I work outside the home and have a nanny who is just like a family member. She is a young woman with one child that was not breastfed. She recently had another baby, and I was involved throughout her pregnancy and was even present for the birth.
My nanny got no encouragement from her family to breastfeed the new baby and frankly regarded it as "creepy". Her mother even went so far as to say that if she wanted to breastfeed her baby that she couldn't do it inside her house.
Early in her pregnancy I started talking to her about the importance of breastfeeding to both the mother and child. I encouraged without pushing. She had diabetes before the pregnancy, and it got worse during her pregnancy. She learned that breastfeeding could help control her diabetes and reduce the risk of Type II Diabetes in her baby.
Given my encouragement and this additional information, she agreed to try it for me (her words). Her baby was born last Saturday morning after a difficult, yet unmedicated, labor. (I lent her my copy of The Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth, but that's a different thread). I had to leave the hospital to get home to my own baby and was concerned that I would not be present to ensure she had access to a lactation consultant and to make sure she got the opportunity to breastfeed as soon as possible.
My friend did try breastfeeding and agreed that it was sweet and not creepy. When the hospital staff pressured her to give her baby formula because he had lost weight (only 9% of his birth weight), she stood her ground and told them it was her choice and that her baby was to receive nothing but breast milk.
This is a woman who had absolutely no desire to breast feed her baby. She is now so sold on it that she refused formula despite the hospital staff ensuring her that it is best for her baby. I know that she would have never breastfed her baby if it weren't for me. I learned a lot about how to encourage without pressuring. This reinforces my instinct not to give up hope on any woman to breastfeed. I just wanted to share my experience with others whose goal is to promote breastfeeding.
My nanny got no encouragement from her family to breastfeed the new baby and frankly regarded it as "creepy". Her mother even went so far as to say that if she wanted to breastfeed her baby that she couldn't do it inside her house.
Early in her pregnancy I started talking to her about the importance of breastfeeding to both the mother and child. I encouraged without pushing. She had diabetes before the pregnancy, and it got worse during her pregnancy. She learned that breastfeeding could help control her diabetes and reduce the risk of Type II Diabetes in her baby.
Given my encouragement and this additional information, she agreed to try it for me (her words). Her baby was born last Saturday morning after a difficult, yet unmedicated, labor. (I lent her my copy of The Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth, but that's a different thread). I had to leave the hospital to get home to my own baby and was concerned that I would not be present to ensure she had access to a lactation consultant and to make sure she got the opportunity to breastfeed as soon as possible.
My friend did try breastfeeding and agreed that it was sweet and not creepy. When the hospital staff pressured her to give her baby formula because he had lost weight (only 9% of his birth weight), she stood her ground and told them it was her choice and that her baby was to receive nothing but breast milk.
This is a woman who had absolutely no desire to breast feed her baby. She is now so sold on it that she refused formula despite the hospital staff ensuring her that it is best for her baby. I know that she would have never breastfed her baby if it weren't for me. I learned a lot about how to encourage without pressuring. This reinforces my instinct not to give up hope on any woman to breastfeed. I just wanted to share my experience with others whose goal is to promote breastfeeding.
Well done!
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