Is breastfeeding socially accepted? Well while we are at it, we should ask if being healthy and alive is socially acceptable. Is reducing the risk of illness, disease, diabetes, pneumonia, and obesity in your newborn socially acceptable? Is reducing the risk of breast cancer socially acceptable? If you answered no to the first question, you had better be prepared to answer no to the rest as well.
Breastfeeding awareness and education is not just a woman's issue. It is an issue for every member of society. It is an issue for anyone that plans on being a mom or dad someday. It is an issue for anyone that puts value on health and nutrition. The health benefits of nursing your baby are unlimited. Studies have even shown the average IQ of a breastfed baby is higher compared to the formula fed baby. So why would this practice not be accepted across the board?
Most prejudices are motivated from a lack of education and this issue is not an exception. Nursing mothers need community and social support. The feeling of embarrassment or shame that can scare a woman away from nursing is something that breastfeeding awareness can help avoid. People need to be educated on the subject in order to ensure proper social acceptance. Nursing mothers should be able to nurse anytime anywhere without looks, whispers, or feelings of awkwardness. When I think of all the mandatory courses in college I was forced to take that had no relevance or significance in bettering the health, wealth, or career path of the student, I am overwhelmed with disbelief that there is no mandatory course on the benefits of breastfeeding.
It is a standing sad joke that compares reading a manual and taking a written and physical test in order to be legal to drive a car, with the lack of any educational obligation at all to have a baby. Driving a car is mandated by your state with restrictions on age, physical capabilities such as sight and driving ability, and a written test to measure the applicant's knowledge on the subject prior to being handed the license to drive. Women get pregnant, go to the hospital and deliver the baby, and are sent home. The only test to pass is being in possession of a car seat (motivated by the same people that demand drivers be educated).
Social acceptance of breastfeeding has increased, but still is nowhere near where it should be. There are little to no mandated awareness initiatives for the subject. The institutions we are paying to educate our children are not building curriculum that include one of the most relevant topics that affect our health globally as a community. In order to increase social acceptance for the nursing mother, we have to advocate awareness and education on the unbelievable benefits of breastfeeding your baby.
