The Case Against Breastfeeding

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Hi All. I am new to allnurses. Well, actually I discovered the site months ago but this is my first posting. I am pre-nursing student that is interested in becoming a labor & delivery nurse (eventually a midwife). Anyhow, came across this article about breastfeeding and I am interested in how nurses feel about this issue and this article.

http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200904/case-against-breastfeeding

This is a common belief....but, it's wrong!! Breastfeeding doesn't ruin the "merchandise" as you put it....pregnancy does!

Yeah.... No. It's breast feeding. I know what my boobs looked like when I gave birth, before my milk came in - and they didn't get much bigger while I was pregnant, and they looked almost exactly the same as before. But after breast feeding for 15 months - that's what changed them... and not just perkiness, they got smaller too. Some womens get bigger, its individual.

Anywaz, I loved breast feeding, but I was in college the first time around, and I made a schedule to take breaks between every class to go see my kiddo not far off campus. But, I cant imaging trying to tell my ICU that I need to stop working every 1.5 - 3 hours to pump!

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Wow, this author (and some responding to this thread) have very strong negative feelings about FEEDING babies the way nature intended. That's a little odd, if you think about it. The author obviously and admittedly has breastfed beyond her own comfort level, and I bet her child feels the resentment. Her problem is that she seemed to need "permission" to stop. Too bad she isn't as strong of a decision maker as she is wielder of the pen for judging happy breastfeeders.

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Yeah.... No. It's breast feeding. I know what my boobs looked like when I gave birth, before my milk came in - and they didn't get much bigger while I was pregnant, and they looked almost exactly the same as before. But after breast feeding for 15 months - that's what changed them... and not just perkiness, they got smaller too. Some womens get bigger, its individual.

Anywaz, I loved breast feeding, but I was in college the first time around, and I made a schedule to take breaks between every class to go see my kiddo not far off campus. But, I cant imaging trying to tell my ICU that I need to stop working every 1.5 - 3 hours to pump!

The thing is, your milk is going to come in whether you BF or not, which is why it's considered to be pregnancy related. Even if you have a stillbirth or your infant dies, your milk is going to come in.

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Specializes in OB, HH, ADMIN, IC, ED, QI.
And I suppose you plan to leave your wife should she ever get breast cancer? Is your wife a woman, or is she a collection of body parts to be used for your amusement?

:flmngmd:

My mother is a 26-year BCS and I have never personally known anyone who did that. I did once hear about a woman whose boyfriend moved out, but there were other issues, among them being that she was not sorry to see him go because he was abusive.

Anyone who speaks of another person as a purchase, was born 1000s of years late! That is a mental flaw that has nothing to do with modern life, yet underneath a seemingly modern man's presentation can dwell a fallback to ancient ways. That has nothing to do with breastfeeding or breast cancer!!

It means, "She will bend to my will because her love for me sacrifices her free will". That concept occurs in many comic book stories and movies that influence young people's thinking, reminding me of "Nurse Betty", and the soap operas on TV. Be conscious of what influences your children's minds.

Breastfeeding can be such a loaded subject, bizaarly distanced from what it is, a means of nutrition/sustinance. We nurses need to assist in its normalization, and an option distinctly made only by an informed mother for her baby. Of course mothers who don't wish to breastfeed, should not be derided. This is a free world, is it not?? :o

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The thing is, your milk is going to come in whether you BF or not, which is why it's considered to be pregnancy related. Even if you have a stillbirth or your infant dies, your milk is going to come in.

Yes, but there is a HUGE difference between the amount of milk that first comes in... and what will come in later. And breast expanding and shrinking 5-12 times a day for 15 months has an extreme impact, rather than just having to dry up a relatively small amount once.

Breast are not rubber bands. They maybe able to handle the expansion for a while, but breast feeding is really working those boobies - and they'll never be the same. And I swear that as the patho changes in your breast to produce ducts, and more ducts, it swallows up breast tissue, then it disappears when your done! Lol - can you tell I was devastated?

Thank God I didn't get stretch marks from pregnancy too! Probably won't be so lucky 10-12 years later.

