Awareness of Breastfeeding

After learning about the benefits of breastfeeding I began to wonder about the awareness of this issue. A study conducted by the department of health of Western Australia came to the conclusion that the awareness of breastfeeding was rather low. Unfortunately I was unable to find anything for the U.S.; however this can be taken into consideration that there is a possibility that awareness is also low in the U.S. which may contribute to people who are against public breastfeeding.

Another factor that must be considered when deciding which side of the fence to stand on is a mothers milk supply. An article from MayoClinic suggests that there are many reasons a mothers milk supply can decrease; one of the reasons is from not nursing enough. If an infant is exclusively breastfed then they must be fed on demand otherwise a mother runs the risk of having an insufficient milk supply. This should be taken into great consideration when a person sees a mother breastfeeding in public. It is unfair to the infant for a stranger to impose a mother to stop feeding just because they are uncomfortable; not only is this demanding letting an infant be hungry until the mother is in an "appropriate"place, but a mother is also at risk of a low milk supply due to a skipped feeding.

August is National Breastfeeding Awareness month. I think that it is extremely important of making benefits of breastfeeding common knowledge in the U.S.

Below is a picture I found on Wordpress that summarizes many benefits an infant receives when breasted.






Sources Used:
Daly, Alison, et al. "Benefits, Barriers And Enablers Of Breastfeeding: Factor Analysis Of Population Perceptions In Western Australia." Plos ONE 9.2 (2014): 1-10. Academic Search Premier. Web. 10 Mar. 2016

Benefits of Breastfeeding

After doing some further research I decided to look into the benefits of breastfeeding. There are so many benefits not only for the child but for the mother. Infants being breastfed is a natural thing and they receive the greatest benefits in so many aspects not only for their physical health but mentally as well. I found an article on WebMD which summarizes all of the wonderful aspects of breastfeeding. Breastfeeding not only makes an infant feel secure and safe, but it lowers the chances of allergies and asthma, contains antibodies that help infants fight off viruses, and provides the perfect balance of nutrients for babies. These are just a few of the wonderful benefits breastfeeding provides. The fact that there are so many pros when a mother decides to breastfeed makes those who feel uncomfortable not seem to matter. There is a reason you hear often "breast milk is best" and now we know why. It is important to make the benefits of breastfeeding known; perhaps this could change people's views on feeding in public.

There are so many good articles full of information on the benefits of breastfeeding. I came across another article on Kellymom which also elaborates how healthy breast milk is for infants. An infant has a right to receive the many benefits from breast milk if this is what the mother chooses to do; therefore I do not think people should have the right to tell a mother to stop feeding their infant because they are uncomfortable. Nursing an infant is such a beautiful thing to do for your child mentally and physically; I hope that one day breast feeding can be not only embraced but praised.

This video posted below is a quick overview of how great breast milk is. I hope you guys enjoy and learn something new that you didn't already know about breast milk!

Pro vs. Anti Breastfeeding

I found an article in Huffington Post which provides an instance of how mothers who breastfeed are shamed today. In this article it talks about a mother who was forced to feed her child in a public restroom stall by a Marshall's employee. This incident went viral and Marshall's addressed that their policy for breastfeeding was to allow mothers to breastfeed wherever they please. We can see that this particular case the employee handled this matter on a personal level instead of following policy. If this mother would have known her rights perhaps she would have stood up for herself and not listened to this employee. My question is why was a mother trying to feed her child disturbing them? This particular incident has me questioning what would have happened if she would have stood up for herself? Perhaps mothers who breastfeed have allowed bullying by those who feel uncomfortable go on too long. This controversy can be compared to how women's swimsuits have changed over time. We see women's swimsuits and ads from the 1920s are much more reserved and as time has passed the acceptance of more exposure has taken place. The journey of acceptance to more exposure did not happen over night; some people were upset and it made them uncomfortable because it was "indecent". Could this be the same type of issue in today's society? Maybe mothers must keep pressing and taking a stand until this becomes normal to those who may find it indecent. 

I found a pie chart on Sutter Health that represents how supportive people in the workforce are. You can see that the majority of people support breastfeeding; which means that the people who are causing a controversy are not high in number. Could this mean that breastfeeding in public could slowly become more accepted?

I found an article in Go Fatherhood which explains why some people are uncomfortable breastfeeding. Many people feel uncomfortable because they view the act of breastfeeding as something private and intimate. While I can understand this point of view I personally think that if a person feels comfortable enough to breastfeed in public we should respect that and not give the cold shoulder to these mothers.

After searching the internet for quite a while I realized that it is very hard to find information to support those who are against breastfeeding. There are many different views and feelings that come from people who are against feeding in public. I found a forum on debate.org that shows people's feelings on this issue who are for and also against public breastfeeding. I seem to have found a mix of reasons why people are against it; one being it is viewed as indecent, and two some people actually view this as a sexual act. Do you think these reasons stand strong enough to be against feeding in public?

Another reason some people seem to be against this issue is because breasts have been sexualized so when they see a woman breastfeeding it makes them feel uncomfortable. I found this video of a social experiment that reveals how our culture is okay with sexualizing breasts but not okay with breasts being used to nurture an infant. This is a rather recent experiment that was done last month so I found it interesting to see an updated view on how our culture still stands.

 

Public Breastfeeding

Is Public Breastfeeding something that should be embraced or frowned upon? I keep hearing about the controversy of public breastfeeding. While some people embrace and are for breastfeeding in public, others are completely against it and become offended at the sight of a woman feeding her child in public. Why is it that people become so offended yet it is socially acceptable to be in a swimsuit? What is it about American culture that leads to so many people being against breastfeeding? Some may say breastfeeding is natural and all a woman is doing is nourishing a life. For all the parents out there I'm sure you can attest to having to feed your baby the minute they are hungry because babies do NOT wait. If a mother chooses to breastfeed why should we scold them? On the other hand there are people who feel uncomfortable when a women is feeding their infant in public. Why do these certain people feel uncomfortable? I would love to hear opinions from individuals who stand on either side of this issue.