Breastfeeding Awareness Week - Celebrate Breastfeeding
Breastfeeding is more than just nourishing your baby; it’s a cherished bonding moment that fosters emotional and physical well-being for both mother and child.
The simple act of holding your baby close and providing nourishment through breast milk has profound benefits, from boosting the baby's immune system to enhancing maternal health.
August brings us Breastfeeding Awareness Week (from 1st to 7th), a time dedicated to celebrating, educating, and raising awareness about the benefits and challenges of breastfeeding. This week serves as a reminder for society to support breastfeeding mothers and acknowledge the unique experiences they face, especially for those mothers with premature babies.
The benefits to breastfeeding your baby are quite well known and include:
- Added nutritional vitamins
- Extra protein
- More fat for weight gain
- The antibodies to fight sickness and infections
- Is known to digest easier for babies.
There are also benefits for mum which include:
- Close bonding time
- Helps burn calories
- and free!
Look I could delve deeper into the benefits of breastfeeding but as a mother of three who breastfed my own children I would say I found it quite uncomfortable at times to do so. Especially in public places, I felt the side eye, weird looks and I would usually put myself in the corner to feel more comfortable and ensure there were no nip slips, even under a muslin cloth.
Breasts were created to feed babies and are not objects for male pleasure. It frustrates me to no end when I see a breastfeeding photo being taken off social media for "X-rated themes" however another female with a "top" barely covering her nipples can freely post and remain. I have no issue with females posting themselves to how they feel comfortable however lets break these two images down. The intent of the first image is to show a mother feeding her child, the intent of the second image is to use breasts to sexualize herself creating interest for increased likes, DMs or overall notoriety. It may be an algorithm picking these images out but it's important to correct it for what it is and put the images back up.
Situations like this perpetuate the struggles of a mother breastfeeding in public so for me this week is to normalise breastfeeding. So that a mother can feel comfortable to feed her baby whenever and where ever she needs to. In terms of feeding babies, what could be more natural?
Over the years I have noticed the perception change and greater acceptance over mothers breastfeeding in public which is greatly helped by campaigns such as this one.
Breastfeeding is a beautiful, intricate part of motherhood, bringing endless benefits to both mother and baby. So during Breastfeeding Awareness Week, let’s honor and support every mother on this journey, offer resources, and share knowledge to make this precious time as joyous and successful as possible.
Let me know what your experiences are and what you think can be done to help mothers feel more comfortable to breastfeed.
