I breastfed Young C for just over 18 months and I am currently enjoying breastfeeding L’il I as well. My mother breastfed all four of us and I have always assumed that was the only way to go. (To this day I’m not quite sure if I know what I’m doing when feeding a baby from a bottle.) I have offered up tips and encouragement to new mothers struggling with latch or milk supply problems and I firmly believe that a successful breastfeeding relationship makes for a happy baby and happy mom.
Why then, when I started to read Hanna Rosin’s “The Case Against Breastfeeding” in this month’s Atlantic, did I feel a giddy kind of glee? Is it just my instinctively contrarian nature? The anticipation of an intelligent argument against the Holy Grail of motherhood being published by a prominent American magazine? Yes, that was undoubtedly a big factor. But there was more to it, too. I’d become a bit disillusioned with the pro-breastfeeding overkill that is dominant in cities like Toronto. There are mothers I know who can’t hold their babies for several hours a week because they are hooked up to elaborate milking machines. These women are so determined to do the right and “best” thing for their babies that they set their alarm to wake them up every three hours so they can pump and keep up their milk supply and then feed their babies defrosted breast milk from a bottle. There are mothers who feel incredible depths of shame and failure at resorting to formula when breastfeeding doesn’t work for them. Hell, I even felt personally responsible for Young C’s bout of newborn jaundice because he wouldn’t latch for one day and then my milk came in late. I had to feed him formula for a whole two days while my milk came in and was made to suffer the special kind of nipple trauma that only a hospital grade pump set to high can bestow. The hospital policy was if you supplement, you pump. No matter that he was feeding at the breast before I gave him the formula and that pumping would diminish the amount of colostrum he got. Women are made to feel like physically inferior mothers when they aren’t able to breastfeed. As one mom put it, “No wonder I have such a hard time conceiving; I can’t even feed my own babies.” Never mind the social stigma attached to choosing formula over breastfeeding. Surely the only people buying formula can’t be those who are unable to breastfeed for at least a few months? But I’ve haven’t met anyone else recently — or at least not anyone who admits to it.
Rosin’s article argues that the benefits of breastfeeding have been greatly exaggerated and distorted. The elixer-like claim to prevention that spans from ear infections to diabetes is tenuous at best. It is impossible for studies to fully control for the sociological factors associated with breastfeeding. Factors like education, class and race can have a great impact on the likelihood of contracting any number of diseases and, of course, on IQ scores. Yes, breast milk is better for babies than formula. But not as much as you think.
This comes on the heels of a New Yorker article that came out last month. In “Baby Food: If breast is best, why are women bottling their milk?”, Jill Lepore casts a critical eye at the state of breastfeeding in America. In a country where mothers are assured a whopping 12 weeks of unpaid maternity leave — compared to 50 weeks of parental leave at 55% of your income in Canada — the breastfeeding dialogue largely revolves around pumping. A baby-friendly company is one with a pumping room in which breastfeeding mothers can express themselves. Lepore argues that there is much more to breastfeeding than the milk itself and laments the medicalization of the breastfeeding relationship. I tend to agree; breastfeeding is about so much more than simply feeding my baby. It is about continuing a physical relationship and having a subconscious and instinctive response to her needs. It demands that I take the time to hold her and nurture her in the most physical way possible, no matter how busy I might be. It regulates my moods and is a constant source of comfort and security for my baby.
Taken together, the two articles suggest that it might be time for women to put down the pumps and breathe a sigh of relief. If you can’t breastfeed, that is too bad, but formula is almost just as good. Of course, if you want or need to be away from your baby, then the breast pump can no longer assuage your guilt. (But did it ever, really?) We still want to have it all: careers and babies and home-baked goodies. But however you slice it there are choices to be made and it would be nice to have all the right information. As Rosin says, “If the researchers just want us to lick and groom our pups, why don’t they say so? We can find our own way to do that.”
Still reeling from Rosin’s accessory argument that breastfeeding makes mom the de facto go-to for all things baby-related, daddytypes.com’s post, Shapely Science-Distorting Lactivists Annoy Pump-Hating, Stressed-Out, Guilt-Ridden, Haranguing Shrew, jumps right into the name-calling with both feet. Methinks he’s missing the point. How the science is presented and how it makes mothers feel is what determines whether or not they spend countless hours hooked up to milking machines. And it is what will fuel a push toward maternity legislation in keeping with the rest of the developed world.
