Beth Kruger

This past week, I went over to The Strand, an awesome used bookstore in the heart of downtown Manhattan. It also helps that it is close to Ishta Yoga Studio where I am teaching prenatal yoga. They have a nice (though smallish) selection of books on pregnancy, parenting, birth, and breastfeeding. I came across “Ina May’s Guide to Breastfeeding“, and snapped it up. I have to say I have been reccommending this book for almost a year now, even though it just hit the shelves a little while ago. I loved Ina May’s other books, “Spiritual Midwifery“, and “The Guide to Childbirth“. Though she is…let’s face it–a total hippie, she has got lots of gems to share with women readying themselves for birth and beyond! Her hippy-ness I can relate to as I once went to Grateful Dead concerts and rode around in VW busses with my boyfriend in college.

Her book got me talking to my students about breastfeeding, and as in the past when I bring this up, it is a subject that creates a lot of discussion. Many women here in the US grow up without seeing a lot of breastfeeding. I was a bottle fed baby, and really never saw a woman breastfeed growing up. I remember being kind of embarrassed when I was a young adult at the thought or sight of a woman breastfeeding her baby. I think that this of course is a cultural and social adaptation which does not really serve us or our babies. By the time I had my first baby, I was pretty convinced of the benefits of breastfeeding and saw women doing it all over the Upper West Side, where I lived at the time.

Nipples did not scare me, and I no longer thought that it was something that should be hidden away. So, I breastfed my baby. She and I had our little snags along the way. She was not the greatest at latching on in the beginning and left my nipples pretty sore and sushi-like. I had blisters and great discomfort for the first ten days of her life, whenever she would latch on. After a while though, it got easier. I remember at her ten day checkup, the pediatrician looked at her, said she looked great and then asked me how I was doing with breastfeeding. She was also a breasfeeding mother and I told her how painful it was for me, how my toes curled whenever the baby latched on, and how I was not so sure I could keep going. Up until that moment, all the nurses and lactation consultants said that it should not hurt when the baby is feeding, so I was sure I was doing things wrong. But, my daughters pediatrician looked at my nipples, noted their redness and said that I should just stick it out a few more days and the pain would just go away. The baby was gaining weight well, and she basically reaffirmed my choice to breastfeed. And, of course, wouldn’t you know about three or four days later it stopped hurting when she would latch on. Amazing! And Dr. Guttenburgs’ reassurance and realness helped me to keep on nursing my baby.

We had our plugged ducts, and mastitis, but through it all, I continued to nurse my baby and have never regretted it. It saved me from sleepless nights, and the washing of countless bottles. I think sometimes all we need to hear are more positive stories about breastfeeding, and to also believe in our body’s ability to feed our baby. It also helps to have positive and supportive people around to turn to when it gets tough.