Tag Archives: breastfeeding

Love Bites: Breastfeeding and Teeth

teething and breastfeedingFunny that in the same week that I received the comment “Oh you are still breastfeeding? But, umm, she has TEETH?” that I also received an email from a university friend asking for my take on dealing with teeth and breastfeeding. So, I guess, it’s a important topic. I have been told, on numerous occasions, that once BiP got teeth, breastfeeding, must, I mean, MUST come to an end. Ask why and I guarantee there is no viable answer. One thing is for certain; it changes things.

When do babies get their first tooth?

This is a spectrum – the average age is 6 months but it can range anywhere from 4 months to as late as 18 months.

Won’t breastfeeding a baby with teeth hurt?

Yes, it can. It probably will hurt but no baby intends to bite you (well, not usually, BiP sometimes bites if I doing something outlandish like talk to someone whilst she is nursing)!

How do I deal with teeth, biting and breastfeeding?

The key thing to remember is that NO baby intends to hurt their mother and cut short their breastfeeding journey – I say journey because it really is one!  In reality not all babies bite, it’s just that many do!

So here are my tips to prevent biting:

  • Make sure your baby’s mouth is open wide enough – Once BiP got teeth I realised that she never opened her mouth wide enough in the first place so teeth got in the way.
  • Usually when babies are teething it’s around the same time that they are aware of their surroundings so it might be a good idea to nurse somewhere quiet. Distracted babies can bite.
  • If you baby is teething give a teething toy before a nursing session or let them chew a teething necklace.
  • Make sure you baby wants to feed before offering the breast to minimise biting (this might sound awful but I found that I usually got bitten when BiP wasn’t really in the mood to nurse).

Remember: A nursing baby CANNOT feed and bite at the same time!

What do I do if my baby bites me?

Most say to ignore it but if the bite is anything like I’ve experienced that is next to impossible.

  • I’ve found that taking BiP off the breast and explaining that biting means that we won’t be able to continue is usually very effective (BiP at 6m would cry her eyes out during this explanation and then nurse correctly).
  • Sometimes, you’ll need to move somewhere quieter to concentrate on your baby (BiP would bite if I was talking to someone or playing with my phone).
  • Abandoning that nursing session for a while is also a solution especially during transitions between dropping feeds.

 

At the end of the day it is important to remember that no baby, that I have ever heard of, has bitten a mother’s nipple off – although it may feel like it is possible! I know with BiP I have held my breath and looked down to be shocked that my nipple was still attached!!!  Yes, it can hurt. Yes, you can end up with cuts. Dig out that lanolin and air dry when you can. It is not uncommon, and usually painless, to have teeth marks on your breast post feed once you have the biting under control. I promise it’s a short lived stage and there is NO reason to wean your baby just because they have teeth.

For more information check out KellyMom (this site should be in your bookmarks already!)
What are you tips on dealing with breastfeeding a baby with teeth?

Having a Baby Abroad – Global Differences Series: FRANCE

Having a baby abroad franceI am back in France, once again as part of the series The Global Differences of Baby-Making. This week I talk to Ashely who had her daughter in France and is expecting her 2nd baby in November.  Here is here story on becoming a mother away from her home country of the US and being spoled by the French medical system

Tell me a bit about yourself? Where are you from? How old is your daughter and where did you have her?

I grew up in sunny California, and now live in not so sunny France, about an hour East of Paris.  My daughter is 20 months old, and I am currently expecting Baby #2 for November.

Why did you have your  daughter abroad?

I had my child (and will have our future child(ren)) abroad, well, because we live here!  I didn’t really have any other option to be honest.  I no longer carry any insurance elsewhere, and in all honesty, I don’t know that I would have wanted to have my baby elsewhere.  I like where we live, and I can’t imagine leaving to birth a baby elsewhere, unless of course it was on Ina May Gaskin’s “Farm”…

What do you feel were the benefits to having children abroad?

Living in France, I feel lucky that all costs related to my birth were taken care of by either the social security system, or our complementary insurance.  Something that can be both good and bad, depending, is the amount of time spent in the hospital after the birth.  I ended up with a C-Section due to a breech baby, and stayed in the hospital for 5 days before being released!  While I know that this is to make sure Mom and Baby are in top condition before leaving, it was a little too long for me personally.

