Barriers to Breastfeeding

Widespread misinformation, return to jobs, and social reticence all serve as barriers to breastfeeding.

Misinformation Probably the major barriers to breastfeeding are misinforma­tion, such as one's breasts are too small, and lack of role models. One positive note has been the widespread increase in the availability of lactation consultants over the past several years. These consultants are a valuable source for new mothers in the ad­justment to breastfeeding. If a woman is interested in breastfeeding, she should also talk to women who have done it successfully. Experienced mothers can be an enor­mous help to the first-time mother. The first-time mother should find a friend she can call on for advice. In almost every community, a group called La Leche League offers classes in breastfeeding and advises women who have problems with it .

Return to an Outside Job Working outside the home can complicate plans to breastfeed. One possibility after a month or two of breastfeeding is for the mother to regularly express and save her own milk. She can express milk by breast pump or manually into a sterile plastic bottle or nursing bag (used in a disposable bottle sys­tem). Saving human milk requires careful sanitation and rapid chilling. It can be stored in the refrigerator for 1 day and be frozen for 1 month. There is a knack to learning how to express milk, but the freedom can be worth it, because it allows others to feed the infant the mother's milk. A schedule of expressing milk and using supplemental formula feedings is most successful if begun after 1 to 2 months of ex­clusive breastfeeding. After 1 month or so, the baby is well adapted to breastfeeding and probably feels enough emotional security and other benefits from nursing to drink both ways.

Social Concerns Another barrier for some women is embarrassment about nurs­ing a child in public. Historically, our society has stressed modesty and has dis­couraged public displays of breasts even for as good a cause as nourishing babies. Women who feel reticent should be reassured that with appropriate clothing, they can nurse quite discreetly.