World Breastfeeding Awareness Week runs every year from August 1st through August 7th. The purpose of the week is to encourage breastfeeding and improve the health of babies around the world. Many celebrate by latch on events, nurse-in events, and sharing their breastfeeding stories on Facebook.
I’ve seen some question the need for a week like this. Some feel that this demonizes moms who do not breastfeed. They say that a healthy baby is a baby that is full, regardless of how they are fed. I don’t disagree with this. There are moms who struggle with nursing, who maybe can’t breastfeed. There are moms who successfully breastfed previous children, but are struggling with their current baby. There are moms who adopted who are not able.
But here is why this week is so important-
The more awareness we bring to breastfeeding, the more help we can bring to moms who are struggling. The higher likelihood we will have of helping moms who need it. When breastfeeding is not a taboo subject, something to be shoved away in a bathroom stall or in the car, we are able to talk about the issues we are having. We are able to relate to others, to find out what worked for them, and to find companionship through the hardships.
To those who question if we still need a week for breastfeeding awareness, I share a post I wrote earlier this year…
“If you nurse your babies it will help you lose weight.”
This was one of the many falsehoods or half-truths I was told when I was pregnant with Little Mister. I, in fact, am one of the women whose metabolisms comes to a complete halt when I am exclusively nursing my babies.
And that’s ok! Because I’m just so happy I have the ability to nurse my babies. There was a time when I was told I might not be able to. There was a time when Little Mister was a newborn when we struggled and my supply was low. There was a time when I cried myself to sleep thinking I had failed.
I hadn’t failed, and mamas who choose not to nurse for whatever reason have also not failed. I’ve chosen to continue to nurse my babies. I nursed Little Mister, my supply luckily coming back and his health issues resolving, and I nurse Little Miss.
This morning I had a comment on the photo of me nursing Little Miss at the aquarium. The commenter said I looked like a whale and belonged in an aquarium. It was the first time a troll had commented on something of mine. I’d be lying if I said I just brushed it off.
Rather, my husband walked in to me in tears, blubbering and pointing at my phone. And like the supportive husband he is, he immediately took my phone and deleted the comment stating, “If they don’t have anything nice to say, they don’t deserve to see your things.”
If the troll thought I needed someone to point out how I look, they were wrong. If they thought I would be embarrassed about nursing my daughter, they were wrong. If they thought it would make me stop posting about my journey through parenthood, my nursing journey, or trying to normalize breastfeeding, they were so very wrong.
No, nursing my babies didn’t help me lose weight. Nursing my babies gave me a connection. Nursing my babies gave me a purpose that I cling to in times when I struggle. Nursing my babies gave them nourishment in their bellies and gave me nourishment in my heart.
If you are nursing your baby and self conscious of that whispering from a stranger, know that I’m standing with you in how you feed your baby and I know that it’s not always easy.
If you are pumping for your baby and stuck in a closet as your “pumping room,” know that I’m standing with you in how you feed your baby and I know that it’s not easy.
If you are formula feeding your baby and feel like a failure or anything else, know that I’m standing with you in how you feed your baby and I know that is not easy.
There are people out there willing to say terrible things to women nursing their babies. There are people who sneer when they see a mom breastfeeding. Breastfeeding, something that should be natural, is still frowned upon in so many places.
A woman should never be afraid to feed their baby. They should never be worried about judgment or concerned about what someone might say to them.
If we are to take this week seriously, we need to understand that this week is meant to celebrate women, no matter how they feed their babies. It is meant to highlight that breastfeeding, though natural, is not easy. It is meant to encourage women to talk about it without judgment of others or their choices on how they feed their babies. It is meant to give women the confidence to do something that is difficult, sometimes painful, but ultimately beneficial. This week is meant to bring something into the spotlight that is still hidden away in so many places.
That being said…Shark Week was also this past week and weekend. Anyone nursed a toddler recently? Shark Week and Breastfeeding Awareness week at the same time is very apropos.