Another benefit I had, was an IBCLC midwife that came to my home for several days once I was home, to help us with breastfeeding while got off to a rocky start.  I don’t think that I would have nursed as long as I did without this IBCLC’s support.  A ‘future’ benefit to having consequent children in France for me, is that France seems to be very VBAC friendly.  When I asked my Doctor about a VBAC for this baby, he seemed sincerely surprised that I was even asking.  It was obvious to him that we would be aiming for a VBAC, and a repeat C-Section if only really necessary.

Ashley and Miss L

As an expectant mother abroad how did you feel?

I felt spoiled!  I was put on a medical leave for the last few months of my pregnancy due to a really long commute and high-ish blood pressure.  There are special lines at the grocery store for expectant mothers, old ladies would put anything heavy in my cart for me, in general it was a very positive experience.  I did have a few less pleasant experiences, but all in all, it was great!

Did you encounter any opinions that would have been different in your home country with regards to your pregnancy or parenting choices?

I am not sure how a breech baby would have been ‘handled’ in the US, but I think very similarly to how it was here.  As for parenting choices, the French, in general, parent quite differently then us.  Their babies always wear slippers, and (way too) covered up, and are on strict feeding schedules from a very young age.  I guess I could be qualified as an Attachment Parenting type. Having a baby abroad I (still) breastfeed my daughter more or less on demand.  She co-slept for a long time, and still does sometimes, I don’t spank, I don’t have strict mealtimes, I don’t let my child cry it out, and I don’t read any ‘parenting’ books.  I’d much rather follow my heart and my child’s lead.  Parents like us in France are rare.  I feel like in the US I would have been able to find a group of like minded parents with more ease.

What advice would you give other mothers in your situation?
I think the best advice for any mom, is to follow your heart.  The best ‘expert’ on your child is you.  Not someone who wrote a book, not the neighbor, not even your own parents.

Connect with Ashley on Twitter and on her blog

 

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Want to share your story? Get in touch: ameena@mummyinprovence.com

 

Having a Baby Abroad – Global Differences Series: BELGIUM

Next up in the series of The Global Differences of Baby-Making we go to Belgium to hear Yvonne’s story about how she had her son abroad. She highlights the differences between the care and practices in Belgium vs. her native country, Germany.

 

Tell me a bit about yourself? Where are you from? How old is your son and where did you have him?

 

Yvonne and her husband with newborn Lennert

After having a long distance relationship for about 4 years, I moved to Belgium in 2001 after having finished my studies in Germany. We moved in together and despite all warnings everything went very well. We got married in May 2009 and I got pregnant a little bit later. I gave birth to a wonderful baby boy on October 8th 2010 in Veurne, Belgium. So Lennert is now 7 months old.

 

Why did you have your son abroad?

I’ve lived in Belgium for the last 10 years. My life has pretty much shifted to here. I still visit my parents and friends a lot. We travel to Germany at least 5 times a year and with the baby even more often. Still, the fact to have my baby in Belgium was never questioned. I have a gyn that I trust a lot, I wouldn’t want to go back to Germany to deliver the baby with a complete stranger. Furthermore, I didn’t want to quit my job earlier, just in case. I worked until 2 days before I delivered Lennert (I was induced due to high risk of pre-eclampsia). Also, my health insurance is in Belgium and wouldn’t have paid for a birth abroad, if deliberately chosen.

 

What do you feel were the benefits to having children abroad?

Lennert with Yvonne minutes after being born

As opposed to Germany, I had an ultrasound every check-up. My friends tell me that in Germany they do only 3 ultrasounds during the whole pregnancy. Furthermore, in Belgium measuring the neck transparency is standard whereas you have to pay for a supplementary examination in Germany, which isn’t covered by health insurance. This was in the end extremely important as the gyn measured a thicker neck transparency during my 12-week check-up. He immediately took action and 2 days later I had a Chorionic villus sampling (CVS) which turned out to be just fine! Until this point in my pregnancy I had never heard of CVS.

 

A huge advantage of the Belgian system is that the health care providers pay prenatal and postnatal counseling by midwives. So I found a wonderful midwife who came to our house a few times when I was pregnant. I wanted to stay at home as long as possible when going into labour before going to the hospital. She was supposed to be around and tell me when I should go to the hospital. In the end, I was induced and this part of my birth plan did not happen. Still, she came regularly after I’d gone home and checked the wellbeing of the baby but also mine! I don’t think anything like this exists in Germany.

 

As an expectant mother abroad how did you feel?

I don’t think I would have felt much different than being in Germany. Everybody was positive and as I’m fluent in Dutch I didn’t have any language issues either.

 

Did you encounter any opinions that would have been different in your home country with regards to your pregnancy or parenting choices?

