Why would you not breastfeed?

One of my posts got off-topic in the MGM thread, and I really would like to know people's reasoning in NOT at least trying to Breastfeed.

My history, so I'm not attacked for being a hypocrite by some noobie:

When my daughter was born, I immediately put her to my breast. For over a week, we tried to breastfeed with absolutely no supplements. But she screamed for hours, her fontanel sunk in, and after fenugreek, SNS, breastpumping, 3 IBCLCs, 2 nurses, WIC, LLL, Goat's Rue, More pumping, and a partridge in a pear-tree, I finally gave up the fight. I tried to find my daughter local donated breastmilk. I tried every outlet in trying to feed her breastmilk. With none available, I resorted to formula-feeding.

So I'm coming into this debate as a formula-feeding lactivist.

Why would you NOT breastfeed? Explain. Back it up with medical documentation, proof.

 

simple, choice.

Is it not a woman's right to choose? Is it not her body anymore?

 

A true if useless answer

Sure it's a woman's right to choose, the question why would she make the choice?
I was breastfed as a baby and can't see any reason not to give it a go. So am honestly curious/baffled as to why someone wouldn't.

 

the only reason i can think of as to not breast feed would be if i had to take medication to keep me alive or sain & i couldnt BF while taking it. i would always find out other alternatives first but if there was no other medication i could take & comming off the medication ment i would be seriously ill & couldnt take care of my child properly then the bottle would be the only way to go. i have never heard of getting donated breast milk before, i dont know if it is available in the uk but i would look into it & try if i had to.

 

I can understand if you have Rheumatoid Arthritis or something, and the medications you had to take to function in daily life were easily passed into breastmilk and harmful to the babe.

And yes, there is an organization called MilkShare. They have guidelines for healthy and safe donation of breastmilk. However, most people don't know much about it.

This debate isn't about whether or not it's a woman's choice. Of course she has a choice. But why any mother would chose not to give the best available to her child is the debate.

 

does a person really need a reason? I've already pointed out that it is rather untenable for a parent to live by the 'always giving the best' mantra. It is nice and should be followed most of the time.

now i have a question. Does anyone have a link to a study showing long term benefits of breastfeeding? Almost all studies i've seen show things like cognitive differences between breastfed and formula fed babies all but disappears by age 7-8...

 

after a quick google i found some long term benefits, keeping in mind there are many short-term benefits as well:

other links:
http://www.jaoa.org/cgi/content/full/106/4/203
http://www.lalecheleague.org/NB/NBJulAug01p124.html
http://www.babyfriendly.org.uk/health.asp

There is really a wealth of information on the subject.

 

Well I'm not a woman, and obviously never have been pregnant, but when a woman becomes pregnant the breat start to produce and store breast milk for the baby, under most cases isn't a bit of a relief to get rid of some of that milk?

 

Yes, but the beasts will stop producing the milk if it isnt used. Every mother goes through the engorgement period after delivery. Mothers who do not breastfeed will just simply have to put up with it and will eventually stop creating breastmilk after a period of time. Mother's who breastfeed will be relieved through expressing the milk during nursing or pumping.

 

i know some women cant. my mom had something wrong and she couldnt without severe pain. i dont know the exact details and dont really want to ask.

 

I would NEVER have kids and not make a dire effort to breastfeed them. Formula is B.S. It is basically crap in a can. I have read an amazing book on breastfeeding and how the formula co's corrupt women in third world countries into bottle feeding though there is no clean water to make the formula. They do this because the formula companies tell them this is how Americans do it. I saw a video of African bush-women scooping brwon water that a cow was sitting into a bottle, add formula and promptky put it in her babies mouth. Thousand of babies die in South Americ from contaminated formula or get gastroenteritis from improper dilutions because they are too poor and want to make the formula "stretch". A lot of people see fromula as this benign stuff that is just amazing and the truth is the formula companies don't give a shit about you or your baby. They just want your $$$. Wic won't pay for you to get a breast pump or a lactation consult but the'll pay for that formula!!Before you leave the hospitals they give you the freebies and say crap like, just in case breastfeedint doesn't work, or less sublty, "you need this in the future" Bottom line the culture of breastfeeding needs to really change in a big way. Maybe if we encouraged new moms to breastfeed and provided more supoort and care to lactating moms discussions like this won't be necessary in the future because breastfeeding will be the norm and the formula will go back to eing what is was originally used for babies who couldn't get breastmilk, not moms who won't best-tfeed

 

One thing I have to say: WIC was MORE than happy to help me find LCs, give me a breast pump for as long as I needed it, even researched PCOS/low milk supply WITH me so they can help other women where they couldn't help me. I gave birth in a hospital, and wasn't sent home with formula freebies. I only ever got one freebie in the mail.

 

I know that it can be hard for a mother to breastfeed. I'm not just talking the physical act of breastfeeding, but that there seems to be some social stigma around the act.

