Staying Abreast: The Breastfeeding Filipina
If you visit my kitchen, the first thing you will see on my granite counter top is this green-lined frame with a cross-stitch design labeled “A Mother’s Heart is a Child’s Schoolroom”. I finished quite a collection of cross-stitch projects during those nurturing breastfeeding sessions with my babies. It stands there as a reminder to my children that I gave nothing but the best, that their first food was—breast milk. That memento rightfully belongs in my kitchen.
If I were a lactating mom in today’s hi-tech age, maybe I wouldn’t be cross-stitching. Perhaps I will be blogging on my macbook or designing breastfeeding advocacy websites. Breastfeeding was such a beautiful experience for me. During those breastfeeding times. I often caressed every single strand of my babies’ hair, each toe and finger. It’s a wonderful bonding moment that often took my breath away. I ignored my pediatrician when I refused the milk formula for Lauren. [tag]Breastfeeding[/tag] advocacy was not in place twenty years ago so our doctors often prescribed an infant formula before being discharged from the hospital. I held on to my belief that I could breastfeed. After all, breastfeeding is 90 % mental, emotional work and 10% physical. I focused on giving nothing but the best—breast milk.
I don’t blame you if you say that you had no milk during the first day. Perhaps, you were not aware that supply during the first few days after childbirth arrive in small quantities. It’s true, demand for breast milk is not that high yet for a newborn child. Our babies’ stomach is just as tiny as the tip of our thumb. The problem is the mom loses confidence and turns to the bottle. Naturally, any mom wouldn’t want their babies to starve. I don’t blame you. We didn’t know any better. Lack of awareness, family pressure, social taboos and popular misconceptions all contribute to why women are apprehensive to breastfeed.
Today, I heard the various breastfeeding advocacy groups in the The Barbizon Mommy Milkshake Marathon held at the Fort, Global City upon the invitation of GeiserMaclang. I had this warm fuzzy feeling as I witnessed the number of Breastfeeding advocacy groups that were present in today’s event. What a devoted group they are!
““If you’re bottle-feeding with the excuse that you’re too busy and under the pretext that milk formulas have enough nutrients to produce the next Einstein anyway, think again.”