Lennert

In Belgium your maternity leave is 15 weeks. You have to take at least one week before your due date and maximum 6 before your due date. Every week left, you take after delivering. So I opted to work until the last day and stay at home for 14 weeks before returning to work. In Germany things are very much different. Pregnant women stay at home at least 6 weeks before the ir due date and don’t return to work for ONE YEAR! At least, most of the time it’s more like 2 or 3 years. So when I told my family and friends in Germany that I would return to work after 3 months, I got a lot of eyebrow raising and that look that tells your “what kind of mother are you anyway”. Well, I didn’t have much choice. Although some friends told me to just quit my job. It was my time to raise my eyebrow then. I really love my job, I couldn’t imagine just stopping my career and being a stay-at-home mum. Please don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with stay at home moms. It’s just not right for me! And yes, it tears me apart every single day when I bring Lennert to daycare. And getting home or picking him up is still the most favourite moment of my day. And I see that the cultural difference makes me look like a bad mom in my friends’ eyes, but I know that I made the right choice for me.

 

Returning to work so early makes it sometimes difficult to keep up breastfeeding. Most mothers stop breastfeeding when they return to work after 3 months although you are entitled to pump until your baby is 9 months old. I chose to pump. Which made some of my colleagues and friends raise their eyebrows (again..). Why would I do that, they asked. Well, because although I’m a working mom, I’m committed to give my boy the best I can. And if this means sneaking out twice a day to pump for half an hour, planning pumping time around meetings, pumping in the car when I have a meeting elsewhere, well then it is like that. I had to contact the HR department several times as the lactation room was not what it should be in the beginning, but now I’ve got a fridge, a light sign when the room is occupied and an agenda to “book” my pumping times. I hated to be the nagging pumping mom, but I hope that with the alterations, more moms will stay breastfeeding after they return to work. Obviously that are issues I wouldn’t have encountered in Germany as I would be home with my baby.

 


What advice would you give other mothers in your situation?

I always told my husband that I wouldn’t bother standing up for my pregnant belly or my baby. When going into the hospital to have the baby I knew I would have it our way. I wasn’t going there to be everybody’s darling. I was there to deliver a baby the way I believed was best for him (underwater, no drugs). So get as much information as you need and don’t be afraid to stand up! My gyn is fabulous but I would have considered choosing another one if he wouldn’t be alright with my choices.

 

It doesn’t matter where you are, I think that moms know best what is best for them and the baby. Ask advice if you are unsure about something but trust your intuition. It’s your baby, it stayed in your belly so you know your baby best and you will know what will work for you as a mom and for your little family in general.

 

You can find Yvonne on Twitter and Facebook.

 

Want to share your story? Get in touch: ameena@mummyinprovence.com

 

 

Motherhood. Is it a Popularity Contest?

Most women, having just given birth, have the feeling that they have done something amazing. They have. Most women do feel like Mother Earth the moment they hold their baby. At the end of the day they have given life to another human being!

Super mumNow, how many women have been made to feel that they should be banished for having an elective c-section or an epidural or even worse, AN INDUCTION? Who’s been made to feel bad that they selected to deliver in a hospital rather than have a home birth? How many have been made to feel they should apologise because they haven’t breastfed because they needed medication to deal with the aftermath of childbirth or because they just didn’t want to? Hands up. Be honest. Is the first year of motherhood a popularity contest?

The pressure of the perfect birth

There is so much pressure out there to have the perfect birth. What is that exactly? Surely it’s different for everyone? I had one blogger make me feel like there was something wrong that I had a hospital birth … ummm … that’s what I wanted and I never asked for her opinion. I am happy she wants a home birth but I certainly wouldn’t tell her that I think it’s a risky choice which could be considered downright irresponsible in today’s day and age. So why did she feel she could pity me for my “substandard delivery?” I dread to think what she’d say about my induction which turned out to be the perfect choice for me. Every situation is different, everyone has a different pain threshold, a different agenda and guess what? That’s OK.

The pressure of breastfeeding.

Often I meet mothers who, when I say I breastfeed, automatically jump on the defensive saying that they couldn’t breastfeed for whatever reason. I never asked, I don’t care, feed your baby, love your baby, that’s all the matters. Yes, I breastfeed but that is my choice! It’s not easy and it’s not for everyone. If you have done your research then I will leave you to make the choice that works for you, your baby and your family. At the end of the day we are lucky to have alternatives. Ok, those who do breastfeed do look for support and celebration for reaching milestones – I know as well as anyone how much I NEED that encouragement and support but it doesn’t make me look down on someone who stopped before I have. EVER.

