[Raven67]

I visited a young neighbor of mine who is pregnant. I took a bag of old goodies like nursing bras, breast pads, lanisoh cream, books, and talked to her for an hour about breastfeeding. She went from saying, "Yeah, I'm thinking I'll TRY to breastfeed," to "yeah, I'm gonna breastfeed my baby, and if I have any problems, I know how to get help." She was so psyched to get information and support. She said I am the first person she has talked to who was positive about BF....She is the last of her young friends to have a baby, and they all have horror stories about their "attempts" to breastfeed. Most of the stories are about women giving up in 2-3 days because they "didn't have any milk," or "it hurt." We really need some lactation education in high school health classes. This woman, aged 21, didn't even understand that it is totally normal for it to take 2-5 days for your milk to come in. Ugh! We've got to do better than this! Girls need to be educated about breastfeeding, just as much as they need sex education. But, I am so psyched that she is psyched for it, and says she is committed.

 

[lauraess]

That is so great! What a wonderful job you did, helping her out. It is sad that there is so much negativity out there. and you are right that bfing education should be taught in school, They want to teach all about sex, right ?so why not teach the very thing one would need in consequence to having sex???
gotta say this, you reminded me>>> I was in the parking lot the other day while in the van and noticed a woman pregnant walking near the van, so i beeped so she might look and see my bumper sticker that says " babies have the right to breastfeed, just do it" lol
Laura

 

[MamaAllNatural]

That's great news! You make such an excellent point. High school should involve full education about breastfeeding. Imagine how great it would be if every kid who graduated high school knew all the benefits of breastfeeding and what it takes to succeed. That would be wonderful.

 

[JaneS]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MamaAllNatural That's great news! You make such an excellent point. High school should involve full education about breastfeeding. Imagine how great it would be if every kid who graduated high school knew all the benefits of breastfeeding and what it takes to succeed. That would be wonderful.

That WOULD be wonderful.
What a great idea. I would do a "guest lecture"!
I will think about this...

 

[nitemarehippygirl]

how great of you to do this. i am still ttc, but i have asked people i knew about breastfeeding, and have gotten some resistance as well. people seem like they couldn't understand why i would WANT to do that, like it's wierd.

 

[be11ydancer]

Way to go on your positive support for this young mom. Now if only people like you could give support to every young mom like you gave her, the formula companies would go out of business! Good job Raven.

 

[ChristaN]

There should also be some bf education in nursing schools (at least a lot more than there is!). One of my friends had a nurse in the hospital tell her that her baby was starving b/c her milk hadn't come in hours after delivering & that the baby would die if she didn't start supplementing with formula. This is a wonderful hospital that is usually considered bf friendly (I used to work there, although not in labor & delivery), but they still suck about helping new moms bf.

Women who deliver in most hospitals have to fight to keep the staff from undermining their bf. The hospital staff should be undermining formula feeding, not bf.

 

[rareimer]

that's awesome!

you are so right...something as important as this really should be taught in school. if they learn about sex and reproduction, well it just makes sense!