Breast-Free Breastfeeding
Exclusive pumping's growing popularity.
by Kate Tuttle
January 14, 2008
Many of the women I spoke with mentioned the freedom they enjoy because their
babies will bottle-feed with other caregivers. Jessica Barie, a mother in the
Boston suburbs, said she felt tied down to the pump during the day, "but
if I wanted to go out at night with friends, I could pump really intensely during
the day and then go out, be able to drink alcohol, and just throw it out."
Inverted nipples and the hassle of nipple shields drove Barie to the pump. Her
daughter was happy and healthy, and she figured that pumping eight to nine times
a day was just her "mother sacrifice." While she regretted not being
as flexible as her nursing friends, and felt that pumping left her more exhausted
than they were, she appreciated the benefits of feeding her daughter breast milk
for as long as she did. Still, she says, next time around "We're
going to try to breastfeed again. We're hoping that it will work." If
it doesn't, she said, "I would pump exclusively as long as I could.
She was so healthy, and I really think 
"You'll never find me putting down moms who don't breastfeed." - Jennifer Laycock it had to do with so much breast milk
for so long. And the formula is so expensive; there's that, too."
All the women I spoke with would agree on one thing: mothers who wish to breastfeed
would benefit from better support and information. Inconsistent, inconsiderate
nurses and lactation consultants, doctors who either push formula or ignore mothers'
requests for help with nursing, and rigid hospital policies regarding babies'
weight need
to change. As Dr. Lawrence points out, babies have been losing weight in the
days after birth since the beginning of the human race: it's a feature,
not a bug. By fetishing weights and measures, the modern healthcare establishment
borrows from the formula industry while paying lip service to breastfeeding — a
recipe of mixed messages that sets mothers up to fail.
"You'll never find me putting down moms who don't breastfeed on my blog," said
Laycock. "Having been on the receiving end of that type of judgment, despite
getting breast milk into my kid, I would never take part in piling on moms who
have tried and failed at breastfeeding."
©2008 Kate Tuttle and Nerve Media
About the Author
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Kate Tuttle is a writer and editor raising two children just outside Boston. |
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