9/10/2023 0 Comments Tree of life breastfeeding![]() I really appreciate that my kid comes to nurse for comfort, to regroup, as a pick-me-up or expression of love, rather than for a meal. No one should feel shame about their feeding choices-everyone should make decisions that suit their body and family. Yet, by the time breastfeeding moves beyond necessity, beyond engorgement, spraying milk everywhere and soaking clothes, you’re urged to quit. It can feel good in your head, in your body. It has been linked to a reduction in breast and ovarian cancer, and thanks to the oxytocin hit you get when you do it, you may experience a reduction in postpartum depression, stress, and anxiety. Still, we do know that breastfeeding’s rewards for mom–at least for the period that’s been the focus of research–are manifold and significant. The bulk of research devoted to understanding breastfeeding is on the nutritive benefits during the first six months to the first year of an infant’s life.While bodies like the WHO recommend breastfeeding babies for up to two years or beyond, we know practically nothing about breastfeeding beyond year one because we don’t study it. But so what if it is? It’s curious that when the act tips from benefiting babies to benefiting mothers, the censure flares. A pediatrician and an obstetrician separately told me that breastfeeding beyond six months is “just for the mom.” It’s almost certainly not. Beyond its purpose to supply a product that can be extracted in private, fed to your kid by anyone. Calling it “extended” makes it an oddity-past what is expected, normal, or reasonable. It’s taboo to practice extended breastfeed (i.e., to breastfeed full-on kids). ![]() Any modicum of breastfeeding tolerance is for infants doing it, “breast is best” and all. Babies need near constant access to their mothers’ bodies and uninterrupted time to figure out feeding, all but impossible in a country that sends a quarter of moms back to work two weeks after birth, denies postpartum support and paid leave, and assaults women’s autonomy. ![]() ![]() Breastfeeding is necessary and magical, yet American society stymies it from go. ![]()
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