And... HERE WE GO...

This is EXACTLY what I am talking about. I posit this question: How do we ever expect to bring midwifery and doula care to the mainstream when we are determined to act like spoiled hippie brats??

This article appeared in my FB feed this morning. I know my stance on this will be unpopular but it stems for my desire for FACTS number ONE and NUMBER TWO -a concern for how our IMAGE impacts the mainstream public's response to us. We, ladies in the world of natural childbirth, have a BIG PROBLEM with trying to make the facts LOOK the way we want them to LOOK instead of actually backing them up in a responsible way. This leaves us vulnerable to attack from folks like, do I dare say her name (?), Amy Tutuer. Here is the article:

http://www.slate.com/articles/life/dear_prudence/2011/11/help_my_sister_in_law_breast_feeds_her_5_year_old_in_public.html#comments

And here is my response:

"I fully support any woman who wants to breastfeed her child and in whatever fashion she chooses to do so. I personally would not feel comfortable nursing until age 5 but that does not mean others should not. Each mama has her own path as does each child. Who am I to judge? Personally, I worry about it being confusing for the child at that age just because we live in such a overly sexed society (which has been born out of repression!!). At five years old a child is old enough to begin picking up on all of the cues set forth by media and the like. In this way they might begin to sexualize the breast and that might be confusing for them. Maybe not though. I do not know. In the off chance I am right, I would not feel comfortable nursing at 5."

Perhaps I am alone in this. It does not really matter. What matters to me is that the blog where this "rant" was taking place was filled with women ganging up on a man who expressed his feeling that breastfeeding until the age of five was, well, an outrage. This man was only voicing his opinion but the HAWKS of raving hormonal lunacy descended upon him and I now fear he may never go near a vagina again. I mean really. Is it a SHOCK that someone would be outraged by this? Really? What world do you live in? We are going to have to evolve past this sort of "us against them" mentality if we EVER hope to heal birth and babies in this country, never mind the world. Let's be realistic- breastfeeding until the age of five IS AN OUTRAGE for most of our population. This is reality. We are not going to TURN people ON to it or anything else by beating them about the head and shoulders with our breasts. Frankly, breastfeeding until five is sort of an outrage to me and I am inside our tent! I wish we could strike a more balanced, more fair note with the world. Maybe then they would be a bit more responsive to us.

Furthermore, if I see one more BULLSHIT "study" given as a way of backing up a ridiculous claim that in fact HAS NEVER BEEN studied in a responsible and scientific way!!!!! I might have a prenatal hemorrhage. What would Ina May say about what you are writing? Take a minute to ask this before launching please. I am just sayin. This behavior sets our whole movement on its head. CORRELATION does not equal CAUSATION. Period. End of discussion. I appreciate that we all feel passionately. Let us not look like idiots in the heat of our moment. Please. And. Thank you. ~TBM