Link Party: Postpartum Recovery

A great article about some culture's "lying-in" practices for new mothers, comparing them with in the U.S. model of a "functional" postpartum period.

Why Are America's Postpartum Practices So Rough On New Mothers?

Book Review: "Mother's Milk: Breastfeeding Controversy in American Culture" by Bernice Hausman

Synopsis: (via Amazon.com)

    Mother's Milk examines why nursing a baby is an ideologically charged experience in contemporary culture. Drawing upon medical studies, feminist scholarship, anthropological literature, and an intimate knowledge of breastfeeding itself, Bernice Hausman demonstrates what is at stake in mothers' infant feeding choices--economically, socially, and in terms of women's rights. Breastfeeding controversies, she argues, reveal social tensions around the meaning of women's bodies, the authority of science, and the value of maternity in American culture. A provocative and multi-faceted work, Mother's Milk will be of interest to anyone concerned with the politics of women's embodiment.

Review:
    The author described the conflicting attitudes of breastfeeding advocates and feminist critics very well, highlighting how this poses a problem for everyday women and leads to "Mommy Wars", something very topical in today's media. According to Hausman, the only vocal breastfeeding advocate group is La Leche League, whose continuing ephasis on "immersion mothering" and not working outside the house is off-putting and unrealistic for many families. Conversely, feminist critics, who so readily discuss pregnancy and birth and fight for better treatment of laboring mothers, do not support breastfeeding, as it serves to encourage domesticity and exacerbate the gender differences between parents. When these two groups fight against each other, there is no one fighting for the everyday nursing mother (especially one who works outside the home). The author (eventually) made an excellent point about bridging the gap between breastfeeding advocates and feminist critics by encouraging "Health Advocacy" instead of breastfeeding advocacy. This perspective will help to keep the health benefits of breastfeeding part of the discussion, encourage practical advice, and reduce the judgement of women who choose not to breastfeed. Hausman quotes from Penny Van Esterik's Beyond the Breast-Bottle Controversy, and I think this nicely sums up the goals most breastfeeding advocates and educators: 

"The trajectory goal becomes not to have every woman breastfeed her infant, but to create conditions in individuals, households, communities, and nations so that every woman could. The first step is to create conditions that make breastfeeding possible, successful, and valued in a given society."

    Hausman touched on many different points regarding how women make the decision to breastfeed or not, including physician authority, popular texts for pregnant women, formula marketing, mass understanding of evolutionary theory, and race and class. Her overall theme seemed to be that women do not make this decision "in a vacuum", that the constant collision of culture, medical expertise, and personal beliefs make this decision so much more complicated that "what should I feed my child?" I appreciated her respect for women who choose to formula-feed, stating that they choose to not breastfeed not because they are uneducated or ignorant, but because they have taken into consideration their own circumstances and decided it's better for themselves, their baby, and their family to formula-feed. Hausman also made a nice attempt to deconstruct the bottle-feeding paradigm that women see every day. Her analysis of pregnancy books and formula marketing was eye-opening and a concrete example of how culture affects breastfeeding choices.

    While the author's overall point was well-taken, I found her tone and writing style very difficult to read, especially in the early chapters. It took until the end of the over 200-page book to understand her overall message; her initial thesis was written in such abstract terms, it took a complete deconstruction of the sentence to understand her point -- and even then, it did not seem to match her overall argument once I had finished the book. She claimed the book was for mothers (as well as for doctors, educators, advocates, etc.), but I would be surprised if most mothers would find her style accessible. The book seemed aimed more for educators and advocates than for breastfeeding mothers. As she states herself, mothers need practical advice and real social support from doctors, other mothers, and the workforce; mothers do not need ideology. As this book is mainly focused on discussions of culture and the ideological meaning of women's bodies, it seems as the book itself is an example of what would be unhelpful to an everyday nursing mother.

Hausman clearly did her research on feminist theory and breastfeeding benefits; however she seems to only site a few sources. She also has a clear bias towards La Leche League, and implies that they are the only breastfeeding advocates out there. It would have been nice to see an analysis of other advocates' texts as well. Also, while the author made a good attempt at an overall flow of the book (chapter one discussed public media, chapter two physicians, chapter three texts for parents, etc.), there were times when her discussions seemed random and not fitting to the chapter as a whole (for example, the discussion of the sexuality of motherhood and breastfeeding in the chapter about physicians, authority, and scientific motherhood seemed, while interesting on its own, a bit out of place).

Overall, this book was helpful to me as an educator and breastfeeding advocate, but it would not serve to help a nursing mother feed her baby or even help her to make an informed decision about feeding, as the book is so dense and difficult to digest.

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Like what you've read? Pregnant and looking for a class in Western/Central Massachusetts?
Check out our current class schedule here.

Questions? I'm never very far away from my email.

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Postpartum Survival Kit

Lately whenever a friend or co-worker has a baby, I like to give her a "Postpartum Survival Kit" -- a collection of useful items that are super helpful to mom, but things that many do not remember needing.

I like to include ...

