Highlights from the moedergroep of April 15th 2010

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Last night, April 15th, we held our monthly breastfeeding support group. Just like last month, we boasted an attendance of 19 mothers, fathers and mothers-in-law! As usual, we had a lot of pregnant moms there, which we absolutely enjoy and encourage! It's essential to educate and relate to other moms and parents. We originally had planned to speak about pumping, working and breastfeeding, but decided to do a free-style after all. The discussion was lively and believe you, everyone got their chance to ask and be answered.

What was touched on a lot though was how to manage breastfeeding and working outside of the home, of which a mom there was experiencing some trouble with. It was concluded by all in the group that although it's more challenging, what are the months of pumping and nursing, compared to the rest of your life you'll spend working? Our babies deserve the best, and if it puts an inconvenience on us, we do well to keep the big picture in sight. After all... we are not just women anymore, we are mothers. We are strong, we are fragile, we are tenacious, we are cooks, breadwinners, nurturers, referees, teachers, love givers, and best of all, love receivers from all ends.

We spoke a lot about the lactating breast and how it works. We explained how supply and demand sits in each other, and the avoiding of scheduled feeds. Another important thing we discussed was infants sleeping at too early of an age through the night. It is known that a newborn baby must wake to feed, especially during the night. This is not just to protect his mother's supply but also to protect his blood sugar levels from plummeting and further preventing him from waking up. Breastfeeding can be exhausting... if a mother has to get out of her bed, pick the baby up out of the crib, nurse, put the baby back to bed, and repeat. Breastfeeding is easy. Co-sleeping, or more precisely, safe bedsharing, is a wonderful parenting tool that gives mom much needed rest during those first months. It was also noted that in lands where bedsharing is the norm, SIDS rarely occurs, it doesn't even have a name. This shows us that bedsharing is inherently safe and a natural biological response to a certain need.

Needless to say, we really enjoyed ourselves. I always feel so privileged to be in the position to educate and inform mothers about breastfeeding, and most importantly to learn about others' experiences and the hardships they've been through. I think that despite as much as I may educate myself in this field, I will always continue to learn from those around me and new ones I come in contact with. I will never be too high, or "know too much" to think I know it all, because that isn't what taking care of mamas is about. All breastfeeding mamas are professionals in their own right and I commend all of them!