…Contemplating the Core Elements of a Modern Breastfeeding Lifestyle

The reality show, Bethenny Gets Married, has just ended its first season. I was the first lactation consultant at Lenox Hill Hospital (1988-90) where Bethenny gave birth to her daughter Bryn Hoppy via Cesarean Section on 8 May 2010.

I was most interested in seeing how breastfeeding would be depicted both in the hospital and after Bethenny was discharged home. The pump was introduced in the early days after her C/S; the baby “nurse” Gina was shown following her around with pump parts and pumping seemed to be encouraged as a frequent part of Bethenny’s daily breastfeeding routine.

This is a candid clip of Bethenny talking with her therapist about the luxury of having a baby nurse and her impressions of breastfeeding before and after the birth of her daughter.

Bethenny’s experience has much in common with new mothers everywhere. However, having a baby nurse seems to be more of an urban phenomena.   It is an expensive option which seems luxurious at first glance, but has the potential to alter the long term success of breastfeeding. I will discuss that in more detail in my next post.

For now, I am curious if you also have been encouraged to pump and give bottles from the very beginning of your breastfeeding experience?

If so, has it added to your sense of overwhelm, fatigue or anxiety about your milk supply and/or caused problems with your latch?

I received this postcard as a holiday thank you note from a family that I had helped in the early years of my private lactation consulting practice.  It has hung in my office for two decades.

Sergei Vassilev’s 1988 photograph “In the Maternity Home” captures the stages of profound connection that develop between mothers and their breastfeeding babies.  This group bonding moment is understated, yet quite powerful.

In recent years, there have been many nurse-in’s staged to make political statements.  Mothers have descended upon stores and businesses to protest unfriendly policies toward breastfeeding.   During World Breastfeeding Week celebrations each year there are often large groups that assemble in public places to breastfeed in numbers.  One of my favorites was the group nurse done on the A train in NYC.

Whenever mothers breastfeed it touches my heart.  I believe you cannot help but be inspired by the wonder of breastfeeding when you get an opportunity to witness the kind of very positive and primal energy that flows from my treasured breastfeeding postcard.  It speaks volumes.

What do you think?

Today is the end of World Breastfeeding Week 2010.

As it ends I invite you to contemplate this Celtic Mandala of Anu or Aine, The Great Mother.   She is the womb of life and and through her breasts she passes on its spark and vitality in the form of mother’s milk.

Anu or Aine-The Great Mother

In my world, where I am a community-based registered nurse and lactation consultant, protecting, promoting and supporting breastfeeding will continue on a daily basis.

I’ve been privileged to help so many moms and babies to join our global breastfeeding family.  Over the past 24+ years, it’s testimonials and feedback like this that have kept me going.

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Although, I still feel at times like a salmon swimming up stream, I embrace being called a “Breastfeeding Mary (aka Máire) Poppins”

Just the other day, during this week of breastfeeding celebration, I ran into a mom and her daughter that I had helped about 14 years ago.  Mana Allen re-introduced me to Molly who had gone on to breastfeed for many years in an  extended breastfeeding relationship that they had both relished. They thanked me yet again and Mana commented this week here on the blog.

Someday soon I imagine that I will have the honor and pleasure of helping Molly or another graduate of my practice to become a breastfeeding mother.

That will be a full circle moment!

World Breastfeeding Week 2010 is drawing to a close.  The focus has been on the Ten Steps of the Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative which aims to have health professionals and health care facilities promote and support breastfeeding.

In August of 2009, I was honored to have my article Breastfeeding: the Mother in Charge published in the UN Chronicle.  (click on cover)

It poses the following question…

When cultural anthropologists of the future look back on this moment in human history, what will they find? Will they see a tipping point in breastfeeding advocacy where we were able to successfully support and preserve breastfeeding?

The Ten Steps can help move us in the right direction.   Ultimately, our actions must speak louder than our words or policies. We need to teach mothers the fundamentals of how to achieve a deep, pain-free  latch.   Conscious Breastfeeding will put them in charge of their breastfeeding outcomes.

“Change will not come if we wait for some other person, some other time. We are the ones we have been waiting for. We are the change we seek.”

~ Pres. Barack Obama

I invite you to read my article and share your thoughts.

In recent years there has been a growing awareness of the negative impact of chemicals, preservatives and genetically altered foods in the adult diet.

John Mooney, a New York City chef, had a desire to grow his own food to ensure its quality and to do his part to encourage a sustainable system of food production grown close to home,,,up on the roof.

After a year of testing, his hydroponic vegetable garden has proven to be very efficient. This ancient idea has come to life in the skyline of the Big Apple and he hopes it will become a model for the future.

Mooney also grows Bibb lettuce atop his roof. His new restaurant,Bell, Book & Candle, will be the first in the U.S. to grow its own food on a rooftop using hydroponics. He intends to grow enough produce to serve an 80-seat restaurant nightly for 10 months of the year. (Sarah Rosenberg/ABC News)

I was struck by the parallels between Chef Mooney’s rooftop garden and breastfeeding.

In a relatively small space and at a rapid rate he was producing high quality produce that could provide the bulk of vegetables for his restaurant. He mentioned that all that was needed was air, sun and nutrient rich water. There would be a conservation of energy, very little waste and after the initial investment a more economical food source using this method of gardening.

The breasts, although variable in size, are relatively compact organs that continually produce a concentrated, bio-available fluid specifically designed to nurture and grow human babies. Human milk is 80-90% water; the mother’s diet and lifestyle can favorably impact the quantity and quality of her milk.

Definitely Food for Thought. What do you think?