Breastfeeding hits CNN

I was ecstatic to see an article on cnn.com today about breastfeeding. After all, every supportive article out there increases awareness. It was a pretty good article, giving important information that is often not mentioned unless you make it to a mommy group of breastfeeding veterans... things like don't go it alone, milk won't "gush" out right away, and have some snappy comebacks ready when you head out in public. Oh wait, was that good after all?

It is important to arm women with a realistic perception of breastfeeding in their community, but are we sending the wrong message? Should we be arming ourselves with comebacks, or arming ourselves with knowledge and the law? I have to say that as a veteran, a few good comebacks are definitely good to have, but I think they should be an add-on to the knowledge and comfort that what we are doing is the best for our baby, totally natural, and legally supported.

There was another part of the article that I found very disturbing. The article was obviously intended to encourage breastfeeding, but under a picture of a freezer full of milk was the caption: "The bagged breast milk filling Erika Clowes' freezer is evidence of how nursing dominates a new mom's life." WOW! That is not what we want to say to mothers considering breastfeeding. One of the incredible things about breastfeeding is the convenience! Sure, the first few weeks can be tough, but the language used here sends such a bad message. So, any woman turned off by this, please know that being a new mom is what dominates your life, breastfeeding is just a part of that.

So, kudos to cnn for doing a community service by providing this information, but I hope that people consider the language they are using when reaching out to new and expecting mothers.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/08/09/ep.breastfeeding/index.html