Breast sharing...

With the increasing popularity of eats on feets I really love that breast milk is being recognised as the normal milk. I think that it will help our society to see that breast milk and artificial baby milk are NOT equal, not just another option that doesn't really matter. Feeding a baby with anything but breast milk is a risk, something I don't think is recognised. These risks are well publicised, increased risk or auto immune disease (type 1 diabetes, eczema, asthma, etc), childhood cancers, obesity etc etc. Yet when they are reported in the media, they change it to 'benefits of breast feeding' which kind of makes it an unattainable ideal. It tells women that breast feeding is the best and as we know, in life, few achieve the best. It's supposed to reassure women who have 'failed' to that their best was good enough but I suspect for those in that boat, it probably does the opposite. The fact is, women don't fail. They are failed. Again and again. The doctor tells them not to worry, formula is fine. He could have just told her that lots of women feel their supply is poor, or that lots of women struggle with x,y,z and here is some tips to get through it. Or if they don't know, here is the number for someone who does. They are treated like fools in hospital both when birthing their babies and postnatally. The support they are given fails them and their babies.
So, where am I going with this? I find it heart warming that breast milk is getting some publicity. Lots of people were probably horrified at first but hopefully it'll get them thinking. Hopefully they'll look into the risks of artificial baby milk rather than assume it's just another feeding option. My biggest hope is that it'll filter to health professionals and that they'll look to support women rather than looking for short term solutions to what is likely to not be a huge problem in the first place!

Anyway, I have digressed bigtime.
This came up this afternoon in my online mother's group with Felix. People were quite respectful about it rather then the 'ewwwww' that often is the first response. I have been quite surprised by my own response to the idea of cross feeding.
Intellectually, I think it is the best solution to the problem of lack of breast milk for any baby that can tolerate it. I'd suspect the risk of infection or other risks of cross nursing would be outweighed by the risk of them not receiving breast milk, nevermind the risks of contaminated formula or any other issues that come with the preparation of the milk. In the circumstances where a mother cannot feed her own baby, the comfort a baby would get from a breast, even if not the one that it belongs to, makes it an easy decision for me.
But there it is. A baby receives so much more from breast feeding than just milk. It's an intimate act, one that cannot be compared to bottle feeding. Of course, not every feed is that 'gazing into each other's eyes' kind of feed but lots of them are. There is lots of skin to skin contact, well certainly more than there is with bottle feeding. This is what I struggle with. In the scenario where I am unable or unavailable to feed my baby I am more than happy to have another woman, preferably someone I know and trust, feed my baby from her own breast. It's something I've discussed with Mark, what would he do if I was seriously ill, hurt or dead and we had a young baby. I'm very pleased to report that he said he would call any lactating friend of mine he could to get milk in the short term and get their help and advice in the long term. Where my heart interferes with all this is in more casual arrangements.
The new Harry Potter movie came out a few weeks ago. I *really* want to go see it. I don't really want to take a squirmy 5 month old with a short attention span, both for my benefit and the benefit of the others in the cinema. Said 5 month old thinks bottles are for fools. We're tried a few times, both with bottles and with cup feeding and he is not impressed. A good friend who I trust entirely offered to look after baby Foo so I could go with Mark. This same friend gave my milk to her newborn over a year ago now, but from a bottle or cup, not from my breast. At first thought, this seemed like the perfect solution but then I thought about Foo making those goo goo eyes at someone else and I felt that insane jealousy rise up. Where on earth did that come from?! I've spent a week or so thinking about this and in the end I've realised that it just feels a bit wrong for a movie. The planning it thing seems wrong too. I know that if I left him with her or any other lactating human I trusted and for whatever reason I was delayed and baby was distressed I wouldn't hesitate to say 'feed him!!'
It's been interesting for this to come up. I read about a women and her friend who share feeding their toddlers to the point that the child will chose the other mum to feed with her friend. My first thought was, imagine my toddler rejecting me for another! Clearly I have issues there, lol!

Guess I'm waiting for the DVD release ;)