. Because it’s “natural.”