Adapted from the MD Mama blog at Boston.com.
When I read the latest study about the benefits of breast-feeding, I thought: I should write about this!
And then I thought: If I do, it will fuel the “Mommy Wars.”
As a pediatrician, I can’t help but be a big fan of breast-feeding. The benefits for babies are just so clear: It lowers the risk of infection, allergy, cancer, chronic disease, obesity and other health problems. It helps with bonding. It is good for brain development and even IQ.
That’s what the latest study showed. My colleagues at Boston Children’s found that the longer babies breast-fed, the higher their vocabulary scores at age 3 and their intelligence scores at age 7.
Yet when I write about breast-feeding, some mothers who breast-feed take it as further proof that they are better mothers. And some mothers who don’t breast-feed take it as further proof that they are being made to feel like lesser mothers.
Ultimately, breast-feeding is a deeply personal subject. It involves not just a woman’s body but her breasts, which in our culture are very sexualized. It can be hard to think of breasts in a purely utilitarian way; using them to feed, and exposing them in public, is something that makes some people understandably uncomfortable, no matter how natural breast-feeding may be.
Also, breast-feeding — especially prolonged breast-feeding — is not easy for working mothers. This feeds into all sorts of emotionally charged issues of how we parent, take care of our families and define ourselves as mothers.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention just released a report saying that over the past decade we’ve made great progress in increasing the number of babies who are breast-fed. In 2000, only 35 percent of babies were still breast-feeding at 6 months, which is what the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends. In 2010, it was up to 49 percent. This has huge implications not just for breast-fed babies but for the overall current and future health of our society.
More mothers are breast-feeding at least in part because of more public awareness, encouragement, and support. Given the benefits of breast-feeding, I would be an irresponsible pediatrician if I didn’t talk about it and do everything I can to encourage mothers to breast-feed.
But in my practice, as soon as it becomes clear that breast-feeding isn’t going to work for a particular mother or family, I back off. Because I know that there is way more to parenting and health than breast-feeding. You can keep your children healthy by giving them a healthy diet, making sure they are active, watching their weight, and teaching them good health habits. You can help them do well in school and life by talking to them and reading and playing with them, by turning off the TV, and building and exploring and making stuff. You can bond with them by spending time with them and making sure they know you love them.
All of this makes a huge difference — together, much more than breast-feeding.
Read more of this blog at www.boston.com/mdmama.
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