I Dream of a World…

Where human milk is available for free for all those rare circumstances when a baby might need it, and for as long as the baby needs it.

Where there are comfortable benches anywhere a breastfeeding mother might need one – in the supermarket, at the pharmacy, on the sidewalk. Not just at the playground.

Where, when people see a woman bottle feeding a baby, they assume it must be a babysitter, or perhaps a mother with a severe medical conditions that prevented her from breastfeeding (very rare), not a mother for whom the breastfeeding support was lacking, because breastfeeding is truly the norm.

Where new mothers aren’t worried or nervous about the idea of breastfeeding in public, and where they feel confident going out to breastfeed for the first time.

Where there are strong laws with severe penalties for those that would try to stop a mother from breastfeeding, but where these laws are mostly unnecessary and rarely used, because people don’t harass breastfeeding mothers.

Where new mothers learn about breastfeeding from their families and friends, and from years of seeing people breastfeeding out in public, and where breastfeeding classes are unneeded and are a thing of the past.

Where breastfeeding rates are way way up, and breast cancer rates are down.

Where people on talk shows don’t debate whether nursing a 6 or 7 year old is wrong, because they trust breastfeeding mothers, and know  breast feeding has nothing to do with sex.

Where children are used to seeing breastfeeding going on everywhere, and no one worries what a child might think or do if they see a mother breastfeeding her child.

Where the sight of a breastfeeding mother makes everyone smile and where we all feel healthy enough inside ourselves to take pleasure in seeing a happily breastfeeding baby.

Where health-care professionals don’t give out incorrect information to nursing mothers, and where dentists don’t moonlight as experts on parenting.

Where a mother who is having breastfeeding difficulties can call any number of friends and family members to come and help her out, and where people all around her will rally to support her breastfeeding relationship, and where she knows she can turn in any direction for breastfeeding help.

Happy World Breastfeeding Week 2010 (August 1-7, 2010)!!

If you are having difficulty breastfeeding, call a La Leche League Leader for free help.