Breastfeeding - Bonding with Baby

I feel that breastfeeding is a great choice for mothers all over the world. I know that is it also a mother's choice on how she feeds her baby and that no mother should be forced to do it because of pressure from society. I had a wonderful experience breastfeeding my son and feel I can see the benefits of his overall health to this day, even though he is almost 24 years old. He is in good physical shape and rarely gets sick. As a baby, he was the same way; a good eater and a good baby. I breastfed him till he was almost 4 months old and then I started gradually started weaning him. He was a big boy at birth; 10 pounds 4 ounces, 22 1/2 inches long. I started him on baby cereal when he was about a month old and mixed it with my breast milk. It gave him that little extra to get him through the night. I wish I had the same experience with my daughter but unfortunately I had complications after giving birth to her and even though I tried to breastfeed her for a month, I had to give it up when I was not producing enough milk for her. She too was a good baby and a good eater in a different way from my son. I think that although I was not producing a great deal of milk, she still got the rich colostrum that first month because even now, she is a healthy 16 year old who rarely gets sick. Those antibodies found in breast milk really do provide a great deal of protection against illnesses.

When I was a family childcare provider, I had a mom who was breastfeeding and I highly encouraged her to keep doing it as long as she could handle it. I was the only provider in our small town who took babies and I enjoyed that time with them.

In the text by Berger (2009) it states that doctors all over the world recommend breastfeeding. It also states that US born mothers are less likely to breastfeed. The benefits are tremendous and easy on Mom when she is breastfeeding but our society is so busy today and here in the United States it seems as though breastfeeding is not as accepted as it is around the world. For some countries, it is the only choice for feeding.   Ultimately it is the choice of Mom but with the benefits that breastfeeding provides, hopefully new moms will give it try. It is an experience with your baby that really is special.

Reference:

Berger, K.S. (2009). The Developing Person. New York, NY: Worth Publishers.

My Personal Birthing Experiences

I have been blessed with the experience of giving birth to my two beautiful children, Tyler who is 23, and Shelby who is 16. Both births were completely different; I was a single parent when I gave birth to Tyler and was married when I had Shelby. Tyler came into the world one day past my due date at 7:25 a.m. weighing in at a whopping 10 pounds 4 ounces and was 22 1/2 inches long! He never wore newborn clothing and was holding his head up right after I gave birth to him! He was a dream baby and I was blessed with being able to nurse him for the first 6 months. Shelby, on the other hand, was 2 weeks overdue and arrived at 9:25 p.m. 7 years later after being induced and she was a peanut compared to Tyler at 8 pounds 3 ounces, and was 21 1/2 inches long with beautiful strawberry blonde hair like her daddy's. I had complications after her birth as the placenta did not deliver in one piece and I hemorrhaged for 2 days before they decided to go in and do a D & C to try and stop the bleeding. I was not told about the D & C until after I had eaten breakfast so I was only given an epidural for the procedure. As I was laying there listening to the doctors, the concern was that maybe I would have to have a hysterectomy if they could not get the bleeding to stop. That's all I remember and when I woke up I was so cold and shaking violently. I had lost so much blood they had to put the warming blankets on me to get my body temperature back to normal. My blood count was a 3, and they say 12 is normal. They released me the next day from the hospital and I went home to take care of my 7 year old and my newborn. I was also trying to nurse and was not producing milk like I knew I should. I can honestly say that I do not remember a lot of the first month after Shelby was born (she was born the end of November) but on Christmas Eve I knew something was wrong when she was not having many wet diapers so my husband drove to the grocery store and bought some formula. Poor little thing just scarfed that down, she was so hungry! I quit nursing immediately and gave her formula. That was scary! Since I had a positive experience with nursing my son, I knew something was wrong when I was not feeling full in my breasts. I finally stopped bleeding after I passed a huge clot about 2 months after her birth. I was lucky to have my 2 children because I also had 2 miscarriages.

In China, women are given a strong herbal potion to ease the labor pain and have no fear of labor since it is their career to give birth. They are put into recliners and futons for birthing. After the birth, women "sit the month" for the first month to heal. Not a realistic choice for us women here if we have other children at home.


Reference:
http://www.babyzone.com/pregnancy/labor_birth/birthing_traditions/article/childbirth-traditions-china-pg2