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Not trying to argue with you, but for any who may be reading and think "I wont' nurse because I don't want my breasts to change", I just want to say that we lost our first child as a newborn, although I was BFing, my milk hadn't yet come in when he died. My breasts were completely different once the milk came in, it didn't take nursing for a long time to alter them. Rock hard engorgement will do that. And no amount of cabbage leaf helped.

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Not trying to argue with you, but for any who may be reading and think "I wont' nurse because I don't want my breasts to change", I just want to say that we lost our first child as a newborn, although I was BFing, my milk hadn't yet come in when he died. My breasts were completely different once the milk came in, it didn't take nursing for a long time to alter them. Rock hard engorgement will do that. And no amount of cabbage leaf helped.

Hey Jenny, I'm really sorry about your baby, I couldn't imagine. Breast will definitely change from the stress that they are under, I didn't mean to imply that they be exactly the same. People that breast feed also get very engorged, many times, although I don't want to compare it to rock hard engorgement.

But maybe I could compare it to getting breast implants. It takes many months for the breast tissue to finally stretch out ALL the way to accommodate the new implant. Even after two weeks the skin and tissue is still 'rock hard' - but it doesn't hurt like being engorged. It takes 6 or more months for them to fall into place. So if you take the implant out after 2 weeks, the tissue will be less relaxed and stretched than after 3, 6, 12 or 15 months.

I don't think it's right to judge people, I only think that you inparticular are warning women that they will still change. Its not right at all to say women are selfish because they don't want their bodies to change from pregnancy, birth, or breast feeding. It's definitely a loss to deal with, and shouldn't be undermined, criticized or minimized.

How much it affects us is personal, depending on many things, including their partners and society, and the degree your body actually changed. And yes, it's about values. But lets not kid ourselves, beauty and youth are very powerful attributes. Thankfully, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and true beauty is from within... however, you cant force the world to act in accordance with the truth.

There is no doubt a lot to sacrifice (and much to gain) when having children, (and breast feeding for that matter), and the least has to do with appearances and physical fitness (which can be improved). Everyone will handle it differently, everyone should be able to choose for themselves, and do whats best for them without having scewed data.

If anyone has got this far in the thread and didn't read the article completely, where the author has done extensive research - collecting results from whats seems to be the most reliable studies... so that she could justify the sacrifice for herself. She only found that medical science hasn't proved breastfeeding is as important as we have thought.

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Specializes in ER.

In the debate of breast vrs bottle I think it's an important decision personally for each mother and child, but not worth the fighting and nastiness that I see online from either side.

I liken it to choosing to make homemade meals for your family vrs storebought preprepared food. Both ways of nourishing them will satisfy hunger, and your kids will grow. People need to make choices all the time. A loving parent will still make sure their child gets all the vitamins and fibre needed, even if every meal is take out. Mom at home with a hot meal ready every night gets bragging rights. Doing that doesn't make her superior, or her kids smarter, and better adjusted. There are a thousand factors at play, and you can't assume meals from scratch, or breast milk, is the ultimate solution.

We all know families that would've gotten a lot more bang for their buck if they'd, say, dealt with the alcoholic in the family, instead of making sure they did everything by Dr Spock's rulebook.

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Wow, this author (and some responding to this thread) have very strong negative feelings about FEEDING babies the way nature intended. That's a little odd, if you think about it. The author obviously and admittedly has breastfed beyond her own comfort level, and I bet her child feels the resentment. Her problem is that she seemed to need "permission" to stop. Too bad she isn't as strong of a decision maker as she is wielder of the pen for judging happy breastfeeders.

Thats a good point Roxy - the way nature intended is that women have to be with their infants every two hours to feed. Do you think that is possible for everyone these days? Why is it odd that people may resent being looked down upon and having to defend themselves.

I don't think the author has any problem. She makes interesting observations about how she is treated, marketing, and science based evidence. I don't see where she condoned breast feeders. But it seems that you are judging bottle feeders by implying they are 'against nature' and 'odd'.

The point is... that you need to FEED your baby they way that is best for your family.

