Having a baby is one of the major milestones in one’s life. A tiny, little human is growing inside you, and soon you’ll have the bundle of joy in your arms. Is there a better feeling?! No, I bet there’s not. And another thing we can all agree on, is our parents being the heroes, and the two people we will always look up to.
Most of the time, new parents are overwhelmed with advice on their life after the baby. Basically, everyone will come to you with answers, stories, and in particular, with the question “Are you going to breastfeed?”
People in the UK, and pretty much everywhere else, believe that breastfeeding is the best option for new babies. But whatever the decision, people always find a way to shame the new moms, unfortunately. If someone chooses not to or is unable to breastfeed, people will come after her for not breastfeeding the baby. Or when they do breastfeed, they will face stigma when breastfeeding their children in public.
Now, besides being healthy for both the mom and the baby, breastfeeding has been particularly convincing because it’s free. But Kera Lovell, a history professor, recently posted on Twitter making an excellent point and making us see the debate from a new, feminist perspective.
Someone just told me she had spent roughly 4866 hours of her life breastfeeding and that breastmilk is only free if we think of women’s time, bodies, and carework as worthless.
. . . . . . . 🧠💥
— Kera Lovell, Ph.D. (@keralovell) January 11, 2019
The post has over 14,000 likes and is making moms on Twitter realize how much time they’ve actually spent breastfeeding.
I thought “wow, she must have had a lot of kids or fed into toddler years!” Then I did a quick estimate for my 2 kids that I weaned at 12 months. I got 4,380. I had no idea how much I had also discounted my own time. Also…
— Cecily Buell (@bandgazebo) January 12, 2019
…my first was really slow as a newborn. An average feed would take an hour and 10-12 feeds a day meant it was more than a full time job. My husband would come home and I’d feel guilty for not doing anything all day, but then I’d remember that my job was feeding a baby. Ugh.
— Cecily Buell (@bandgazebo) January 12, 2019
That’s just woman power over there!
I was going through an unavoidable divorce w newborn. Judge split time, day w breastfeeding mom, overnight at dad’s. I pumped all night every night and never thought twice. Every two hours. I never gave up. Judge trumped pediatricians. I delivered milk daily. 1000s hrs milking.
— Meghan M. O’Neil (@Meghan__ONeil) January 12, 2019
“Over the course of four children, I have breastfed for in excess of 52500 hours….and am still nursing the youngest! I’m all up for getting paid a lump sum in arrears 😂”
My mom works as a neonatal nurse and she does lactation counseling. The “free” angle was one of her points for convincing mothers who weren’t sure they wanted to do it until I pointed this out to her. Breastfeeding is a totally valid choice, but it ain’t free.
— Britt-ba Yaga (@Britmonster) January 13, 2019
Surprisingly, Norway counts the breastmilk as part of Gross National Product (GNP), an estimation of a nation’s total economic activity, finished goods, and services.
In Norway breastmilk is counted as part of GNP
— cc_colton (@cc_colton_novel) January 13, 2019
Dr. Parveen Ali of the University of Sheffield even explains that in Islam, women are allowed to charge their husbands for breastfeeding, even though he’s not sure whether anyone has ever done it.
Did you know that from religious perspective a Muslim woman can charge her husband for breastfeeding their child! It’s their religious right. Not sure if anyone has ever done it though
— Dr Parveen Ali (@parveenazamali) January 12, 2019
Read also: Breastfeeding Benefits For Both The Mother And The Baby
