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The Social Myths of Breastfeeding
By Carma Haley Shoemaker
There are many, many sources of information regarding the technical myths of breastfeeding. Experts often share their opinions, observations and advice on the when, how and how much of the breastfeeding controversy. However, information related to the social myths is hard to find, if you find any at all. The result: Women continue to have, hear and share these myths, regardless of their validity.
According to Melissa Clark Vickers, International Board Certified Lactation Consultant and iParenting expert advisor, your most valuable source of information may be you. "The most important factor in this decision is whether the idea, suggestion, or statement 'sits' well in a mother's gut," Vickers says. "A mother has a wonderful sense of intuition, a barometer of sorts, that alerts her when something is not quite right. She may or may not know specifically what is wrong, but she can sense something that is wrong -- for her."
"Others will offer advice and their concern, but in the end you must decide which is more important -- nursing or the concerns of others. The benefits of nursing go on and on, for years, for both the mother and the baby the other stuff is just words, advice and opinion," says Dejah Tyler, a publisher from Dahlgren, Va.
The most important question to ask may not be where these myths came from, but rather, why they even occur. Vickers explains that the birth of these myths may have more to do with society than with statistics. "[A mother's] intuitive sense would be a lot more specific if we were living in a society in which breastfeeding is truly the cultural norm," she says. "Women -- and men -- would grow up seeing women breastfeeding and learn without thinking about it. Since we don't live in this kind of society, much of what most women grow up seeing is bottle-feeding. However, the 'rules' of bottle-feeding simply don't apply to breastfeeding. Thus, the problem."
