Breastfeeding

Breastfeeding is not easy and it might not be for everyone. We hear that is it natural and we have been told that our entire lives as women it is, but what I have learned it is not. It is work, but very rewarding work. We have these expectations as women that our baby should just latch on, but that is not always the case. Yes, babies have the sucking reflects which develops while in the uterus, but that does not mean it will happen for you.

What I learned from classes and research is that most our mothers (baby boomers generation) did not breast feed. The fad at the time was formula feeding was the best thing for your baby and not breastfeeding. Women were discouraged by their doctors to breast feed.

According to study conducted by the University of Florida in February 2010, breastfeeding was common in the early 20th century but was increasingly abandoned with the emergence of infant formula, which companies aggressively marketed by providing free samples to new mothers through their doctors and hospitals. The share of American mothers initiating the practice of breastfeeding dropped to an all-time low of about 20 percent in the early 1970s before jumping to a high of 70 percent in 1982 .

Therefore, anyone who did breastfeed for any amount of time was an anomaly and the knowledge that is usually passed down from generation-to- generation about breastfeeding was lost. If you ask your mother’s most will not be able to provide advice and might even discourage you because it not what they did.

My belief is in order to successfully breastfeed, you need to be self confident in your decision, educate yourself, have a great support system and not be too hard on yourself.