With their good intentions, some breastfeeding advocates have become like a drill sergeants. They begin every conversation lecturing about why everyone should breastfeed and never ever use formula.
Maybe they need to remember their first time as a mother again. Taking care of a brand-new (sometimes colicky) baby, new mothers can be tired from lack of sleep and just need a little encouragement and support. Sometimes this militant "breastfeed-or-else support" backfires and leaves new moms turned off to breastfeeding altogether.
There is a lesson to be learned here. While it is true that breastfeeding advocates don't have the deep pockets that the formula companies have to promote their position, there are many ways to teach and encourage a new mother to breastfeed and still be sensitive to a new mom's emotional needs.
Here are a few tips from Breastfeeding Magazine for experienced breastfeeding mothers and nursing advocates to more effectively spread the word about breastfeeding to new mothers:
1. Encourage and be supportive first. Remember what is was like to be a new mom. What they need most is support, support, support!
2. Be armed with information, but leave it with her. Don't force it. Leave material with the mom and she will look at it later. Too much information can be overwhelming.
3. Early support is good...continued support is better. Check back in. According to a new CDC report, even though seventy -five percent of women breastfeed at birth, only thirty percent are still nursing at three months.
4. Let then make their own informed decision. As long as you have provided the information, support and continued encouragement, don't be discouraged if some mothers stop breastfeeding before you think that they should. This is ultimately their choice to make.
It is honorable to want to let others know that breastfeeding is truly the best way to feed a baby and to inform and encourage other mothers. We just have to learn to spread the message with love and encouragement...because those are the two things that the formula pushers can't compete with.
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