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

Specializes in Community, OB, Nursery.

Why does it matter? Let people breastfeed who want to, for however long they want to, and if people don't want to breastfeed, nobody needs to be in their face about it!

Honestly, with all the tragedy in the world right now, is this the worst thing to be quibbling about?

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Is he so "adament" because of the benefits of breastmilk, or because it relieves him of feeding duties??

I'm not sure exactly... mostly, it's what's natural argument. Next is probably traditional roles, and how he sees me as his wife (yet he wants me to have an income). I'm sure its for the benefits of breast feeding as well. I asked him about it after posting on this threat and now he's not so adamant, but wouldn't really talk about it.

I've watched my sister do this with her two kids, being pregnant or breast feeding for the last 4 years. I'm sure she loves it, but she's had difficulty working full time and pumping in the restrooms. She tries to continue working while pumping by bringing her lap top with her. However, being somewhat of a feminist (more for equality, rather than die hard), she has a hard time with the work distribution with her husband.

I'm not sure what I'll do if I ever have another baby, but I don't like being told what to do. It really depends if it is feasible to pump while working in nursing... however, we can hardly take lunch, so I can't imagine this. I don't think I could quit working again either, I'm not built to be a stay at home mom.

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I've done both. Bottlefed exclusively one child and breastfed exclusively another. There is no difference in their health or intelligence or my relationship with them. I've come to the conclusion that the previous poster is dead on about letting everyone make their own choices. What's best for mom and baby is what is best (and that is not always breast).

First, one cannot possibly know that there are not health consequences for bottle fed babies because they may not show up right away.

Second, I do believe that a woman has the right to make the choice between bottle feeding and breastfeeding, but let's be perfectly clear that choosing to bottle feed is a selfish choice when everyone agrees that breastfeeding is the best choice for baby.

Finally, have any of you ever tasted formula??? If so, then choosing to bottle feed is even more selfish than those who have not because it tastes completely horrifying, just like I imagine it would if taking a bunch of chemicals, mixing the swill together and calling it nutrition!

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I might suggest that we stop debating. Some already say do not judge or tell other to BF or not to. It's individual, as long as one comes into decision with sufficient knowledge, support, and totally based on its critical situation, then she is right.

Human is unique. Remember this Henderson's quote:

"The unique function of the nurse is to assist the individual, sick or well, in the performance of those activities contributing to health or its recovery (or to peaceful death) that he would perform unaided if he had the necessary strength, will or knowledge"

So as nurses, are we in the position to judge? But to help I guess. Hope someone agree with that ^_^

Everyone has the right to choose, but it does not mean the choice is right.

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Specializes in Pediatrics.

For goodness sake, allow mothers to make informed choices!! I am a huge advocate for breastfeeding and I'll be honest, I have a hard time understanding why a mother wouldn't choose breastfeeding when given the facts of how beneficial it is for both mother and baby. However, I do understand that not everyone is me, and that nobody thinks exactly the same way I do on every parenting topic, and it's not my place to judge someone else for the choices they made. I give credit to all the mommies out there who just try to do the best for their children that they can!:yeah:

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Specializes in Pediatrics.

Sorry, but this sounds like a parenting book. I didn't bf my first, hence, breasts looked fine. I'm going on 29 months with my second and let me tell ya........ it's national geographic. All of my long-term bf friends will heartily agree: it's the breastfeeding not the pregnancy!

I think every woman is different. I breastfed my baby and the stretch marks came from pregnancy. They didn't get any worse with breastfeeding and eventually faded to barely noticeable. I actually loved my plump breasts when I was pregnant and nursing!
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i breastfed our kids & in retrospect i wish i hadn't. i struggle with maintaining a healthy weight due to a crazy metabolism ::ducking to avoid incoming rocks:: and i only gained 12lbs with our daughter and lost 18 at delivery. lost another 15-20 i couldnt afford to lose breastfeeding her. i said i wouldn't do it again cause it took me years to recover, my body'd gone haywire from being underweight but then our son was born and i breastfed again, i was afraid with all the allergies that run in the family he'd end up on Nutramigen and it would cost too much.. i lost over 30lbs i didn't have...he's over 4 now and i've just now regained 20lbs of it...:sniff:

wish i'd taken a crowbar to my wallet and bottlefed both of them, mommy would've been alot healthier that's for sure...in all the pics from them little i look like a skeleton..

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Specializes in Peds/outpatient FP,derm,allergy/private duty.
i breastfed our kids & in retrospect i wish i hadn't. i struggle with maintaining a healthy weight due to a crazy metabolism ::ducking to avoid incoming rocks:: and i only gained 12lbs with our daughter and lost 18 at delivery. lost another 15-20 i couldnt afford to lose breastfeeding her. i said i wouldn't do it again cause it took me years to recover, my body'd gone haywire from being underweight but then our son was born and i breastfed again, i was afraid with all the allergies that run in the family he'd end up on Nutramigen and it would cost too much.. i lost over 30lbs i didn't have...he's over 4 now and i've just now regained 20lbs of it...:sniff:

wish i'd taken a crowbar to my wallet and bottlefed both of them, mommy would've been alot healthier that's for sure...in all the pics from them little i look like a skeleton..

