Susu Ibu

My friend and I had a heated discussion on breastfeeding. It was so heated that we didn't see Azalia pushing her daughter (who is 2 years younger..thus.. still a baby). Why she pushed?? tak nak kasi pergi dekat TV katanye. Good intention but wrong action. Mama's fault for not watching you kids.

Anyway.. back to the breastfeeding story.

Ok first, my friend and I give our kids breastmilk. She breastfeeds while I bottle feed. She's still on it till now (daughter is 11 months) and I stopped when Azalia was about 10 months. We are very much pro breastmilk BUT what we were discussing on was the way people are trying to encourage mothers to breastfeed.

She's a doctor and currently in her hospital, all doctors and nurses are required to attend a lactation course. She was appalled by the way the presenters were judging non breastfeeding mothers. They didn't bother to understand the reason for their inability to breastfeed but go straight to being overly judgemental on them. Like WTH lah kan.

I think.. the best way to encourage mothers to breastfeed is to

1. Cheaper breastpump. seriously... the cheapest is a manual pump but even a good quality one cost a few hundred. One would argue that you save more compared to giving them formula, but forking out a huge sum at one time is a burder to some who have very low income. And plus, they dilute their formulas so that it would last more. Isn't that sad people.

2. Longer maternity leaves. 6 months paid and 6 months unpaid(optional of course). Enough said.

3. Lactation rooms at the office/workplace. Employers need to be understanding and provide this convenience for mothers. We don't want to pump in a toilet do we. Plus, clearly the country's workforce are dependant on women but at the same time women are expected to perform not just at work but also at home. So why not provide women some well deserved benefits. A lactation room isn't that hard to give. All we need is a room with a fridge. And of course electrical points. If that's too hard you wonder why mothers find it hard to exclusively breastfeed their child.

4. Did I mention cheaper breastpumps??!!!

If you have the money, knowledge and education yes you won't have any problems. But there are many others who do not have this privilege. So stop judging and start educating and solving. I think what should be in lactation courses is other than emphasisng on the benefits of mother's milk, one should also share experiences on how to express milk at work, the choices of breastpumps we have and their prices, sharing other problems and solutions to breastfeeding.

Mother's know the benefits of breastfeeding, they just need help in executing it.