Back in April 2019 there was an online discussion on a local parenting group about the price of formula and why the parents decided to formula feed instead of breastfeeding.
Reasons varied, with some mothers taking a strong stance in "fed is best"; others believed they had to supplement for various reasons, while other moms just couldn‘t breastfeed.
Many of these moms wished they could have breastfed for longer and felt a sense of failure.
I believe, often times, there‘s certainly failure: not of the mom, but of her support system, of her community, family, friends, the healthcare system, and the workplace. All these fail to support and equip the mother and her baby to be able to breastfeed, and continue to do so, successfully.
The best advice I can give, should anyone ask, is educate yourself. Read, ask all the questions, join all the breastfeeding support groups (actual and online). Surround yourself with encouraging people, trust yourself, and close off to negativity. And if it doesn‘t work – you‘ve really tried.
I joined the local La Leche League meetings - for breastfeeding help throughout and to make new friends with similar goals and interests.
Maybe I was just lucky, or incredibly blessed. But without the care and accommodation of the above mentioned systems, and most definitely the wonderful support of the local LLL leaders, we probably wouldn‘t have been able to get this far with our breastfeeding journey.
The value of all the support available (whether free or at a fee) cannot be measured - not even against the price of formula.
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