My beautiful friend Amy sent me this article and I've been stewing over it for the past few days. Surprising I found myself a little torn about what the author said. On one hand, part of me screamed "AGGG! How can you attack breastfeeding!!! What are you thinking-- you can't ban breast pumps!" and then other side of me realized that she did have a bit of a point. First of all, I don't agree with her that the US has taken "breast is best" too far, in fact I don't think we have taken it far enough. There are still a lot of women who don't realize the benefits of breastfeeding and who don't see it is a normal, natural thing for a woman to do. And there a lots of women who don't breastfeed or who don't continue breastfeeding because they don't have the right support or help. Yet, I do think that the author had a point in saying that women who choose to use formula don't need to be given guilt trips or made to feel like bad mothers. Women have a right to do what is best for them and for their babies, without being judged or scolded for it. I don't like it when people judge or scold me for my choice to have a home birth, and I think a woman has a right to make whatever decisions she feels is right without having to defend it.
Yet with that said, I think that the real issue behind this whole "ban the breast pump" notion is that we don't have a culture that honors or supports mothers. In most other developed countries it is required by law that women get at least 6 moths PAID maternity leave and most countries also have a law that fathers can take the same amount of time off from work (unpaid) without jeopardizing their position. I believe Sweden even gives working women a WHOLE year PAID maternity leave. Compare this to the US which only mandates that women receive 3 months UNPAID maternity leave. Also, most of the other developed countries provide free childcare for working parents and some even have programs that encourage mothers to take their children to work with them.
Just think about how these changes would affect women's experience of breastfeeding-- not to mention their attitudes towards motherhood. I don't think that it is breast pumps that are the culprits, but it is the fact that the US does very little to support or encourage women who chose to become mothers. It is really sad that mothers in the US have so few rights, and I really think it is time that women demanded them. Instead of complaining about how miserable it is to pump breastmilk at work, I think that this author would have spent her time better addressing the real underlying problem-- that women need to be supported by their employers, by their communities and by their government in their decision to have children and continue working-- especially when they have to work out of economic necessity.
I find it SO ironic that 50 years ago it was the rich women who fed their children formula and the poor ones who breastfed. Today it is just the opposite, it is the rich women who breastfeed their children and the poor who feed their children formula. This is mainly because the poor women have no choice but to return to work or their families starve, and often times have jobs in which it would COMPLETELY unpractical to pump at work. Can you imagine having to pump your breastmilk if you worked at Burger King?! I worked for WIC (the Government food program for Women, Infants and Children) for 2 years and in that time I realized that there are some children who would literally starve if it wasn't for the government provided formula, either because their mothers have to return to work or because their mothers don't have enough support to breastfeed. Yet it kind of disturbs me that the WIC program distributes almost half of the infant formula consumed in the United States-- making the US government the main purchaser of formula in country. I just can't help but wonder-- why we don't take all that money going towards formula and channel it towards providing mothers with government polices that would support them and give them more time with their children? We are already spending the money, we might as well use it towards doing what is best for mothers and for children. In my opinion it is every woman's right to have the opportunity, and support she needs, to breastfeed. If she chooses not to then-- that is her decision, but I think that at least women have the right to be educated about their bodies and to be given a real choice in how they feed their children.
4 comments:
AMEN!!!!! I agree with every bit of that! At least the US gives tax breaks for families with children. That's something. I am grateful that I live in a country that supports families, even if it doesn't always support mothers.
You have hit on a topic that is very near and dear to me. Having been a working mother (albeit only for 9 weeks) I was SO glad to be able to pump. Of course, to me nursing was INCREDIBLY important. But I have felt bad for all the women who don't have a sanitary place to pump, or their work doesn't allow them a 20 minute break every 3-4 hours to pump. AND, FMLA states that only certain companies (with more than 1200 employees) HAVE to offer maternity leave, also if you have worked less than a year with that company, they don't have to let you take leave.) Anyway, a lot of work needs to be done.
Sorry, I just have to add that I read the article that "Ban the Breastpump" references. You should read it. Here is a quote:
"The debate about breast-feeding takes place without any reference to its actual context in women’s lives. Breast-feeding exclusively is not like taking a prenatal vitamin. It is a serious time commitment that pretty much guarantees that you will not work in any meaningful way. Let’s say a baby feeds seven times a day and then a couple more times at night. That’s nine times for about a half hour each, which adds up to more than half of a working day, every day, for at least six months. This is why, when people say that breast-feeding is “free,” I want to hit them with a two-by-four. It’s only free if a woman’s time is worth nothing."
Kind of gets under my skin and makes me feel like she's saying women who enjoy breastfeeding are slaves to their babies. Breastfeeding "pretty much guarantees you will not work in any meaningful way."? How sad is that?!!
I agree with you. I don't think the problem is the breast pump, but the support around us. My breast pump was the only way I was able to get breast milk to my baby until she was four months old. While in the NICU they gave her bottles to moniture how much milk she was getting. From then on out she hated nursing but wanted breast milk in a bottle. It was my saving grace.
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