Flash Memoir
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Let's talk about the basics
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It was August 3, 1995, when the fifth baby of the Layton family joined the world. That baby was me! Once everything had settled, I latched right on and started nursing. Being the fifth baby born my mom was an old pro at breastfeeding. I asked my mom if when she was having kids if breastfeeding in public was popular? Also, was the controversy the same or different than it is now? She responded with “I think it was about the same. I never breastfed in public and always “hid.” But I never felt ashamed nursing at all. It was popular to do. I just was never a graceful discrete nurser.”
I have no experience breastfeeding a child as I am not a mother. But, I have been around it all my life. God willing, I plan on breastfeeding when I have children. Social Media is a large medium where the debate of breastfeeding in public occurs. I came across a project that a husband and wife had created with their one-year-old son.1 They went around town taking photos of the mom feeding their child. In the beginning, they took a picture of her nursing in the stall of a public restroom; towards the end of the project, she was nursing her son in public inside a coffee shop. The moral of her doing this project was to show her journey, which in the beginning she wasn’t confident in nursing in public but after a year of nursing, she grew confidence in the beauty of being able to feed her child. Type “Breastfeeding social experiment” into YouTube, and 23,500 results will come up. There was one done by Joeysalads titled “Sexy vs. Breastfeeding in Public (Social Experiment)!!!”2 There is one girl dressed in short shorts and a tight, revealing top. The other is a mom with a long sleeve cardigan and jeans on with a baby. They wanted to see how people would react between the two. The first girl sat on a bench; people walked by, some even complimented her. Second, the mom that was breastfeeding started to nurse her baby. One after another people told her how disgusting it was that she was doing that in public. She was very apologetic to people letting them know that he was hungry. Lastly, the two girls sat by each other on the bench, people mostly walked by and glanced over. One guy told the nursing mom that it was disgusting, and they pointed out that she was feeding her child and how is the girl with the revealing top not gross? He said well, that’s hot and you are just disgusting. It’s regrettable that something so natural is looked down upon when on the other hand someone flaunting their breasts for sex is praised. I hope that everyone that is fortunate enough to breastfeed is confident to do so. I agree that there is a time and a place and you should be respectful of those around you. |
Breastfeeding wasn’t always the norm.“At least, not in the United States. Breastfeeding rates were at their lowest during the '60s and '70s when formula manufacturers were "aggressively marketed" to the public, according to an article from the Journal of Perinatal Education. The Journal of Nutrition reports that a mere 22 percent of moms breastfed their babies in 1972.” A benefit that breastfeeding creates is it saves families money. “Although breastfeeding isn't completely free (if you plan to purchase things like nursing bras, a breast pump, bottles, etc.) it's going to save you a bit of cash. According to the Office on Women's Health within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the average amount a breastfeeding family can save from not buying formula is anywhere from $1,200 to $1,500 in the first year.” Who knew that breast milk could be a treatment for pink eye? According to Medical Daily, there are numerous uses for breast milk. Besides the protection your baby receives internally, using breast milk for things like ear infections (a few drops in the ear canal can help, according to Dr. Mercola), pink eye, sore throat, and conjunctivitis.
The exact laws on breastfeeding in public vary from state to state. The only state that does not protect breastfeeding in public is Idaho. Every other state allows and protects it. Although, Idaho does let breastfeeding mothers postpone their jury duties though. The wording of the law varies from each state, but the general, consensus is that it's allowed in public and private. About how many people breastfeed in public? I couldn’t find a statistic that showed how many people breastfeed in public, but I did find that about 57% of people believe that breastfeeding in public is perfectly natural. Does breastfeeding prevent/reduce diseases? “According to a study published by Lund University Publications, the longer a woman breastfeeds, the less likely she is to develop breast cancer. Similarly, nursing a baby girl reduces her lifetime risk of breast cancer by 25 percent, according to Health Foundations Birth Center.” “Although the reason behind the findings isn't fully established, there are studies linking breastfeeding and lower risks of obesity according to The World Health Organization. It may be the difference in insulin levels and pancreatic activity or a difference in the protein and energy metabolized.” Though not much is known about the cause of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), it is believed that breastfeeding can diminish a baby's risk. According to a study published by the American Academy of Pediatrics, SIDS reduction is one of the many benefits of nursing that is hard to ignore. |