Why We Need To See Breastfeeding

I know this is hold hat to many but here goes.


This morning (25/06/2015) I was putting my mascara on. Whilst doing so I started thinking about the mascara brush & about how we put a pointy, bristly object covered in pigment, so close to our eyes, a rather delicate part of the human body. I started to think back to when I started using mascara & about how I knew how to do it. (can you see where I'm going here?)
I remember watching my mum putting mascara on when I was a child, I'd sit and watch her stroke her lashes with an odd looking brush. It fascinated me how her eyes were magically transformed. I thought about how she had learnt & wondered if she too sat watching her mum? Maybe an aunt? A cousin? Who knows? (well my mum probably does)

So, from sitting & watching my mum put mascara on, I guess I learnt that way. Fair enough my first attempts left me with that, punched in they eye, look but with practice I got better. Now I am a mascara applying master.

This, my fellow mammary enabled friends, is why it is so important to see, in the flesh, breastfeeding! I get not everyone wishes to Breastfeed but for those that do, seeing it is an important factor in being able to do it yourself. Yes, you may struggle to start but we struggle at many things before they become second nature. We didn't wake up one morning being able to walk, then run. We had to work at it, to practice, to gain confidence.

Increasing Breastfeeding rates in the UK will save the NHS Millions a year, women claim to want to Breastfeed but feel unable to do so because of lack of support. We live in such a formula & bottle saturated country that we are losing the art of breastfeeding. Women are shunned into a corner, told to cover up & in many cases asked to leave establishments when they are breastfeeding. I myself was subject to verbal abuse when I fed my then 2 week old daughter in public & I'm not the only one to experience that. Many mothers experience this type of behaviour from their own family as well. Is it no wonder women don't meet their own milestones?

This week is National Breastfeeding Week, it's crazy that breastfeeding, the biological normal way to feed human offspring, needs a special week??? What on earth is that about?? Never the less, those of you who Breastfeed, do it loud & do it proud. You are helping other women who want to Breastfeed their babies because you are allowing them to see it.

If we can pick up the art of applying make-up & doing our hair from watching family members, friends & now outlets like YouTube, we can sure as hell pick up the art of breastfeeding in the same way.

For the sake of our species, our health & our environment, we need to see breastfeeding. Our daughters, our friends daughters and many more can and will benefit from seeing breastfeeding!
It's not indecent, it's not sexual, it's not disgusting, it IS a means of nourishing our children, of comforting them, of giving them the optimal start in life which impacts right through to adulthood.

To the rest of society, if breastfeeding offends you, look away! Better still, go & do some research! Give mothers a break and allow their child to eat without discrimination! Our health & our planet depend on it.