Breastfeeding Moms Need Support
Breastfeeding Moms Need Support By Brian W. Donnelly, M.D., F.A.B.M. AHN Pediatrics Northland In “Breast or Bottle – The Illusion of Choice,” Dr. Amy J. Kennedy chronicles the difficulties she faced when breastfeeding her baby: The question was always posed to me in a hurried manner, an item on a long checklist that the obstetrician, labor and delivery nurse, and pediatrician all needed to get through: “Will you breast or bottle feed?” As a first-time mother, I was anxious about the uncertainties that lay ahead and uncomfortable with the never-ending strings of questions about my upcoming delivery. As a physician, I was relieved when we got to the breast-feeding question. It was a simple answer, a yes–no question. I confidently answered “breast-feed!” each time I was asked, assured by the science I had learned in medical school and by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommendations to exclusively breast-feed for at least 6 months, followed by con...