to breastfeed or nah?

When I found out I was pregnant with my first child, I immediately began thinking about all of the things in terms of how my husband and I would care for him. We discussed some parenting style stuff during our premarital counseling, but it didn’t go into depth on all the small details. Suddenly, when I find myself in new circumstances, I find myself doing ALL the research, so I can make my best educated decisions. The interesting thing is, I don’t think I researched anything about breastfeeding prior to me declaring to myself that I was going to breastfeed my son. I made up mind without any fact checks, and then told my husband. His response, cool, I support you.

My mom told me stories of her labors and caring for her children. She said because she had my first brother when she was so young, her mom took her to the doctor to give her something to dry up her milk supply, so she could go back to school afterwards. My mom doesn’t know what it was, but it was the 1960’s, so we can only imagine. She also stated that whatever it was, worked too well, because when she had my other brother and myself, later on, she was unable to produce milk, and therefore we had to be formula fed, even though she wanted to breastfeed us.

Once I made up mind about breastfeeding, knowing my mom couldn’t help me with questions because she didn’t breastfeed, I sought out a breastfeeding education course. I took it at the hospital where I was going to deliver. The class lasted about two hours and covered an array of topics. I left the class feeling somewhat educated. And then I had my baby, 11 weeks early, and the one constant I kept hearing was, you have to pump and feed him your breastmilk, it’s his medicine! Because, it was an emergent situation, I ended up having a cesarean, and d/t the surgery, that delayed the influx of milk on my part. I also was not cleared medically to leave the prenatal side of the ward for a couple days. Lactation apparently only gets triggered to see you, if you’re on the postpartum side. So even though I knew I needed to be pumping, it wasn’t the first thing on my mind (with a baby in the NICU, that I haven’t seen since he was delivered), and no one else was initiating this with me as well.

So, I was a little late with collecting colostrum for my baby. They did ask if we wanted to accept donor milk for him, while I worked on developing my supply. I am so grateful for the angels who donate their milk for those who need it! Once Lactation did see me, They helped me set up the breast pump that was delivered to bedside, gave me a form to fill out and keep track of all my pumping sessions, and told me to pump every 2-3 hours. With me telling myself I was going to breastfeed, and everyone telling me my milk would be my son’s medicine, I treated pumping like it was a job. Every 2-3 hours, I pumped for 30 mins, from the time I woke up, till the time I went to bed. I figured I was going to bed pretty late (midnight-ish), and waking up at a decent hour (around 7 am), so this should be sufficient. One day, while in the NICU, lactation came to see me, and asked me how things were going. I filled her in, and she told me, no, you have to pump every 2-3 hours around the clock! So now, I’m setting an alarm to wake me up, because I don’t have a baby nearby to do it for me.

Pumping was terrible, but I was determined. I was also extremely relieved when we started working on getting my baby to latch, so he could feed directly from the tap. The amount of stress that fell off my shoulders with this transition was palpable, and after some trial and error, we found our groove. Now, I have lived experience, and I realized that what I learned in that prenatal breastfeeding class, was NOT enough. So, I enrolled in a Lactation Educator course, where I had the privilege of learning from a World renown IBCLC.

Its August, which means it is National Breastfeeding Month AND during the last week of the month, it is Black Breastfeeding Week! As a Certified Lactation Education Counselor, and someone who is really passionate about breastfeeding, this excites me and I want to spend this blog, discussing some important highlights on breastfeeding.

The World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF (United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund) both recommend exclusively breastfeeding for the first 6 months of life, and then complimentary with food until 12 months, and then continuing for a minimum of 2 years or beyond. The global breastfeeding weaning age is between 3-5 years old, with some cultures going until 7 years old. If you look at different cultures and countries, you see different values and policies that either support or hinder breastfeeding. Norway has a breastfeeding rate of 99%, as they have policies that ensure paid parental leave of 46- 56 weeks, and they pay women to donate milk to banks. Where in the UK, women think that only poor people breastfeed, so they think that formula is better, and therefore breastfeeding rates in the UK are among the lowest in Europe.