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Specializes in OB, NICU, Nursing Education (academic).
Yeah.... No. It's breast feeding. I know what my boobs looked like when I gave birth, before my milk came in - and they didn't get much bigger while I was pregnant, and they looked almost exactly the same as before. But after breast feeding for 15 months - that's what changed them... and not just perkiness, they got smaller too. Some womens get bigger, its individual.

Anywaz, I loved breast feeding, but I was in college the first time around, and I made a schedule to take breaks between every class to go see my kiddo not far off campus. But, I cant imaging trying to tell my ICU that I need to stop working every 1.5 - 3 hours to pump!

Your experience.....but, not mine! I know what mine looked like also....they were larger during both pregnancy and breastfeeding. I breast fed two kids (combined total of 2+ years of breastfeeding). I'm now 2 months away from turning 50, and everything is right where it should be in the mammary area (looking darn good for 50, if I do say so myself). I also lift weights and exercise very regularly, so maybe that has something to do with it.

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Specializes in Peds/outpatient FP,derm,allergy/private duty.

That was the experience I had, too, iteachob. Cosmetically, I didn't change at all- I can still pass the "pencil test". Then again, maybe that was nature's little reward for all the times I was teased for not being "amply endowed" when I was younger. :)

Also, I don't think the physiology of breast tissue is accurately described as ducts multiplying like crazy swallowing up breast tissue.

A very interesting study of breast anatomy and physiology was done by Ramsay et al in 2005 using ultrasound techniques challenged many long held beliefs in this area and is referred to in this article:

http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/976504-overview

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/instance/1571528/ (link to original study)

Just a Dose- you are absolutely right!! Everyone is different! People that downplay the importance of cosmetics, body image and self-esteem just don't know what they are talking about. Now that I have some 20-20 hindsight- the "mommy wars" that were so viciously waged mostly pale in importance after 15yrs or so. I used to lead new mom-baby groups (left nursing to be a SAHM) it shocks me now how judgemental other women are towards each other!!

By all means, do what you feel is best for your baby, but please put away the bludgeon when other loving, conscientious mothers choose a different path!!

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That was the experience I had, too, iteachob. Cosmetically, I didn't change at all- I can still pass the "pencil test". Then again, maybe that was nature's little reward for all the times I was teased for not being "amply endowed" when I was younger. :)

Gosh, I musta made it sound like they are down to my elbows. Lol. I could still pass the pencil test too... but they did get smaller than they had been, and I wasn't exactly blessed. That's what really bothered me.

Also, I don't think the physiology of breast tissue is accurately described as ducts multiplying like crazy swallowing up breast tissue.

A very interesting study of breast anatomy and physiology was done by Ramsay et al in 2005 using ultrasound techniques challenged many long held beliefs in this area and is referred to in this article:

http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/976504-overview

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/instance/1571528/ (link to original study)

Thanks for the articles, I was totally joking about the A&P. And I'm glad you came along to set it straight.

[quote=nursel56;

Just a Dose- you are absolutely right!! Everyone is different! People that downplay the importance of cosmetics, body image and self-esteem just don't know what they are talking about. Now that I have some 20-20 hindsight- the "mommy wars" that were so viciously waged mostly pale in importance after 15yrs or so. I used to lead new mom-baby groups (left nursing to be a SAHM) it shocks me now how judgemental other women are towards each other!!

By all means, do what you feel is best for your baby, but please put away the bludgeon when other loving, conscientious mothers choose a different path!!

Thank you for the support.

My son is almost 10 now, and I've dealing with the family court system iconic phrase "the best interest of the child" for 11 years. (Adoption and the control begins before a baby is born). My values have been exploited, and I've been manipulated and controlled enough. I know parents (me) are important too, and we must stick up for ourselves too.

I've realized that what's best for the core family is whats best for the baby... It's so easy to point fingers and say you can do MORE for a child, even when responsibility is supposed to be shared.

So if the plane is coming down and the oxygen mask drop - put the oxygen on yourself first. Otherwise you'll both die. But don't forget that you are always worthy of consideration.

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