Child Development and Breastfeeding.........

This topic is very near and dear to my heart. I breastfed all four of my children , unfortunately not as long as I wanted to.   On a recent Time Magazine cover a mother is shown in a standing position , with her 3 year old son suckling her breast. The article goes on describing the benefits of breastfeeding a child until their about 4 or 5, but the article stresses how most Americans are still uncomfortable with witnessing a mother breastfeeding her child in public.

I visited a website dedicated to breast feeding around the world, www.007b.com/public-breast-feeding-world.php , and focused on the women in Ghana.  The attitude toward breastfeeding in Ghana is that , this is the only way to go and bottle feeding is for, " orphans, mothers who cannot produce enough milk, upper class wannabes and expatriates. Mother's who don't breast feed when their child is crying in public, are frowned upon and looked at as though the child is not theirs.

The benefits of breastfeeding includes but not limited to : easier to digest for babies, fights disease such as respiratory problems, asthma , obesity , it also saves money on formula. There are also benefits for the mother , lowers her risk for type 2 diabetes, breast and ovarian cancer and postpartum depression.

I believe breast feeding provides a good start for children and can benefit them as they enter into their educational journey.

MY PERSONAL BIRTHING EXPERIENCE

I am the proud mother of 4 children. I had c-sections with all my children, however the last one was different from all the others and subsequently my baby girl acted a little differently from the others. :) I was scheduled to have my little "Morgan" on Monday, May 18th, however at the time I did not know whether she would be a boy or girl because with everyone ultra sound she appeared butt up. I started having contraction on Saturday morning , they progressed by early evening and I went to the hospital per the doctor on call orders. After being examined and monitored I was sent home and told I could wait for my scheduled c-section on Monday. Morgan was not having this , I had a restless night by Sunday morning she was letting me know that she was to make her appearance. The doctor on call was really trying to prevent me delivering and wanted to wait for my scheduled c-section ( coincidentally when my doctor would return from vacation. The labor was very intense, which I had only truly experienced with the first pregnancy, Morgan made her appearance, on Sunday , May 17th 1998 @ 1:12 P.M., very demanding and impatient. After returning from the recovery room, my husband shared with me how was a little fussy , until he changed shoulders he had her own, when he switched again she started up again until he put her back on her preferred shoulder. I couldn't believe my ears, when I called down to the nurses station to inquire why she hadn't been brought down to me I was told she appeared to be fine but had a rapid heart beat and they were monitoring. When I later question the nurses about this they informed me that Morgan appeared to be fussy or agitated the way they had her position in the baby bed but she checked out fine medically.

Flash forward almost 14 years, Morgan is a very impatient and determined child and wants things done when she wants it done.She excels in school , sports , dance etc. I knew she was different from the very start, but I wouldn't trade her any one else!