Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, July 28, 1993 TAG: 9307280113
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Lynn Coyle
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
There's a lot of ignorance out there about breastfeeding, and I used to be one of the most ignorant. Then I got pregnant again.
Twenty-three years earlier I had tried to nurse my oldest son. There had been no breastfeeding classes, no lactation consultants, no La Leche League. Just my mother-in-law, standing over a 17-year-old mom, saying, "You probably won't be able to breastfeed. I couldn't breastfeed. You probably won't have enough milk. I didn't have enough milk."
After a few days, I gave up; when my other son was born, I didn't even try. I've always regretted it. So when I got pregnant with Sarah, I wasn't going to try to breastfeed, I was going to breastfeed.
I bought "The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding" and took the hospital's breastfeeding class. My obstetrician assured me that I could produce enough milk for twins. When Sarah was born, I was ready.
I loved the closeness we felt when we snuggled and nursed. I loved the ease of not having to worry about fixing bottles in the middle of the night or storing them safely on long trips. In the event of a disaster like the flooding in the Midwest, I wouldn't have to worry about finding food for my baby or clean water to mix formula. And I was convinced that Sarah was much healthier than her brothers had been, because of the special immunities provided by breast milk.
When my neighbor looked at my toddler and again asked when I was going to quit nursing, I was ready for her. I had read that the Surgeon General recommended nursing for at least a year, preferably two. Surely that would end her questions. It didn't. I was sad when, almost 20 months old, Sarah decided to quit nursing.
When I find something that works for me, I can be really overbearing about passing it on. I did such a number on one young mom that when she gave up nursing after several weeks, she thought I was mad at her. She was wrong - but I was frustrated with her husband, who never supported her efforts. "She needs some of that high-test," he would say, referring to formula. How many women would fight that attitude forever?
And I was appalled by the ignorance of my friend's pediatrician. Although he had urged her to breastfeed, when she said she didn't have enough milk he agreed she should supplement with formula. Every pediatrician should know that lactation works on supply and demand. Supplementing only decreased her milk.
Instead, my friend needed to be taught ways to increase her milk supply. If a pediatrician can't do that, he should refer her to La Leche League or a lactation consultant. Come to think of it, he should refer her to La Leche anyway, if only for the support - too rare in our culture, but so crucial.
I was lucky that my husband, Mike, never gave me anything but support for nursing - even when I abandoned him to sleep in Sarah's room those first few weeks - and that my first pediatrician was so knowledgeable and supportive. I needed only one visit from Vicki Honer, a lactation consultant and God's gift to nursing mothers. Honer once said, "Every drop of milk is gold . . . liquid gold." If the milk is gold, then the encouragement of family and friends is silver.
I have to admit, at first the idea of a "walk for breastfeeding" sounded a little silly to me. But then I started thinking - if there's even a chance it could help another baby get a few more drops of that liquid gold, I'd walk a mile. Sarah will be with me, of course. She'll be be the one with the hot-pink stroller. And Daddy, supportive as ever, has agreed to walk with us.
Sunday's World Walk for Breastfeeding will begin at 10:30 a.m. in the parking lot of Fishburn Park. Participants may walk to show support, with or without sponsorship. Advance registration is not required. A free children's festival, hosted by the Southwest Regional Breastfeeding Task Force, will be from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the park. For more information, call 989-9821.
Lynn Coyle is an editorial assistant and a correspondent for this newspaper.
by CNB