Did you seek help from a medical professional, nutritionist, lactation consultant regarding your difficulties? "Crazy metabolism" isn't a diagnosis!! There's a wide array of possible reasons for someone to be losing that much weight in so short a time. I'm just going to assume that you increased your calorie intake as a first step to remedy the issue?

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in my family, we are all naturally stick thin, i've been to endocrinologists, nutritionists, you name it, second opinions, it's just very hard for me to gain weight in order to maintain my weight i need to eat around 2000-2500 cals/day which is alot for a woman of average height. as long as i'm not pregnant or bfing (or recovering from either) i generally do ok. i had great pregnancies except for 24/7 nausea & fatigue, i ate like a horse while pregnant and just couldnt gain tons of weight and it melted off sooo fast when i breastfed. my body made tons of milk for my kids no problem, they were fat & happy but i suffered. my mother had the same problem nursing me...i should have seen it coming...not to worry i am doing better now, i look quite good and my breasts are back since i have more body fat now! :D i loved breastfeeding, it was soo easy to not have to mix formula and it was free but if we ever have another one we are already setting money aside for the formula.....

in my L&D rotations some of the nurses treated the bottlefeeding mommies quite horribly and it drove me crazy!! aren't we supposed to be the definition of nonjudgemental??

as an aside, my best friend in the whole world struggles with her weight in the opposite way. i told her when pregnant, "no worries hon those pregnancy pounds will just melt away when you nurse!" she gained 20 lbs during 1 year of breastfeeding while on a diet even!! i felt so bad about that.

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

OK, so the weight melts off and you eat enough and there is nothing wrong with your endocrine system and that's a problem???? I know, I know you've heard that a million times probably. :p I do realize being underweight and not wanting to be is frustrating just as being overweight is. Any nurse who treats a bottle-feeding mom horribly because of her decision should get out of L&D. Yeah, I'm harsh, but that is really inappropriate. I shudder to think if a new mom allows herself to be guilt-tripped into breast-feeding when she has real, well-considered reasons not to such as the breast cancer patient I mentioned in an earlier post-- and then ends up with a catastrophic result. No place for that at all.

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Specializes in Peds/outpatient FP,derm,allergy/private duty.
Nurse156:

Thanks for validating what I taught for 35 years. None of my 1,000s of students' babies suffered ill effects from sleeping in their parents' beds.

I've stayed in touch with many if them, and I'm sure a lawyer's letter would have reached me if any of them rolled over onto the baby. The only problem I heard about, was getting dad to change the poopy diapers in the middle of the night.....

The few I've heard of one of the parents was under the influence of a CNS depressant ie alcohol, sleeping pill, recreational drug. My personal experience was that I woke up easily if the baby moved or my arm fell asleep. Before my first baby was born, I fully intended to go by the old Dr. Spock playbook my own mom used. After I had the baby, it just felt right to me to keep him very close to me, pick him up when he cried, etc. While La Leche League has a reputation now for being extreme, their book opened up my eyes to a very different way of relating to babies. Then I started on a reading craze about anything and everything relating to parenting traditions all over the world and throughout time. I'm sure you know as well as I do that childrearing trends in industrialized societies over the last 150 yrs. differ radically from the whole of our history, and newer isn't always better!! Thanks for responding! :)

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Specializes in OB/Gyn, L&D, NICU.

Aside from the fact that my risk for breast cancer is nearly 0% now that I have a combined total of 7 years of breastfeeding? The babies/toddler continues to receive immunities from diseases and illness from the mother as long as she breastfeeds. When they get diarrhea, breast milk is often the only thing a child can keep down. Their brain continues to grow rapidly until 3 years of age. My children suffered from multiple food allergies, but since it is impossible to be allergic to breast milk, they were able to get nourishment when they could not tolerate other foods. I changed my diet to eliminate foods to which they were allergic. Breast milk provides all the essential nutrients for *proper* brain growth, while other types of milk may be "good enough." Breastfeeding also promotes good orthodontia, whereas pacifiers and bottles can create orthodontic problems. Breast milk is ideal for promoting the proper type of body fat, reducing risk of obesity. My children are lean and athletic and I attribute it somewhat to the ample supply of breastmilk they had. When a child is past 1 year, the nursing is often only a few times a day. It is not necessarily their sole source of nutrition, although it can be, if necessary for medical conditions.

What purpose did it serve to breastfeed your kids that long?
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