Gypsy Child

Ponijao lives in Namibia with her family, including her parents and eight older brothers and sisters. Ponijao’s family is part of the Himba tribe, and lives in a small village with other families.

Mari lives with her mother and father in Shibuya, a busy metropolitan area within Tokyo, at the center of all of the city’s noise and excitement. Mari is an only child and lives a contemporary urban lifestyle.

Born in Mongolia, Bayarjargal, usually called “Bayar” for short, lives with his mother, father, and older brother Delgerjargal (“Degi”) on their small family farm.

Hattie lives in San Francisco, born to very ecological, “green” parents.  Both of Hattie’s parents are equally involved in her day-to-day life, fixing her meals, taking her to play groups, and spending time with her around the house.

What am I talking about?

Why “Babies” of course.

Breastmilk squirted on the babies face to wash the eyes.

A mother licking the babies face then spiting sharply.

A jacuzzi with mother and baby. Baby is not happy.

A river to play in.

A metal bath tub to sit in while a goat drinks from it.

These are all scenes you get to be a part of for a breif hour and 20 minutes.

Some of you might say yuk or gross. I say you need to see the film to understand how it is not gross. In fact is is very amusing.

For me, I would love it to just keep going and going.  I’m looking foward to the DVD with all the extras.

Here’s my take on the above.

Breastmilk has antibiotic properties that helps get rid of infection and also help prevent infection in the first place.

All animals clean their babies by licking them. It is the most natural thing. It is not uncommon in most cultures for a parent to suck out the mucus from an infants nose and spit it out when they are sick. I have been told this from some people I know that lived in Jamaica and other Islands. I know, Yuk you say. But this is normal for them.

My babies bath tub in St John was a metal tub we bought from the hardware store. You see people wash their laundry in them. The tub would sit on the deck and they would bathe outside in the fresh warm air.

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I believe in Breastfeeding. I also believe in free will: free will to decide what you want to do. There is a lot of wrong information out there about breastfeeding. Grandmothers, neighbors, friends, and most importantly, your doctor are dishing it out. Yes, your doctor is giving out the wrong info. I am not saying everyone is wrong. I am saying some are and it is up to you to seek the right information from reliable sources. Doctors have very little training in breastfeeding.

La Leache League is the best source.

If you want to Formula Feed after you get correct information, then I respect your decision. But I must say, I have heard the most off-the-wall stories as to why they could not breastfeed.

The most common is, “I pumped and only got a small amount of milk so I started to give them formula and they finally slept thru the night.”

Here’s the truth to this. A pump is very inaccurate in telling you how much milk you make. It can never replicate the suckling of a baby on the breast. Babies nurse as often for comfort as much as for food. Formula is hard to digest making a baby sluggish and more likely to sleep.

So I challenge you to read up.

Look for my post coming out soon about the most common misinformation on breastfeeding out there.

I first posted this in Baby Spot

I found a very good article at Mothering Magazine called Lactation and the Law by Jake Aryeh Marcus.

She starts out writing, “Most women who breastfeed their children will, at some time or other, find it necessary to nurse their children outside of their homes. For most women who nurse in public places, feeding their children will be no more stressful than nursing at home. Other people often do not notice when someone is breastfeeding near them, and those who do notice are generally indifferent or even supportive. All too often, however, we read stories of women who have been told to use a bathroom to nurse their children, asked to cover themselves and their child with a blanket, or told they must leave a place because they want or need to nurse.”

Then she goes on to inform her readers about how the laws work. She does not give state by state but recommends finding out what your state laws are.

She describes a few cases where women were told to stop nursing or leave; one women and her family were even kicked off a flight by Delta.

She mentions what actions have been taken, from nurse-ins to servers crashing due to amount of e-mails sent.

She urges breastfeeding advocates to write letters, make phone calls, call legislators, seek help from other breastfeeding supporters, hire lawyers, contact the press, or organize nurse-ins.

She ends with “There may be stress and hardship, but there is also community and power, and often, much-needed change”.

To see the entire article, click here.

“I was going to breastfeed up till delivery but people kept telling me how painful it was.” Amber relayed to the world after it was mentioned that NO ONE in the group breastfeed their babies.

Six mothers and not one baby got their mothers milk. Or did I hear one of the girls say they did it for two weeks and it was so gross and messy and painful. Farrah did it for one week and said, “It was just too much, I just found it tiring.”

Does two weeks count? I think it does. Here is why I think it counts. 

Nature makes a perfect food for babies.

The first three days your body produces colostrum, it is an immunity builder. It is also a laxative to move out the black tar looking substance called meconium. Then in about three days your milk comes in. A mother makes a ton of it and your breast feel like they weigh a ton. This build-up of pressure last 2-3 days. Your body made enough milk in case you have more than one baby. Nature is trying to make sure everyone gets feed. Then over the next few days, your body adjusts to the amount of milk your baby is drinking by slowing down the milk production if needed. 

You just went thru nine months of pregnancy. I believe you can hold through a few more days of discomfort. The benifits to the baby are well worth it.

Some women do experience pain when the baby latches on. You can lesson this discomfort by preparing your nipples ahead of the birth.  Rubbing your nipples with a washcloth while pregnant and trying everyday in the last few months to see if you can squeeze any milk (really colostrum) out may toughen them up so latching on is not so intense.

So for some women there is discomfort and possible pain with breastfeeding during the first month.

 This is no lie.

What I don’t understand is why is that so scary? Every month a women gets her period she has pain or discomfort, you don’t remove your female organs.  If you play soccer and someone hits your shin, it is painful. You still play soccer.

Does anyone tell you the pleasure you will miss if you don’t breastfeed.

• You are holding your baby close to your heart while they look you straight in the eye.
• Prolactin is released in your body along with oxytocin, which causes you to relax and gives you an overall feel-good natural hormonal high.  

The one girl mentions the baby’s poop smells horrible so her husband doesn’t change diapers.

Does she know this is due to the formula? I am not saying breast milk poop does not smell but I am saying there is a big difference in smell and consistency between breastfeed babies poop and formula feed poop. BF poop is way less offensive, it looks like cottage cheese mixed with mustard. Formula poop is way more offensive; it is chalky and can even start the cycle of constipation.  

Does anyone go over all this with the girls? Is there any support to breastfeed for the girls from family or any people they are surrounding themselves around?

Even Dr Drew feels breastfeeding is too difficult.

He says to the world, “People have grave misconceptions about breastfeeding. Ebony chimes in, “I breastfeed about two weeks and what gets people about breastfeeding is …{Dr. Drew interrupts with ‘it hurts’}… it hurts, your boobs are so engorged with milk, like you have to constantly pump and you drip, leaking fluids everywhere. It’s horrible.” Dr Drew goes on to say “It’s pretty complicated: breastfeeding (girls shake their heads in agreement), its more than the romanticized notion people have about it.”

These girls are not given any support.

Even when a rare girl feels she would like to breastfeed, she is scared into thinking it will be awful

How did we get to this point?

What is your experience with breastfeeding?

What were the negative things you heard?

What were the positive things you heard?

What is the craziest thing you heard?