Apparently Giselle told Harper's Bazaar that there outta be a law that mothers should breastfeed for 6 months. I saw a UK publication that called her a "smug mum". My reaction is that she might be exaggerating to make a point about the goodness of breastfeeding. I, personally, am very pro-breastfeeding, to the point of being a lactivist. Some of my fondest memories are of rocking my babies in the nursing chair. Now I read a story on Fox that describes how unfair her idea is, given that some ladies cannot breastfeed for various reasons, medication, breast surgery, cleft palate, adoption. How ironic that Giselle only breastfed her baby for 3 weeks?
Like the abortion debate, the breastfeeding debate is won through education. If a gal is dead set on not breastfeeding, no amount of laws will get her to change her mind. Anything we can do to offer support to mothers and babies is a step in the right direction. And we must be mindful that some reasons for failure of the breastfeeding relationship are not apparent in the beginning. I have a close friend who felt awful that she could not breastfeed her son. Around the age of 2 he was diagnosed with severe autism. Only in retrospect did we realize that his inability to latch and suckle might have had something to do with his disability. I think she felt vindicated in a way, but she should not have had to go through that in the first place. Now if I see a mom bottle feeding, I assume that she did her best. After all, her milk is gone. So there is no point to making her feel bad about not breastfeeding. And remember, pacifiers are a no-no. Baby's sucking reflex should be put to work building the milk supply.
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