So, where is my medal?

I don’t do any of the things I do with BiP for any other reason than that is what I WANT to do with her. Yes, I breastfeed, yes I do Baby-Led Weaning (BLW), yes I part-time EC (Elimination Commuincation) her, yes I occassionally cloth diaper her, yes I occassionally, every minute of the day, love her. Do I get a medal? NO of course not! No medals for dealing with pain from childbirth, no medal for refusing an epidural when you can’t take the pain, no medal for dealing with chapped nipples or that first bite that you daren’t look down at for fear that your cherub has actually bitten your nipple clean off, no medal for struggling losing the weight, or for being tired … no no no! NONE of that!
So, what’s the deal? I’m all for putting the info out there and encouraging other mama’s but we all have to do what we CAN within our capabilities and sensibilities.

What do you think? Is childbirth and the first year of motherhood a popularity contest?

 

 

Having a Baby Abroad – Global Differences Series: FRANCE

sophie le brozec having baby franceNext up in the series of The Global Differences of Baby-Making we are back in France to hear about how Sophie Le Brozec dealt with living dangerously by requesting a natural birth, breastfeeding beyond 3 months and not sterilising everything in sight!

Tell me a bit about yourself? Where are you from? How old are your children and where did you have them?

My name is Sophie, I’m English and married to a Frenchman. At the time of having my daughter I had been living in France for 8 years. My daughter is now 4 years old and I had her in Cagnes sur mer (just outside of Nice), France.

Why did you have your daughter abroad?

I had my daughter abroad as I was living in France at the time with my French husband.

What do you feel were the benefits to having a baby abroad?

Excellent hotel-like accommodation for 5 days after having my daughter – a room shared with one other mum (who I’d previously met through ante-natal classes), with an en-suite bathroom, pretty good food and babies taken away from us if we needed to rest and sleep.

As an expectant mother abroad how did you feel?

Fine as I am bilingual and I was used to living in France so I was not worried about the cultural differences. I think I felt pretty much the same as if I’d had the baby in the UK. However I did get a bit fed up with the non-stop tests – monthly blood tests for toxoplasmosis etc

Did you encounter any opinions that would have been different in your home country with regards to your pregnancy or parenting choices?

They were shocked that I wanted a natural birth and not a completely medicalised one, that I wanted to breast feed and then that I wanted to breast feed past 3 months, that I wanted to do BLW (obviously I was trying to kill my child!), that I wanted to use washable nappies, that I didn’t ever sterilise anything – with a dog and a cat at home my daughter was ill for the very first time when she was 11 months old and is rarely ill now, so that non-sterilising thing was obviously a killer! I think they thought I was a freak on most accounts!

What advice would you give other mothers in your situation?

Follow your own gut feeling and use common sense. Stand up for yourself and be prepared to fight for what matters – wherever possible try and get your partner on side!!

Connect with Sophie on Facebook,  Twitter and check out her blog www.FranglaiseMummy.com

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Want to share your story? Get in touch: ameena@mummyinprovence.com

Breast is NOT best, if you live in France

It’s not the first time I have written about my struggles of breastfeeding in France. I’ve been told repeatedly by medical practioners to stop breastfeeding and that it’s “abnormal” for my baby to NOT take a bottle. Today, I was sent the article “In France, breast is definitely not best” published in yesterday’s Guardian. The article highlights how breastfeeding in France is frowned upon, I wish I could say the article was untrue or unfair but in reality it is true. All true.

France has the lowest breastfeeding rate in the western world. Photograph: Yui Mok/PA (via www.guardian.co.uk)

I urge you to read the article but if you don’t have time I’ll take some of the more poignant parts that’s ring true and give you my take on it (since you are reading this I guess that’s what you want after all!)

Everyone, however, knows the dangers of breastfeeding. Breastfeeding destroys lives. It starts by robbing women of their most powerful weapons of seduction, then their style and then their feminine mystery.

Breasts are very important in France – I have never, ever, in all my life (even after living in the Middle East) seen so many lingerie shops – beautiful and expensive lingerie is abundant in France. I am even told that many women collect lingerie yet when it comes to finding a good nursing bra I had to look abroad which makes it painfully clear that breasts are to be beautifully adorned in the finest silks and lace, both of which cannot accomodate a suckling baby.

women must beat back their babies with bottles of formula milk and rigid feeding regimes if they are to retain their independence and their sex lives. You won’t be in the least surprised to learn that breastfeeding, like so many other grave threats to civilisation, was invented in America.

