Breastfeeding

A schoolmate of mine called me up today and asked me questions about breastfeeding. According to her, I'm the only one she knows who has actually breastfed long enough to have any real knowledge about the subject!

Shocking isn't it, when in some societies, where breastfeeding is the norm, one would just have to turn to one's mother or aunt and all questions will be answered. Here, we can't ask our mums the same questions because in most cases, our mums belonged to the 'enlightened' generation of condoms and The Pill and of course the milk bottle.

The situation is so bad that I've had my aunts who called me up to ask me about the intricacies of breastfeeding because their daughter/daughter in law were having trouble with it! Now, having trouble with breastfeeding is a common thing, I've had trouble along the way too, but the irony is the older generation is asking the questions because they don't have the knowledge as they have never done it themselves!

But thanks to the efforts of the medical fraternity, who have unabashedly spoken out time and again about the benefits of breastfeeding, I am seeing many women taking up the challenge. Admittedly, some do better than others, but for me, some progress is better than none.