Breat Feeding Debate
Dear Doctor,
I am about to have my first child. I do not want to breast feed. I am busy and a professional with a schedule which would make it tough for me.
My problem is my friends and family who all believe breast feeding is like a religion. If I don’t do it, I am not a real mother. Is there anything wrong with me and will this harm my child.
Other Milk
Dear Milk,
My gender may, in the minds of some, disqualify me from answering your question.
But here goes. To my knowledge there is no clear pattern regarding psychological harm occasioned by not breast feeding.
It seems to me that the main benefit is a special time of bonding between mother and child. The synergy of giving and receiving stimulation and milk is rather a direct enterprise, possibly beneficial to both. However, nutrition is nutrition.
Apparently there are some arguments for breast feeding, and these grow out of some data on health, immune systems etc. I am not qualified to address that issue. I am qualified to tell you that your friends and relatives should mind there own business. How you nurture your child is up to you. You will spend meaningful and caring time with this baby.
That may be much more meaningful than rushing home to breast feed or using the pump to leave nourishment for a timely feeding. There are many people, expert and not so expert, who know better than you how you should be prepared to take care of your child. Self sufficiency and confidence will grow as you really become a mother.
Motherhood and breast feeding are not necessarily one and the same. Good luck.
Tags: breast feeding, breast feeding debate, motherhood and breast feeding
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