There is this crazy fear that breastfeeding will make you a “slave” to your baby. How on earth can you live your life with this parasite that seeks to drain every last drop of your soul, being and femininity?  Urrr … firstly, breastfeeding is not like that and secondly, how does breastfeeding make you unfeminine?  I was asked repeatedly if breastfeeding was making me excessively tired and if I really wanted to carry on seeing as I was still hanging on to my baby weight months after delivery – surely I wanted to wean and go on a French diet of coffee and cigarrettes and regain my svelte silhouette (which just FYI was never really that svelte to start with). Didn’t I want to leave my baby to go and do something better with my time? Actually no I didn’t, not on a regular basis – this shocked people – why would I want to spend ALL my time with my baby? Scheduling appears to be very important to the French so breastfeeding on demand was akin to a crime against my being – I shrugged, I guess I am a “slave” to my baby but I’m happy …

the number of French mothers still breastfeeding after six months is so negligible that it doesn’t even make the graph. Frankly, as my partner and I discovered, getting a mother out of a French maternity ward while she is still breastfeeding is something of a miracle.

This is a very sad but true statistic. I gave birth in a private clinic where there was a lactation consultant on call 24/7 yet I was the only mother breastfeeding on the corridor of 10. Even when I asked for help from my independent midwife once I was home she shrugged her shoulders and said maybe I should try a bottle. It wasn’t until MONTHS later that I found that La Leche League operate in France, but sadly for me my French wasn’t up to speed to benefit from the meetings – later I found a leader an hour away who spoke English and found the support I so desperately craved. I know if I hadn’t been so determined and stubborn I would have undoubtedly failed.

She will get her perinea retrained to return her to peak sexual performance – a wonderful French tradition that is actually about preventing incontinence, and which the NHS would do well to copy

Ahhh “rééducation périnéale” something that horrified me when I first learned of it during my pregnancy. I leapt on to Facebook to find an old school friend who I’d not spoken to in  almost 2 decades but I knew who’d had a baby in France recently and I asked about it. Nothing quite like pregnancy and childbirth to break down social norms and dive in to a conversation about your nether regions! She replied “It’s not very sexy but you HAVE to do it. They insert this thing into you, its connected to a machine and it makes all the muscles work again. Your husband will thank you for it” … OK as a first time mum to be I was mortified – what is this crazy thing? I jumped on the internet and found no record of it anywhere in the world other than France. Fast forward to my 6 week check up post delivery and I was prescribed 10 sessions with a physiotherapist plus a prescription to pick up my, umm … well, probe is probably the best way to describe it. Off I go to my appointment and its basically kegels on speed with a screen to track your progress – you have sets of 10 umm … squeezes and then you have a bit of electro-stimulation to make the muscles work harder. Yikes. Not really something you want to talk about but I am the first to say it’s excellent aftercare. They say its to ward off incontinence but it’s not the real objective – it’s to get your sexual prowess back as soon as possible. THAT is the focus. PLUS it’s free completely 100% free – making it more important under the healthcare system than chemotherapy or the flu vaccine!  The physiotherapist, who’s sole responsibility was to get women’s pelvic floors up to speed was mortified when I went one day with BiP who was hungry as usual so I fed her – “breastfeeding! Stil? But she is almost 3 months old!!!”

So yes, sadly, if you breastfeed in France you do so at your own risk. You will be asked if your husband is ok with it – or if you are a foreigner like me it will be chalked down to the fact that you are obviously not French.  BUT if you really do want to you can, you will and it will be great!

 

 

 

I will wean when WE want to

Today BiP turned 11 months old. It’s an incredible milestone for us especially as our breastfeeding journey has been far from easy.  Before she was born I knew I  wanted to breastfeed her, I never thought for how long. Now, she is fast approaching her first birthday it’s amazing how many people have announced that it is time for me to call it day and start weaning her.

In all honesty the thought of weaning makes me want to cry. Finally, I love feeding her – it no longer hurts, it’s easy and, I feel, it is the reason she is such a confident, happy, healthy baby. It is something so special that we share, no one else can give her what I can and I know one day it will have to stop but why does it have to be based on a date in the calendar? I doubt BiP’s ideal birthday present would be to weaned. She loves her “boobie” so why would I take that away from her when she is still so young? The answer is, I won’t. Not yet.

