6 Comments
User's avatar
lg campbell's avatar

Culturally there's also an expectation of pumping among stay at home moms which is bewildering. I do know women who think it isn't possible to maintain supply without pumping (why wouldn't it be?) And that pumping is necessary for sleep etc.

Pumping culture really undervalues a mother's time and resources. My mother because I don't pump, meaning that if I died in a car crash my son would have to drink formula. Like yeah? But girl this is calcium from *my bones*. I am not going to suck out nutrients from my body to keep in the freezer because of nebulous anxiety.

Every wasted drop of milk is a part of a woman's body that was commodified and discarded! Feeding at the breast is the only way to eliminate waste.

Evelina's avatar

Omg yess. I almost got trapped in this trend. Pumping is worst. All of disinfecting, washing, assembling and so on, and so much time just pumping…

Put a tit in my babies mouth and we are chilling! It’s resting and bonding time for us both, and sooo convenient. Anywhere and anytime. No bottles, packagings for milk, no hustle, just chilling. I don’t need a portable wearable “bra pump” to do the chores while pumping, i need to sit or lay down and relax, yes please.

Darby Saxbe's avatar

yes exactly! we are chilling, haha

Siobhan's avatar

Your line about “calcium from my bones” is going to live rent free in my head today 😂

Carrie Murphy's avatar

Feeding at the actual breast is also a lot better for babies in terms of their jaw, airway, and orofacial development! Bottle

feeding doesn’t cause the tongue to press against the soft palate in the same way. It’s a hugely underdiscussed way that breastfeeding contributes to normal development, including in the breastfeeding world. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8522884/

Darby Saxbe's avatar

Such a great point!