(Image courtesy of The Patent Prospector.)
11 replies on “Breast Case Scenario”
There is so much that I want to say in response to this post… but my emotions are so caught up in this that I cannot articulate my thoughts.
I am a mother of 2 boys who are very healthy and happy, despite being formula fed. With my first born, he was tounge-tied. No one told me – not the breast police, the pediatricians, or lactation consultants – that this would seriously impede his ability to latch. Histounge was not released (until much later) and as a result he could not feed. At 4.5 months I made the best decision for him: we switched to formula. The change in him was almost immediate. We have never looked back, and I did not feel any guilt or shame over this.
With number 2, things were different again. Initially his latch was great, he ate well and gained well. But around 6 weeks things started to go awry. And when he only gained 4 oz in a month, I knew breastfeeding wasn't working. At the time, I didn't know why and I tortured myself. "Breast is best, breast is best, breast is best…" kept repeating in my head over and over again… that slogan was even imbedded in my bottles! Needless to say, I have since switched bottles. And it has come to light that #2 is lactose intolerant, which explains why breastfeeding didn't work this time either.
Will I try again if there's a #3? Of course. The expense of formula ($32 a can and about a can a week – yikes!) and the inconvenience of it all are both excellent reasons for me, not to mention knowing that I can do all the things a Mother should be able to do.
Thanks for a more balanced perspective.
Although I nursed both of my kids (until they bit me), I have always been vaguely annoyed by the idea that I am supposedly not as smart and/or healthy as I should be because I was exclusively formula-fed (the dr prescribed approach in 1972). A little perspective is always a good thing.
We parent in public. What made me giddy about this article was that the author pointed out one of the many many ways we are judged in public and how awful that judgment feels (of course, she did go on to liken pumping to milking a cow and now I can't get a frigging letdown). I may be judged for giving my kid a time out, for not giving her a time out. For giving her a lollipop, for not allowing her one. For giving him a BPA laced bottle or whipping out a size 38 G boob on the airplane. Now, I know this sounds kind of lame considering my last jealousy tinged post, but really, can't we all assume that that other parent over there, is doing their best? That they make choices that are best for their family and life situation? I think Breast is Best for our family and the time I put in pumping is valuable sleep time banked in lovely little milky bottles. Whatever way you choose to feed your kid, more power to you, and let me be supportive of that.
I think the issue of public judgement tackled in this post comes up almost daily in our life. A new study on children's health, a call-in radio show about baby sleeping habits, daycare report cards… every little thing becomes a source of guilt. A lot of the information ends up stressing us to the point where we become worse parents.
In regards to the formula vs. breastmilk debate, there's one thing that makes me angry. I don't understand how there can be such discrepancies in the information new moms are given. My impressions are mainly based on the experience of friends and family members, but it seems that lactation support in some hospitals can be pretty ill-informed. I have heard all sort of formulas: 15 minutes on each breast, every 4 hours… etc. I know a few people who didn't breasfeed because they couldn't figure out why this didn't work in their case. There should be no shame in choosing to bottlefeed, but it makes me furious that moms who could nurse – and want to- do not because of lack of basic information and support from qualified nurses/lactation consultants/midwives.
You make a good point, Sylvie. The lactation "support" as it's called is pretty much anything but supportive. They are agressive people, pushing an agenda that many of them don't even support and therefore they themselves are not able to provide the support many new mom's need.
I had a friend who recently had a baby. And she and her newborn were sent home from the hospital without ever having their latch checked. When she got home and had been there for about 12 hours, with baby screaming at the top of her lungs for about 6 of those hours, they went back to the hospital where she was immediately readmitted because of the amount of weight her baby had lost. And the hospital's answer? "Breast is best. Pump and we'll take her away and feed her formula." So that's what happened and now there's a baby who won't work at the breast because a bottle is so much easier. And this is a hospital where many, many women are sent to get help with breastfeeding!