I won’t list all the “advice” that I’ve been given but here are a few (one of which came from my doctor):

You’ve done your bit – time to call it a day

There is no benefit to breastfeeding beyond 6 months

The only reason you breastfeed is for selfish reasons

It’s time to think if yourself now

It’s abnormal to be still breastfeeding a baby of her age

It truly is no one’s business yet everyone seems to have a take on it. Weaning will happen when it happens; when WE decide not because the calendar says so.  So, here is to 11 months of breastfeeding and an unknown number of months in the future!

Well, they are obviously not French!

Today was a beautiful day in Provence. The sun was shining and it was a perfect spring day so we set off to the picturesque village of Roussillon, Provence which is classed as one of the most beautiful villages in France. It truly is. We decided to stop for lunch on a lovely terrace overlooking the village. It was perfect. The sun was shining, the restaurant had a high chair for BiP and the menu was Baby-Led Weaning friendly.

DSC_3875-300x199Once we had settled in the restaurant started to fill up. BiP was enjoying being outside and then lunch arrived. She sat in her high chair and proceeded to chomp down her lunch with the same enthusiasm she always does without any interference from us. The terrace went silent.  BiP had a large strip of steak that she was chewing on which was causing quite a stir.  We were talking English so quite oblivious to attention BiP was getting until I heard someone gasp (in French) “OMG! The baby is eating steak! By herself!” I decided to not react … this was fun… I gave her an anchovy from the Salad Nicoise which she promptly popped in to her mouth and devoured “Oh she likes everything” exclaimed another diner.

At this point more people had realised what was happening, yes, my baby was feeding herself and more people started to turn and look at BiP. She didn’t care, she wanted my green beans and some potato which I put on her plate and she continued.  Then I heard “Look at that! They are obviously not French” – I smiled to myself.  After BiP finished her lunch it was time for me to feed her, breastfeed her – so I cleaned her up and proceeded to nurse her whilst I enjoyed my coffee in the sun “OMG! She is NOW having the breast” cried the diner next to me to which his partner dismissively said “Well, they are obviously NOT French!” (It’s true, we are not, but is it that obvious?)
When BiP was done it was time to get going, she wanted to walk a bit around the terrace which is when I overheard the couple, who decided we couldn’t possibly be French, debating her age – I then turned around and replied in perfect French “Elle a dix-mois et demi, presque onze mois*” … the blush and the jaw drop was priceless.

I have no idea what they would have said had they seen me ECing BiP in the forest!

 

* -Translation: “she is 10 and a half months old, almost 11 months”

Breast milk ice cream? What about the Milk Banks?

An ice cream parlour in the heart of Covent Garden, London, has just launched its latest ice cream called “Baby Gaga” made from breast milk. Whilst Milk Banks around the country, and the world, are begging for breast milk donations 15 women have already signed up to be part of this bizarre gastronomic creation.

Milk banks rely solely on donations from women who have been blessed with over-supply. Breast milk is vital for premature and sick babies who cannot tolerate man-made alternatives. Some mothers are too ill or too stressed to provide milk for their sick or premature babies have to rely on breast milk donations and without it they would not survive.

Reactions to the launch of this new ice cream have ranged from disgust to intrigue. Some argue that breast milk is a better choice for humans to consume versus cow’s milk and even go on to suggest that those who are lactose intolerant would be able to enjoy this new “product”.

The ice cream parlour is paying women to give their breast milk to make ice cream for healthy adults to enjoy as a quirky snack. This precious commodity is now going into the bodies of adults and not to those who need it.

Personally I don’t care about how it tastes or how healthy it is, the gross factor lies in the fact that women, who have an abundance of breast milk, and are capable of donating in order to save a baby’s life are now faced with the dilema of pumping for charity or pumping for cash.

Five Confessions of a Breastfeeding Mother

breastfeeding confessionsI was talking to a friend today about how breastfeeding changes your attitude to your breasts. I laughed at all the things that I have done, many repeatedly, that would have, pre-baby, mortified me and now I just shrug and smile.

Here are my top 5 confessions:

1. Your breasts are now your baby’s, they are food – no one, I mean NO ONE else is allowed to touch them!

2. Despite the no touch rule, you don’t care who see’s your breasts whilst nursing (and yes, you will flash dozens of people during your breastfeeding journey)

3. You will wander around with your breasts free, your nursing bra unclipped and not even care that you can’t remember how long you’ve been like that

4. Your new wardrobe can only be described as “easy access” – anything that can be pulled up/down/to the side easily will be coveted!

5. You will feel your breasts in public (checking which side to feed on next) whilst talking to someone and think nothing of it

It’s all for a good reason and a good sense of humour will take you a long way! What else have you done?