The women at my work go on about how it is disgusting, and how it is weird and can screw up your baby having it sucking on your boob. How it can lead to weird dependancy and mother/child issues. Like it is something unnatural and perverted or something. 3-6 months is MORE than enough, they say. That's what forumla is for, and formula nowadays is really good. Doing it in public is rude, they claim. I don't want my kids seeing that. Like they'd rather their kids be more comfortable with the more common western ideal of breasts being a sexual object for male gratification instead.

There doesn't seem to be as much support for it out there as there should be and it can intimidate new mothers. There often isn't much support for it inside family circles as well. I know the idea of breastfeeding in public intimidates me. NOT because I think something is wrong with breastfeeding a child, but because I know so many other people have a problem with it and I prefer to avoid confrontation and stares. I'm not sure how I'll handle it or what exactly it will be like.

That being said, I completely intend to breastfeed my child until my child is ready to wean. Regardless of the stigma there is surrounding women who breastfeed, especially older babies, I KNOW it is natural and the best for my baby. Even with the intimidation of public breastfeeding or worries I'll be confined to my home because i'm nervous about feeding in public, the biggest worry on my mind by far is that for some reason I wont be able to breastfeed and my child wont receive the benefits of my breastmilk. I even have nightmares where I can't seem to breastfeed right (however, I assume thats pretty normal for a first time mother). What's most important to me is that I am able to do what I feel is the best for my baby.

Why would I not breastfeed my baby? ONLY because I had absolutely no other option. I certainly hope that will not be the case.

 

well my sister she's on her fourth child and wants to try breastfeeding her. her only problem is that with her third child she tried and couldn't produce millk she went to her doctor and asked what was wrong with her boobs. they did some ultrasounds or whatever and saw that her milkducts were too tiny for any milk to pass through. i thought this was some bs but her doctor swore by it. her doctor said that since she never tried bfing her first two children her ducts just got smaller and smaller. so with this baby she wants to exhaust all her esources to try and breastfeed.

 

What's worse about what these formula companies do in third-world countries is that they "donate" forumla to these women, these women use it cause its more free food for their children, thier milk dries up and they basically are stuck using forumla to feed their children at that point.

 

I would also like to add some other benefits:

• breast milk is the Only food for babies that contains white blood cells to boost immunity.
• breastfeeding helps build baby's pallate and develop nice looking teeths
• breastfeeding helps prevent SIDS because it is the EASIEST to digest
• breast milk is always perfect temperature, and always available.
• breast milk changes to help meet the needs of a growing baby. from colostrum to pre-milk to milk, and the composition of protein-carbohydrate-fat changes as baby gets older to meet his demands
• not to mention, breast milk helps build a relationship between mother-baby that lasts a lifetime.

I cannot think of any more right now. I understand that it is everyone's own choice, so is having a baby. But if someone chooses to have a baby, isn't it a choice to accept all responsibilities that arise in bringing that baby up?
I say everyone should give it a try. I know too many moms who don't not because they have inverted nipples, or they are sick or disabled, or the baby was born with a birth defect. I know too many moms who do not breastfeed because they do not want to be bound to the baby's schedule, they want to loose weight faster, sleep better, abuse drugs or work full time right after their baby is born.

 

at this point in my life i personally would choose not to, however that may change. i'm not even 21 yet and i don't have any plans of having children any time soon.

 

i tried breastfeeding my son for 5 days. He never latched on, and lost quite abit of weight!
I ended up having to bottlefeed so he would eat!.. i felt awful about it. but to this day he seems as healthy as can be.. Hubby has horrible allergies, and baby seems not to have them @ all so far!! whoohoo!

 

what are your reasons for choosing not to? i think that is what this thread was originally getting at.

I know lots of women who choose not to. One because it was too much work. Another because it would make her boobs sag. My mom only breastfed one of my sisters for 4 months (the other 2 of us got at least 6 months) because she had to go back to work and couldn't find a good breast pump... she tried to pump for over a month before giving up.

One woman I know didn't bf because her daughter couldn't latch. When I asked her for more information, she didn't know.

I have just quit talking to people about it unless they ask or unless I see them BFing. I've found that a lot of women are defensive about their choice, whatever that choice is.

One of the problems we have here in rural Saskatchewan is no locale LLL. The nearest is over an hour away, and they have a waiting list to get in. Basically, if I had had an emergency, my doctor would have called the city to get me an "emergency appointment", and then I would have had to drive an hour with my newborn to get looked at/listened to.

 

Everyone has such great points about breastfeeding being the healthiest thing for a baby and for the most part they are all true. However, there are many reasons why a woman can’t breast feed and some babies will die if they drink breast milk.

I know a few women who have had a lot of problems with breast feeding, like not producing enough milk, inverted nipples (for some women this can cause the nipples to be torn off) there are some women with certain illnesses they causes them to have blood in their breast milk.

There are some dieses that children and babies have that will keep their body from digesting the some types of protein and if they drink breast milk, it can lead to sever brain damage and death. In addition, many babies are allergic to breast milk

If anyone is interested in information regarding any of this information please let m know.

Some women really don’t have a choice.