And another friend was struggling and emotional (as we all are in those first few weeks post-natal) and the lactation specialist said, "Well, if you were in the desert you'd figure this out," and walked out. Would you be surprised to know that she went to formula? And that when she had her second, she didn't even try to breastfeed?
It really is not a "natural" thing to do. In this day and age, without the support to be courageous and persevere through the first weeks of nursing, more and more Moms will turn to formula.
One of the many reasons I was happy with the care from my midwife was that she came to my house one day, three days and (due to problems with nursing) four days after my daughter's birth. I can't imagine how I would have dealt with engorged breasts and no latch on my own. My midwife Jen literally held my screaming daughter's head at my breast until she latched.
I'm not saying everyone should see a midwife for their pregnancy and birth (lord knows, there are enough people telling moms what to do), but there has to be a way we can take these "best practices" and make them available to all new moms
I used to teach Heidegger's essay, 'The Question Concerning Technology' to undergraduate students, paying special attention to his argument that excessive reliance on technology reduces us to "standing reserve," harnessed mechanically and ideologically to the forces of production and does harm to our connection with the natural world.
Then I had my little daughter and bought a breast pump.
I chose to pump because she was born prematurely and the first imperative was to get her to gain weight, but that wasn't the only reason. I also wanted to regain control over when and how my body was used. I didn't want to be the only one rising in the middle of the night to feed her. I wanted to be able to leave the house, alone, for more than a few hours at a time. I wanted my daughter to think of both of us — not just me — as feeding devices. She's eight months old now, and I intend to keep pumping until she's old enough to transition to cow's milk. She was exclusively breastmilk-fed until six months, and has not had formula since her earliest days in the NICU when nurses pumped formula mixed with colostrum directly into her stomach through a gavage tube. She's healthy, happy and thriving. What's more, I am, too.
The trouble with the recent crop of articles deploring formula-feeding, lacto-fascism, breast pumps or the state of maternity leave policies is that their knockout punch always seems to be reserved for women making the best choices they can under the circumstances in which they find themselves. The dead giveaway is the invariable invocation of disgust or contempt and the introduction of bovine metaphors.
In the end, the real conspiracy isn't a corporate plot to keep women paying for formula or pump parts, nor is it a governmental evasion of the need for better maternity leave policies. The real conspiracy is that women are pitted against one another, breastfeeders against pumpers against formula mixers, SAHMs against those who return to paid employment. No matter what we end up doing or why, we are supposed to feel some combination of guilt paired with the smug assurance that at least we haven't been reduced to whatever *she's* doing. No wonder there's no effective women's lobby group.
Given that studies conducted to date do not show a definitive benefit to breastfeeding over formula, given that babies seem to thrive on either, and given that women report approximately equal satisfaction with BFing, pumping or formula-feeding, we should receive support — not proscription — for whatever choices we make for our children, not to mention for ourselves.
Thanks for speaking up for the pump, Amy. So many women feel so strongly about breastfeeding and happily express their milk on a regular basis in order to claim some independence from 24/7 mommydom that it was owed a proper defense.
HERE HERE!!!
I think breastfeeding is wonderful, and know quite a few women who extol its virtues, especially for bonding, mood enhancement, immunities and so on. I share many of the same views — these are the very reasons I chose to pump when breastfeeding qua BF became one challenge too many during a challenging time.
I have been so happy to pump for all the reasons mentioned in my comment. Indeed, I was pumping in the night while reading your blog and writing the comment, using my virtually silent basic little manual pump with one hand and typing with the other. Pumping doesn't work for everybody, but it's been the perfect solution for me and my little daughter.
At the same time, when I read Rosin's 'Case Against Breastfeeding' article, I did have to laugh, because in the months since K was born I've had many of the same thoughts. Breast milk is probably the safest and healthiest food for babies, and certainly it is the most 'natural,' but it isn't a perfect elixir. We've been adding Vitamin D drops since early on, and we found K would sleep for long periods (i.e., more than two hours at a time!) only after we started adding rice cereal to her bottles when she reached six months.
I guess the upshot is that it's useful to share experiences, not only because it makes us think differently about other women's choices but also because it makes us reflect upon our own.
I've really enjoyed catching up with your blog — I've added it to my 'read while pumping' circulation list!
"Read while pumping!" I just might have to make up t-shirts . . . ha ha.