Part 3

The Ultimate Breastfeeding Book of Answers: The Most Comprehensive Problem-Solving Guide to Breastfeeding from the Foremost Expert in North America
by Jack Newman, M.D., Teresa Pitman

(Page 3 of 3)

Myth: Breastfeeding is too diYcult and time-consuming for today's mother.

Fact: Breastfeeding is convenient, easy once you get the hang of it, and an enjoyable experience for most women.

The topic of the first meeting in the standard La Leche League series of four meetings is Advantages of Breastfeeding. (Yes, they should probably change it to Risks of Artificial Feeding if they want to discuss the medical issues.) Often the leader of the group invites each mother to share the reason she thinks breastfeeding is important or valuable, and the discussion then flows around the room.

Some mothers talk about how breastfeeding reduces allergies or ear infections. Some talk about the studies they've seen reported on how breastfed babies who are in day care stay healthier because of the extra antibodies, so the mothers will have to miss less work. Some might mention they hope to reduce their own risk of breast cancer.

But they're the minority. Most mothers talk about the emotional side of breastfeeding and how it makes mothering a baby, toddler, or young child easier and more enjoyable.

They like the convenience: the milk is always ready, always at the right temperature. It takes just a second to lift up a shirt or undo a button and oVer the breast to the baby. They find breastfeeding easy when they're traveling to places where it might be hard to store formula at the right temperature or find a place to heat it. They love being able to just roll over in bed and feed the baby when he fusses with hunger in the night. And they appreciate not having to spend time preparing or cleaning bottles, because it means extra time with the baby.

Mothers often say it takes them a few weeks to really understand that breastfeeding is more than just another way of getting food into the baby. At first, they are focused on the mechanics of getting the baby to latch on properly and figuring out how much he is eating. But once those techniques are mastered, some of the other important aspects of breastfeeding become apparent.

Breastfeeding is a great comfort to a baby who has been hurt or scared or upset for some other reason. It soothes a baby who has to be given a vaccination, and calms a baby who has been startled by a dog suddenly barking, or is stressed by being separated from his mother. It reminds the baby of being in the womb: "Ah, yes, there's that familiar heartbeat, and that voice I've always heard, and that familiar smell, and I'm warm and comfortable," and makes the transition to the outside world a little easier.

Breastfeeding is a good thing for new mothers, too. Mothers at the meetings talk about how breastfeeding forces them to slow down in a busy world and spend time with their babies. You can't prop up a breast and leave the baby to eat while you finish washing the dishes. Breastfeeding guarantees that you and baby will be skin to skin, relaxing together, several times a day. And those restful feeding times can be helpful in recovering from pregnancy and birth.

They love the smell of the breastfed baby-that clean smell that doesn't come from any soap or talcum powder. Even the baby's bowel movements don't smell unpleasant-they give oV that faint yeasty odor that warns you right before it all runs out of the diaper and down the baby's leg.

They talk about how breastfeeding tunes them in to their baby's signals. Mothers tell stories about how they couldn't consciously recognize their baby's crying, but their breasts did, and started to leak milk at the sound of his voice. They talk about how often they wake up just a minute or so before the baby does. Some tell stories about how they knew their baby was ill because of a small change in the way he suckled or behaved at the breast.

Mothers talk about how they learned, through the ongoing experience of breastfeeding, to understand the baby's sometimes subtle cues. One mother was nursing her baby while chatting with a public health nurse. At some point during the conversation, the mother moved the baby to the other breast. The nurse stopped what she was saying and asked, "Why did you change breasts?" The mother, surprised, said, "He was finished that side, and he wanted the other one." The nurse insisted that she hadn't seen any signals from the baby. But the mother had felt the baby preparing to let go of the nipple, and without even thinking about it, moved the baby to oVer the other breast. These kinds of interaction become unconscious after a while. Experienced nursing mothers can tend to other children, prepare meals, talk with friends and still be aware of the baby's suckling so that they know when to adjust the baby's latch, when to change breasts, and when the feeding is over and the baby wants to be moved to another position.

They will talk about the sheer pleasure of being skin to skin with their baby, and of seeing him drift oV to sleep at the breast with a trickle of milk running down his chin. As the baby gets older, and breastfeeding doesn't take all the baby's energy and concentration, he'll begin to play at the breast, letting go to smile up at Mom, patting Mom's cheek or investigating her dental work, making happy noises as he nurses. These are all part of the joy of parenting.

"Taking a little one to nurse, watching him grow to manhood, that's what love is." -Carol Shields, The Stone Diaries

Mothers who work outside the home talk about how much they appreciate that bond. It's hard to leave your baby in someone else's care, but being able to put the baby to the breast when you get home at the end of the day can re-establish the connection, and be relaxing for both mother and baby. These mothers like having something special between them and their babies-something the babysitter can't do.

These experiences are diYcult to measure in a scientific way, but they are very real to mothers, and they are important considerations in deciding whether to breastfeed or bottle-feed.

Yes, It's Worth Solving the Problems

Twenty years ago, almost any diYculty encountered by a breastfeeding mother had a single solution: wean the baby. Sore nipples? Stop nursing. Breast infection? Wean immediately. Baby isn't gaining weight well? Quit nursing. This probably seemed pretty easy and straightforward to the doctor giving out the advice, but it was often devastating to the mother who really wanted to breastfeed.

If the baby was premature or smaller than average in size, even if born full term, the mother was usually advised not to even try breastfeeding, because suckling would be too hard for the baby, and breastmilk wouldn't have enough calories to help him gain weight. If a baby was bigger than average, mothers were often told that their breastmilk wouldn't be enough to sustain him, and that giving formula would be better. If either baby or mother had any health issues, breastfeeding would be stopped.

Now mothers are more likely to be aware of the benefits and importance of breastfeeding, but may still have diYculty getting the help they need to make breastfeeding work.

Copyright © 2006 by Jack Newman, M.D.

About the Author

Jack Newman, M.D., the leading researcher in the field of breastfeeding, is a popular speaker at breastfeeding conferences across North America. A father of three, he lives in Toronto.

Teresa Pitman is the author or coauthor of nine other books on parenting. She is a mother of four and lives in Ontario.