Bella and I in 1994
One of the biggest reasons I started that little “zine” WomanTalk some fifteen years ago was so that cool women I knew could all talk, support, and share information together. Another organization that does this is La Leche League, which is an international organization that supports all breastfeeding moms (regardless of how long they choose to nurse their babies).
As much as we all know intellectually that breastfeeding is best, I tell you there is still not very much support for woman nursing their babies in public or even nursing past the age of six months. Believe me, I am not uncomfortable with my body, but people around me sure tried to make me uncomfortable every time I nursed in public. Because of this attitude, I saw too many intelligent and compassionate women give up breastfeeding long before they had intended. In order to support other breastfeeding moms I ended up applying to become a La Leche League leader.
La Leche League has a wonderful, innovative application process which consists of a self-paced study course of key texts and an ongoing dialogue with an experienced leader. In addition, the prospective leader is expected to review her own breastfeeding history and to attempt to uncover any biases that might influence the kind of advice she would give a new nursing mother.
Even though I supported LLL wholeheartedly, when Bella weaned and the prospects of another child looked dim, I drifted away from La Leche League. Now, if a friend is about to have a baby I make a copy of my breastfeeding history and pop it in the post. As a new mother I loved hearing the stories of my like-minded attachment parenting friends who had been through the same experiences before me. I was inspired to finally type up this essay because of Corrina’s lovely post on attachment parenting here. (The original document was printed on a dot-matrix!)
Personal Breastfeeding History Part I
My journey into parenthood has been, I realize now, as tumultuous, as long, and as enlightening and wonderful as the path of many other parents.
[Hold up. This essay is way longer than I realized. Also, I think it needs a lot of editing – we’ll see what I get to by tomorrow.]