Just some thoughts...

Since I have become a mother I have heard many women say that while they were pregnant random strangers would approach them and ask if they were going to be breastfeeding their child.  Others complain of people trying to pressure them into breastfeeding, or being made to feel as though they had to.  Earlier this month I wrote this post about a book I read called The Politics of Breastfeeding: When Breasts are Bad for Business, and it's that book that really got me thinking about this...

Every time I receive a Babies R Us circular in the mail there are two things that I can always count on to either be on sale, come with a free gift or gift card, or something similar: infant formula and disposable diapers.  Every time I walk into the baby section in any given big box store there is always an aisle with nothing but diapers, and an aisle with nothing but formula.  Some of the most nurturing-looking television or magazine advertisements I've seen are for infant formula, and some of the funniest I've seen are for disposable diapers.  Since Addisyn has been born I can't tell you how many formula and diaper samples and coupons we have gotten in the mail.  My point is this: every day we are bombarded with pressures to use infant formula and disposable diapers.  It is so normalized that we rarely take notice, and I think because of this it has almost taken on a subliminal quality.

There are no prolific advertisements and mailings for breastfeeding and cloth diapering, it is almost strictly word-of-mouth or making the effort to go out and find good resources for information.  Many people find this more direct, word-of-mouth approach offensive, and often mistake it for something it isn't.  The author of The Politics of Breastfeeding recalls a conversation she had with a friend where she had presented some statistics about breastfeeding.  Her friend became defensive and accused her of trying to convince her to breastfeed.  This blew the author away, because all she was doing was giving information that she found interesting, there was no intent at all to try to pressure her friend into doing anything.

During my 11 months of eating dairy-free a friend told me that formula is not so bad, and they wondered just how good my milk could be if I wasn't consuming milk myself.  I have had a few other people mention formula to me as a remedy to certain things, or a better option.  It's not the suggestion of formula that really bothers me, it's the general misunderstanding and lack of accurate information about breastfeeding among a big portion of the population.  I do feel that in those situations I have an obligation to set the record straight.  Not because I'm trying to convert anyone, or change anyone's mind, but because I think we need to work on eliminating this kind of false information that runs rampant in our society.  I explained to my friend that you don't have to drink milk to make milk.  After all, humans are the only mammal on this planet that consume the milk of another species.  Every other mammal makes perfectly good milk for their babies on a dairy-free diet, and humans do, too.  All I had to do was make sure I was getting my calcium and vitamin D from another source.  As is a typical reaction, I believe, she sort of threw her hands up and said "okay, okay - you do what you think is best".  With that kind of reaction, do you think she had actually understood and took to hear what it was I was trying to express to her?

I have never heard of anyone being offended by the barrage of formula and diaper advertising that we are exposed to daily, but heaven forbid anyone should approach someone and give any information about breastfeeding or using cloth diapers.  Unless, or course, the person being approached breastfeeds and uses cloth diapers, and this is unfortunate.  We do a disservice to mothers by not providing them with accurate, truthful information, and I think in that respect it's important, even for families who use formula, even in families who have already raised their children, to have accurate information.  And I think that a big part of the reason that this misinformation still exists is because so many people shut down and are dismissive when they perceive that how they do things is being challenge, when much of the time the person giving them the information is just trying to dispel inaccuracies.  People are unwilling to listen to new, useful, accurate information, but continue to spread whatever erroneous information that they may have.  I'd rather someone give me accurate information on a subject that I didn't care to hear about than inaccurate information.  I'd rather have somebody be direct about something than feel like I'm being brainwashed by a plethora of advertisements.