The ultimate in sustainable living

I have been heartened today.  One of the few ladies I truly admire and respect, Miranda Kerr, has again come out in support of breastfeeding.  In her blog, Miranda talks frankly about the latest hurdle breastfeeding mums are facing, that of breastfeeding in public.  Having breastfed for nearly 9 years of my life, I can admit to breastfeeding my children in pretty much every place you can imagine - the shopping centre, parked car (picture any place you've seen a car parked and that would have been me), park benches, my bed, the lounge room floor, the swing, atop of a hay bale, on the side of the road, you get the idea.

I received many negative comments along the way.  Initially I took the unlightened and insensitive comments personally and found myself questioning my choices.  Over time and through my involvement as a breastfeeding counsellor with the Australian Breastfeeding Association, I took these encounters as an opportunity to educate people about breastfeeding.  Whenever I received a negative comment about nourishing my child with the best food it will ever receive, I would pick a fact about breastmilk or breastfeeding and state it clearly and plainly.  

For example, when a man in his early 80s once commented on me breastfeeding my then 5 year old son after he had a nasty fall on the street I very calmly responded that the act of breastfeeding releases oxytocin (the "love hormone") in both mother and child and helps to soothe a child after a fright or injury.  When a woman in her late teens snickered at me breastfeeding my baby while pushing the trolley, I turned around and calmly told her that my child was hungry and that she needed a feed and did not have the ability (at 5 weeks) to wait until my grocery shopping was done.  She stopped and we chatted for a few minutes about breastfeeding and both walked away happy.

It took me a long time to master this response but it was well worth it.  

Breastfeeding is the ultimate in sustainability.  There are no bottles, no teats, no sterilising, no washing, no tins, no waste.  Breastmilk is available when needed in whatever amount is required.  It is at the perfect temperature and is, as my husband keeps telling me, served from a much more attractive vessel.  The breastfed child receives the perfect blend of water, long chain fatty acids, immunoglobunlins, protein and carbohydrates. Breastmilk is easily digestible.  Breastfeeding reduces the risks of SIDS, asthma, diabetes, lukemia, breast cancer (in both mother and child), eczema and obesity.   Furthermore, breastfeeding increases intelligence, boosts bonding between mother and child and reduces the production of cortisol (a stress hormone).

Breastmilk changes in composition over time.  Colostrum, the milk produced prior to and for the first three to four days after birth, is rich and high in protein which helps clear the bowels of meconium.  Should a breastfed child get ill, the mother will produce antibodies to help the child fight off the infection.  In hot weather, breastmilk has a higher water content to quench thirst.  As a child weans naturally, breastmilk reverts to consistency similar to colostrum.  A final gift from nature!