Which brings me to the US. I’ve discussed this before, but it warrants bringing it up again, because it is a part of our history, and thus the culture that we find ourselves in today. Prior to the development of formula, breastfeeding is how people fed their babies. In the 40s, there was campaign to promote baby food, so they started telling women that babies could begin eating food (instead of breastfeeding only) at 4 months of age. At 4 months, a baby can’t chew and digest food, but if you blend it up, they can drink it down! Baby’s digestive systems are not yet developed to process food, but if you convince women that what their body is producing for their baby is not sufficient and they need more, especially if they have the means to pay for it, “why wouldn’t I spend my hard earned money on the baby that I love”?

The same thing with formula, only the formula companies took it a step further, and claimed that they researched breast milk, and that breast milk only contains 20 grams of calories per feed. Then they created formula to mimic this breakdown of breastmilk, not taking into account that breastmilk composition changes throughout the day. In the morning, you have more water content and volume of milk, in the evening/ at night, you have less volume, but more caloric count. Also, breastmilk composition changes over the lifespan of your baby, from colostrum in the first few days, to more mature milk, to milk that is still nutritious, but may have less caloric content because baby is older at this point, and eating food. This older version of breast milk is still full of antibodies and good things for your baby’s gut specifically. But the formula companies, want you think that what they make in a lab is better, and they have the money to market and target mothers.

Babies go through growth spurts, which requires them to cluster feed. Cluster feeding can be hard on the lactating person, as baby is attached to the boob for a majority of the day, because demand and supply is how breast milk works. You create the demand, and the glands, will make more milk. Where as supply and demand will eventually lead to a decrease in supply because of inhibitor pathways. If the increased supply just hangs around in the ducts, not getting pulled out, then they will stop making milk, because they think there isn’t a need for it. But when you actively pump or feed throughout the day/ night, that sends a message that you need to make more milk consistently. So, when baby is going through a growth spurt and they nurse frequently to signal the boob to make more milk, mom is tired, and maybe thinking they are starving their baby, because “why all of a sudden is my baby nursing ALL THE TIME”? So, when you sign up for the mailing list at the baby store when you’re pregnant, those stores give that information to the formula companies, and you magically get a free sample of formula at 2 weeks, when your baby is going through their first growth spurt, and you might receive another magical free sample of formula at 2 months. If you haven’t been educated on these growth spurts, and you’re tired, and you don’t have the support to get you through, you may be tempted to start on formula. And now you’re hooked, and you end up breastfeeding less, which decreases the demand on your own supply, which then decreases your supply, which ultimately leads to you having to stop, because you’re “not making enough”.

Now, don’t think I’m trying to shame anyone for feeding formula to their baby. I was a formula baby. Formula has it’s place for people who need it. Whether there is a condition that prevents you from breastfeeding, or your mental sanity is being affected by it, or whatever. But I can’t pretend like formula and breastmilk are the same. There are benefits associated with breastfeeding. The first being, your breastmilk is made specifically for your baby, so it’s most easily digested by your baby. Your body makes antibodies based on the environments you spend time in, and then gives those antibodies to your baby. Breastfeeding your baby helps reduce your risk of developing breast cancer, AND if you’re breastfeeding a daughter, you reduce the risk that your daughter will develop breast cancer. Breastfed babies can have a lower risk of asthma, obesity, type 1 and 2 diabetes, ear infections, stomach bugs, eczema, childhood leukemia, and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).

So, if you are pregnant and considering breast feeding, I strongly suggest you take a breastfeeding class. A good one, that goes into the depths of breastfeeding and how to be successful with it. I strongly suggest determining who is going to be a part of your support system. Breastfeeding can be convenient once you get into your rhythm, but that doesn’t mean that it’s not hard. Having support, someone around who supports your goal, will take you further. Are you returning to work? Figure out the laws in your area and talk to HR to ensure you have adequate pumping space and accommodations? Is your baby going to a daycare? Ensure they know how to pace-bottle feed and make sure they don’t waste your liquid gold or overfeed your baby by treating it like formula. At the end of the day, I think breastfeeding is beautiful. I just weaned my 3 year-old a few months ago, and I miss it sometimes. So cherish those moments you have with your baby.