I'd like to add my thoughts to this debate.. I agree with you that I think it's incredibly unfair to dismiss women who choose to bottle-feed as being selfish.... It's a tough decision to make and I doubt any women who has desperately yearned for their child, would ever make that decision lightly. Before I had my little girl I decided that I would breastfeed because we all know that it's the best thing you can do for your baby. I also thought it would be the most natural thing in the world. However, after a week of extreme pain and anguish I decided to put my child on formula because I could not get her to attach properly, she wasn't getting enough milk, she was sick and jaundiced, I was a physical and emotional wreck and faced leaving hospital without my little girl being able to feed properly. It should have been the happiest time of my life, but I was totally miserable. My baby looked miserable and my husband was distraught because we both were suffering. It was a tough decision to make, I was treated like dirt by the nurses in the hospital when I decided to switch to formula and I was offered no advice or assistance on how to bottle-feed. Basically I was told that if I formula fed, I was on my own, which made me furious. However I did switch to bottle-feeding and for ME I think it was the best thing I could've done. I went from hating feed-times and feeling like a total failure to being able to enjoy having my baby in my arms watching her feed. So, yes, breast is best. But please Megan, don't assume that someone is any less a caring, 'real' mother if their circumstances mean they'd rather bottle-feed.
Michelle. Perth w.a. -----Original Message----- From: owner-ozmidwifery Sent: Wednesday, 21 August 2002 2:09 PM To: ozmidwifery Subject: Re: [ozmidwifery] too hard to brestfeed In a message dated 8/21/02 9:37:24 AM W. Australia Standard Time, Megan writes: > I wonder how many of these parents that find breastfeeding too tiring, time > consuming, etc had oodles of energy to go out to nightclubs to all hours. > Granted you have all Sunday to recover. There is so much energy for doing > things that only benefit ones selfish needs(my opinion), if society cared > as > much about birthing and nurturing as it does about football. Megan I have had three children. The first was formula fed from about 2 weeks of age. I would have dearly loved to breastfeed my second, but he died shortly after birth, and so I went through the physically and emotionally painful process of letting my milk dry up. My third baby (premature) was breastfed until 10 months of age. In the case of babies 1 and 3 the decisions that I made, were not made out of selfishness - far from it. How to feed you baby for many (most?) is a very emotive one, and bound up in all sorts of history and background, but I would suggest that very few women make decisions about feeding their baby lightly. Even if they make a decision about feeding - for what someone might consider a "selfish" reason - who are we to judge? I know what you are trying to say, and I do agree that the whole issue of parenting and having children does not seem to have a high priority in this high-tech consumer led world, and certainly the case of the Nigerian women is awful (and not an isolated incident according to a report in Marie Claire last year). Debbie Slater Perth, WA -- This mailing list is sponsored by ACE Graphics. Visit <http://www.acegraphics.com.au> to subscribe or unsubscribe.
