It only comes round once a year, so there really is a huge song and dance about it. I will keep you up to speed on the developments that will be reported over the week, so you may well see a few shorter blogs.
To me, Breastfeeding Awareness Week is not a time to judge or tell moms how to live their lives.
It is a time to encourage and reassure moms that there is help available to avoid common problems and support to ensure that these are dealt with in a positive manner!
When I see babies, I will often compare them to the kittens I have had in the past. In the early weeks, they don’t do much, can’t move much and more often than not, can’t see much. They are vulnerable and the mother cat looks after them, protectivley and lovingly – without schedule or routines.
I wonder if we start to see our babies as these vulnerable creatures in the early weeks, whether we would be more patient with them and ourselves, whether we would be more forgiving for the broken nights and whether we would look for help quicker to be able to give these little guys everything they need to grow into strong healthy children.
If you are breastfeeding your baby, don’t feel overwhelmed by the media coverage this week, don’t feel like you are just another number on the stastic chart!
To me you are a real person, a mature intelligent woman who has the great fortune to become a mother and just needs a little guidance and suport to get things right, not dictatorship and laws telling you how, where and why to breastfeed.
You are doing a good thing feeding your baby, let me do a good thing too and support you!
