I'm about to reveal my true nerdy nature, but remember how Yoda told Luke that "There is no try."? I don't think that pertains to everything, but it certainly does in the realm of breastfeeding. A mammal's body is designed for nursing its offspring. Unless you have something seriously wrong (like no breasts), you can breastfeed your baby. Saying that you'll try is like saying you'll try being pregnant or try breathing. It's natural.
That doesn't mean that you won't need to practice or that you are a failure if you need help. Chimpanzees and gorillas in zoos who were not raised by their mothers or in the company of other mothers do not know how to nurse their own babies. I've seen footage of a new gorilla mommy putting the back of her baby's head to her nipple! The zookeepers had to take the baby away and bottle feed it. When she was pregnant for the second time, the zookeepers decided that the only way the mother would know how to nurse her new baby was if she observed other mothers breastfeeding. One of the keeper's wife was nursing their infant. The human mother would sit on a chair in front of the gorilla's indoor area and breastfeed without her shirt on so that the ape mom could see what she was doing. I'm not sure how many sessions it took, but the gorilla successfully nursed her second baby.
In an awesome book written by an anthropologist (Our Babies, Ourselves by Meredith Small), she talks about "Insufficient Milk Syndrome." It turns out that even though doctors in our society use that term all the time, it is not actually real. Women across the world who live in countries where formula is not readily available never report this problem. We in the West have created a "syndrome" to ease mothers' guilt over not breastfeeding. Does that mean that women never produce too little milk? No, but the reasons western women sometimes have low milk production is created by the way they are told to care for their new babies.
Modern western mothers are told that these things are choices, that you can breastfeed on a schedule or "on demand" a term that makes you sound like you're spoiling your baby from day one. Nature, on the other hand, does not give us a choice. Breastfeeding is a supply and demand system. Due to the nutritional makeup of breastmilk, babies need to nurse often, especially in the beginning. They aren't getting too little if they want to eat every 1-2 hours! If your doctor has told you that they should be eating every 3-4, then you will assume that your milk isn't good enough. If it was, why would your baby want to eat more often than the doctor (or baby book author) said that they should? What is the brilliant medical solution to this problem? Instead of admitting that the baby needs to nurse more often than is popularly dictated, the doctor will tell the new mom to supplement with formula. Genius! Formula is not the same thing as breastmilk. It takes longer to digest (because it is unnatural for a baby's body to digest anything other than breastmilk in the beginning). The baby won't be hungry as often. What a relief! Of course, the baby will also not nurse as often because it is full of lab created formula, so your breasts will be called upon less often. Remember in a supply and demand system, if you don't demand, then there will be no supply. As their milk supply diminishes, the mothers begin giving more and more formula. They feel that their suspicions about their insufficient milk were correct and eventually stop nursing altogether. If they had ignored the incorrect information about how often newborns need to nurse, they would have never lost their supply. The baby would grow and slowly begin to space out its feedings. Try telling that to a mom whose doctor has "diagnosed" her with this syndrome, though. Denial is a powerful thing...This is only one example of how lack of knowledge can lead to breastfeeding failure.
There are many products out there that claim to be crucial to breastfeeding. All you actually need are breasts and the confidence to do what's natural and normal for your baby (and yourself). I think that the more products that are marketed to breastfeeding mothers,though, the better off we'll be! One of the reasons formula feeding is so popular is because it is a BIG business. They make billions of dollars off of misinformation and ignorance. If companies realized that they could make money off of breastfeeding, then it would become more popular. It would be featured in tv shows, movies, commercials, etc. There are plenty of these products that are actually useful when you are nursing a baby, and here are some of my favorites:
- A breastfeeding pillow (I've always used a Boppy, but that's because I was given one as a gift). A newborn is tiny, so being able to sit back on the couch and nurse without having to hunch over the baby is a backsaver. If you're comfortable, you will be able to relax.
- A nursing bra (I like the ones at Target and Wal-mart over the one I tried from Motherhood Maternity). These are especially useful for nursing in public because you can access your breast with one hand, which is both discreet and fast if you have a howling infant in your lap.
- Nursing pads (if you can keep up with the laundry, buy the cotton, washable kind at your local discount store). Milk is sugary, so you probably don't want it leaking all over your clothes. Plus, walking around the mall with two large wet patches on your chest won't put you in a great mood!
- Nursing tops (Motherhood Maternity has great inexpensive stuff both online and in their stores) I've always been pretty modest, so feeling covered up while nursing in public was important to me. I often wear a tank top with a button down shirt (open), but sometimes, I want to wear only one shirt at a time. I've purchased plenty of shirts that no one would even know were for nursing that worked perfectly.
I'll go into the connection between co-sleeping and successful breastfeeding next time. There are lots of shiny new products to promote that too!
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