For Mom's Body:

• Overnight Maxi Pads -- the ones from the hospital can be really uncomfortable (and dare I say, cheap?). If it's touching your vulva the day after you push out a baby, splurge on some "fancy" ones. (Also, those first few days when your bleeding is a little unpredictable, put an extra pad across the back of your underwear at night. This will keep the leaking to a minimum.)
• Hemorrhoid pads (Tuck's are a popular brand) with Witch Hazel. I especially like to give these ask gifts, if only to relieve the new mom from having to ask the guy at the drug store where they are.
• Nipple Cream (I like the Lansinoh brand, but any 100% lanolin cream works. Note: Lanolin comes from sheep wool, so if you are vegan or prefer to stay away from processed animal products, there are non-lanolin nipple butters on the market, such as those from Earth Mama Angel Baby).
• ***Note. Nipple cream will not solve the problem of sore or cracked nipples, only make them feel better while you fix the issue, which is usually a bad latch***
• Puppy Pads. Seriously. I doubt you will find a pregnancy book that will include this one, but here it is. Again, in the first few days your vaginal bleeding may be a bit unpredictable, and you would hate to sit down in your new cream-colored nursing glider and leave a blood stain. Puppy pads are absorbent and have a plastic bottom layer, so the fluid won't leak through.
• Other One-Offs
• Breast pads. Some moms need a lot of these, some need none. I like to include a few, simply so mom doesn't have to go buy and whole big box, unless she finds she needs to wear them consistently.
• Microwave Sterilizing Bags. I know, boiling water is SO HARD, but I personally loved these. So I like to include one bag, so mom can use it for those first few items without bothering with the stove. (**Note. You don't have to sterilize pump parts and other baby things after every use, unless your baby is premature or his immune system is compromised).

For Mom's Mind:

• Her favorite magazine. There is a lot of sitting when you are nursing a newborn, so here's a chance to catch up with Martha Stewart (or People Magazine, I don't judge).
• A gift card for iPhone apps or music (this is great for Dads/partners too!) Angry Birds helped R's dad survive those early days (er ... months) of evening grumpies, where all we could do was sit and rock him.
• "What Mothers Do Especially When It Looks Like Nothing" by Naomi Stadlen. A great book about the realities of mothering a newborn, complete with negative feelings about oneself and one's baby. Very real and very moving.

For the Breastfeeding Mom and Baby

• If mom has registered for or already has a nursing pillow, a Nursing Pillow Cover. These get milky and smelly, so it's good to have an extra one handy.
• The name and phone number of a local Lactation Consultant. Most common breastfeeding issues can be fixed easily with a little help. Encourage mom not to wait, but to call someone right away (remind her it's probably covered by insurance!)
• The name and phone number of the local La Leche League leader, as well as their meeting schedule. All moms need support, but breastfeeding moms also need support from other breastfeeding moms. Seeing other moms nursing their babies and being able to ask them questions about their experiences is invaluable. 
• Occasionally I have a friend who wants to breastfeed but has not done any preparation (classes, reading, research). I will sometimes include a breastfeeding cheat sheet -- pictures of positions, latch "rules", common problems and what to do about them -- just so she has a jumping off point, as well as a handy reference for those moments when she doesn't know what to do.

What was the item you found most helpful in the early days of motherhood?

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Like what you've read? Pregnant and looking for a class in Western/Central Massachusetts?
Check out our current class schedule here.

Questions? I'm never very far away from my email.

Follow Crafted Birth on Facebook for updates and birth-related resources.

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"Bundle of Joy" and other phrases that should go away

I have a love/hate relationship with media coverage of celebrity pregnancy/birth. On the one hand, I LOVE babies. I mean, I just love love love babies. I love pregnant bellies, I love hearing about pregnancy, I love seeing baby pictures, I love hearing about birth. However, as someone who spent most of her college years picking apart mass media (and as someone who had a rather difficult postpartum period), I absolutely cringe when I read an article about a new celebrity mom. Without fail it will include phrases such as "bundle of joy", "the proud parents", "angel", "Mom and Baby are doing great!", and "already in love with the baby".

This post is coming in the midst of the Kim Kardashian birth media circus -- according to different sources, she gave birth to a baby girl on Saturday, anywhere from 3 to 5 weeks "early"; she possibly suffered from preeclampsia; no one knows the name of this baby; the parents have not yet released any details to the media. Now I respect their decisions to not release photos or any other information -- she's THEIR baby and they'll do what feels right. The problem comes when we've been saturated with Kim K gossip for ... well, YEARS ... and suddenly are cut off. We are in Kimye withdrawal and are scrounging for any piece of information, even if it's assumptions and conjecture.

So here's the point I want to make, which can come up with ANY new mom. When the media says "she's in love with the baby already", that is ALSO assumption and conjecture. We do not know ANYTHING about how mom is feeling about the baby or her birth. And we are unlikely to see a real picture of it at all. The media calls them "proud parents", but we don't know if they're proud; People.com says "Mom and baby are doing great". Why? Because that's what you say. E! News calls the baby a "bundle of joy"; she may be a bundle of fear, anxiety, and complications for all we know.

Yes, there's usually joy when a baby is born, but what if there's not? We are saturated with the coverage of the lives of celebrities, to the point where we see that coverage as "real" and what "should" happen for everyone. When all we see or hear about is happy moms and content babies, many of us develop unrealistic expectations of what new motherhood looks like. Then, when we are at home suffering from Postpartum Depression or taking care of a colicy baby, we may wonder what is wrong us ... instead of wondering what is wrong with US Weekly.

So new moms: put down tabloids and turn off the reality TV for an hour and find a local new moms group. You may still find that woman who sees here baby as a "bundle of joy", but you're probably also going to find that mom who's having trouble and wants to throw her baby out the window.



Next week ... why are we mentioning C-sections in an article about Kate Middleton's nursery plans? Oh, I forgot, because surgery is no big deal. (NOT!)

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Like what you've read? Pregnant and looking for a class in Western/Central Massachusetts?
Check out our current class schedule here.

Questions? I'm never very far away from my email.

Follow Crafted Birth on Facebook for updates and birth-related resources.

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