The Lakeshore Medical Clinic of Breastfeeding Medicine is home to one of my favorite doctors anywhere -- Dr. Jenny Thomas, MD, IBCLC, FAAP, FABM. I've been lucky enough to have spoken with her directly about breastfeeding before, and even luckier to be able to share this completely amazing article by her with you all.
She wrote an article about what is supposed to happen with a full-term, healthy baby. And when you break it all down, it's all very, primitive basics. She questions why so many moms question our natural ability to breastfeed.
From Normal Newborn Behavior and Why Breastmilk Isn't Just Food:
First of all, a human baby is supposed to be born vaginally. Yes, I know that doesn't always happen, but we're just going to talk ideal, normal for now. It's no accident that we are born near the anus, an area that has lots of bacteria, most of which are good and necessary for normal gut health and development of the immune system.
Then the baby is born and is supposed to go to mom. The chest, between the breasts is the natural habitat of the newborn baby. (Fun fact: our cardiac output, how much blood we circulate in a given minute, is distributed to places that are important. Lots goes to the kidney every minute, like 10% or so, and 20% goes to your brain. In a new mom, 23% goes to her chest -- more than her brain. The body thinks that place is important!)
Breastfeeding isn't special sauce, a leg up or a magic potion. It's not "best." It's normal. Just normal. Designed for the needs of a vulnerable human infant. And nothing else designed to replace it is normal.
Most women don't believe that the body that created that beautiful baby is capable of feeding that same child and we are supplementing more and more with infant formulas designed to be food. Why don't we trust our bodies post-partum? I don't know. But I hear over and over that the formula is because "I am just not satisfying him." Of course you are. Babies don't need to "eat" all the time -- they need to be with you all the time- that's the ultimate satisfaction.
A baby at the breast is getting their immune system developed, activating their thymus, staying warm, feeling safe from predators, having normal sleep patterns and wiring their brain, and (oh by the way) getting some food in the process. They are not "hungry" -- they are obeying instinct. The instinct that allows us to survive and make more of us.
There's much more to her full post, including bits about sleeping, tigers, and bonding, and I adore her for it.
You hear us talk so much about how breastfeeding is natural, and yes, it is normal, not "best." But we don't have mothers, aunts, midwives, and entire communities that have all breastfed and seen breastfeeding their whole lives. Breastfeeding, despite being what we're designed for, has become foreign to us, even as mammals ... our name is based on MAMMARY glands! We're named for breastfeeding!
Yet something so natural and primitive becomes so complicated when we have outside sources constantly telling us we're doing it wrong, our baby isn't growing right, that man-made products are close enough, or that it's not worth the struggle. Just how you KNOW your baby is growing inside of you, even though you can't measure ounces or output, go into nursing KNOWING that your body does that right too. After all, it nourished your baby for 9 months just right.
Did you struggle to trust your body, in pregnancy, birth, or breastfeeding?
Image via amileegirl/CafeMom
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Comments 23
Even if doctors would begin using appropriate charts to measure the weight of breastfed infants it would make a difference... the standard growth chart is based on ff infants, and ff given early solids at that. The WHO recently published a growth chart for ebf babies (you can find it on their website) and if you compare you can see that the curves of the chart are different. Bf'd babies tend to gain more earlier and gain less between 6 months and 1 year. Formula babies tend to gain more steadily throughout the first year. When you plot a bf'd baby on ff'd chart, you artificially move them up in the percentiles in the first few months, and then as they taper off naturally they appear to be dropping percentiles like mad, which encourages doctors to tell moms to supplement, that their baby is not growing well, etc. I do think women should have faith in their bodies to produce what is needed, but I also think that the medical establishment has to make bf'ing the norm against which they judge weight gain and not undermine moms in their efforts to keep the bf'ing relationship going.
With my oldest I had so many doubts, and I think a lot of it was because I was so young. I was only 19 at the time. Then he was collicky. He just cried and cried. As he was nursing he would pull away and start screaming. Had it been a few years later, had I been a little more confident I think I would've investigated more to find the cause of our trouble. I tried cutting some things from my own diet and when that didn't help I started trying him on formulas. He ended up on Alimentum (pretty nasty smelling stuff) and seemed much happier. Fast-forward 4 years to my 2nd son. I just had more confidence at that point, enough to trust my body to keep up even when he was nursing 20 times a day. He had pyloric stenosis and would nurse, throw up, then be ready to nurse immediately. The amazing thing is I DID keep up! The female body is incredible. Women should be told that more often.
Nope,I completely planned to breastfeed.Completely trusted my body to do what it was SUPPOSED to do. I never bought any bottles or anything. I breastfed round the clock. When I wasn't I was attempting to pump,because the lactation consultant suggested it. I did this both times. My milk never came in either time. My oldest lost too much weight and was dehydrated. It was caught in time that she didn't need to be hospitalized,just given a bottle. I tried and tried after that,but she never latched on again.
My doctor told me that it would more than likely be different the next time,so when I got pregnant with my twins,I again began to plan to breastfeed. I had no reason to think it would be the same as before. In the hospital,they latched on perfectly. They breastfed constantly,yet never had any dirty or wet diapers. They developed severe jaundice and dehydration and were put in the hospital for several more days. By then even my LC,who shocked even the nurses,because she NEVER advises anyone to give a bottle,said give them a bottle. I continued to try after that. I used a hospital grade pump,had fenugreek,tea,oatmeal. Still kept trying to breastfeed. My milk simply never came in. Both the LC and my doctor said it was more than likely a hormonal imbalance,but we never did any tests or anything because I am finished having children.
Thanks. It is so sad when I hear people say they don't produce enough milk. And I feel REALLY bad for the moms who truly can't. Unfortunately because so many doctors/nurses/individuals aren't giving proper knowledge too many women think they can't produce enough - and then the ones who TRULY can't are left looking like they too are just making excuses.
Until breastfeeding becomes normal again not much is going to change. Maybe one person at a time - but I sure wish we could change it a million moms at a time. :D
I don't have a support system IRL and never even saw a woman breastfeed until in my thirties and then only for a minute. I was lucky and my support came through books and internet communities. I learned what pitfals to avoid in this modern world and my knowledge of biology helped me to trust. If every other mammal can do it without self-doubt, I could too.