Here is the nutshell version to catch us up to date:
Early last week. Work. Uneventful. Husband leaves for long weekend to go camping. Laundry. Clean. Juggle kids. Emmett haircut. Molly walking. Emmett's first swim lesson. Grandparents come to town. Good visit. Emmett sad for them go. Husband comes home. Groceries. Small festival. Monday.
Now that you know what I have been up to, here are my recent recurring thoughts that I am not sure what to do with.
How do we get more people to breastfeed? How do you go about changing a culture's attitude and willingness toward this topic? Fear? Do we need a "Formula, Inc." documentary? Education? More grassroots organizations? Political agendas? Celebrity trend? What will it take?
And how did we get here so seemingly easy over the past 100 years? Did you know that formula was invented in the late 1800's, and wasn't really starting to be commercially available until the 1920's, but by the early 1970's over 75% of babies were being fed formula. I find this astounding. Centuries and centuries of humans successfully reared on the intended food for babies, breastmilk. But in less than 50 years, a huge conversion had taken place. Why was it so easily embraced? Mothers were told that those who could afford it would feed their babies formula, and not be bothered by that troublesome breastfeeding. Could this huge transformation have taken place based mostly on perceived status? How sad.
Did you further know that even today, all the components of breastmilk are unknown? With all our science and technology, we can't even reproduce this ever-adjusting perfect food. What will it take for mothers to treasure this gift? And for them to do all they can to provide this for their baby?
What is your thought?
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