Expert: "Public breastfeeding does not mean you have to sit at a table in a restaurant and challenge a bust"

In general, the issue of badfeeding in Belarus is very exciting, discussed. At the present time and until the end of July, mothers across the country are looking for and marking public places for badfeeding: restaurants, cafes, children's centers, offices. .. what does it mean? Is the environment good enough for young mothers? Is it easy to survive in a decree? What stereotypes about badfeeding prevent us so far? All this Onliner.by spoke with a practicing Perinatologist, a successful businesswoman, the creator of the MamExpert Project and the MamStart Center, mother of three children, Natalya Navrotskaya.

Note: our interview is not a cry of "jadeemakers" activists. Rather, a clever speech about the fact that Minsk, like other cities in Belarus, is not very well equipped for parents with young children.

" Even fairly progressive men in my environment flatly oppose public badfeeding"

– You started a project called "Breastfeeding", that is, to say that you are looking for and collect places welcoming badfeeding It turns out that in our society there is a problem of disapproval, hostile attitude toward badfeeding mothers?

– I would not say that it is hostile. But the rejection of public badfeeding in our society is present. Until recently, people in general were very negative when they saw their mothers badfeeding outside the apartment. It was believed that a woman with a child should stay at home – there is her place. And do not go to parks, restaurants, cafes and other crowded places.

Still, if you ask men, then women's bads are like a red rag for them. They can not perceive it as an object of nutrition for the child. Even relatively progressive men in my environment are categorically against public badfeeding. But the woman, after being born as a child, begins to reconcile with her body differently.

To say that our goal is to meet in public and to manifest, to put ourselves at the bad is fundamentally wrong. The task of the project is different. On the contrary, to find comfortable and secluded places for mom. After all, to have enough milk, mom should be safe and comfortable. The formation and excretion of milk depend on a number of hormones – prolactin and oxytocin. Everything is physiology. Oxytocin is produced not by the gland of internal secretion, but by part of the brain – the hypothalamus, and depends a lot on the emotions, the psychological state of the woman. If the mother is stressed, it is very difficult for her to feed the baby.

So the task is to find these most comfortable places. Now, in many centers, shops and entertainment, and in the cafe, there are quiet areas where mom can come to feed the baby safely. But these areas are often poorly marked, and many women simply do not know them.

– I think the problem is that there are no special feeding areas, even in places where moms often have to go to polyclinics, for example.

– Yes and again, yes! This is one of the important issues that started to increase now, when we started the project. Women vote, indicate different places, but majority demand: "There is no place in the polyclinic!" Literally, several clinics across the country have equipped areas for badfeeding . And in most cases, it turns out that moms have to come to the clinic once a month, if the baby is healthy (in practice – a lot more often), but it does not. nowhere to eat. This, of course, is uncomfortable.

– I have carefully studied all the objections of opponents to public badfeeding. Let's take a look at some of the most popular ones. "Around children, and you here, bare chest!" What do you say?

– [Cмеется. — Прим. Onliner.by] It's just that children have a completely different perception of the female bad. Most likely, this objection is expressed by men who perceive the bad as a badual object. The fact that children see how a woman badfeeds, on the contrary, creates the correct image of the mother.

Another image is very imposed now. Even toys for girls are dolls with bottles. It turns out, "you're my mother" = "you have to feed from a bottle." But that's wrong. The best food and the best way to give useful substances and protection against infections, to establish an emotional connection with the child is to badfeed. It embraces, and communicates, and creates a sense of security for the world – something that is very necessary for children in the first year of life. And if the child sees how a woman is badfeeding, he creates the good image that he will duplicate in his family.

– Do you consider that the tradition of badfeeding was interrupted during the Soviet era when the five-year plan was to be established? in three years, and so women gave their children to daycare and went to work almost immediately after childbirth?

– In the socialist system, the woman was a worker in her own right. His task: gave birth – and to the machine, once again create the values ​​of the Soviet state. It was very encouraged. I remember how my mother said: "If a woman badfed, she looked at her strangely, they said," Have not you got enough money for a mixture of money? " The perception of badfeeding was distorted.The main task of a woman is to return to work as soon as possible.And badfeeding was a completely useless process. I was studying at a medical university, and this had been a long time, the attention of future doctors was not about the benefits of badfeeding.We learned a lot about diseases and problems, Breast milk substitutes, on feeding methods in case something goes wrong … But there was very little information about badfeeding. The old school doctors, and we still have many, do not always stimulate and support moms in their desire to preserve badfeeding.Here is another fact in the overall picture of what is happening:

"I want ask: were you next to a child who screams of hunger? "[19659005] – Let us come back to the objections. "Go to the bathroom!"

– Why does not everyone want to go to the bathroom? This is unacceptable, at least in terms of hygiene. And, as I said, the speed at which milk will be released will depend on the condition of the mother. If a woman is uncomfortable, if she has a feeling of disgust … The toilets, you know, are different. There, after all, there is no suitable place to sit down. If a woman is in a state of discomfort, the milk will come off badly. This is the usual physiology.

– Next. "Express the milk in a bottle and take it with you!"

– There is such a problem, and its probability is high – the so-called "nipple confusion". It is when the child refuses to take the bad after drinking the milk from the bottle. After all, the mechanism of getting a baby liquid from the shower and the chest is completely different. From the chest – these are peristaltic movements, and nipple – completely different. As a result, there is a risk that there will be problems with feeding.

This is a point. Secondly: a lot of kids do not take a bottle at all. It is also a situation where we can not feed the baby other than the bad.

According to the recommendation of the World Health Organization, the use of a bottle for food is not welcome with the natural diet. If there is a bad and we want the milk to come off in the right amount, there is nothing better than a natural stimulation. Moreover, if the mother only expresses and feeds the baby with the bottle, it is very difficult for her to continue badfeeding. Breast stimulation is inadequate, and the amount of milk decreases gradually.

– Another argument of the opponents: "You can be patient at home."

– I would like to ask: were you next to a screaming child? Obviously no. When a child wants to eat, he talks about it oh-oh-very loudly. The opportunity to suffer at home with a baby, unfortunately, is not: it will be so strong to demonstrate hunger that everyone will hear. Distract will not work. Even an adult man is sometimes hard to wait, you need something to eat. And the baby can not wait again. Every two or three hours he should be fed – and a point.

– And most, humm, human: "The mother who is badfeeding should stay at home. Always. "

– This, alas, is a very strong stereotype:" If you gave birth, then you leave the maximum in the yard in the sandbox. "And these stereotypes do not just come from others, they occupy a strong place in the minds of the mothers themselves.This is what is called self-isolation. [19659007] But now, thank God, there is a change of such stereotypes.Many active moms who live brightly, full.For them, the maternity leave is not a prison and self-isolation. They can do what they want, right after, there is a baby who, at the right time, will be fed, disguised, etc. And, really, the baby, except mom, does not need anything He can be with her anywhere, and it will be good for him and his mother – comfortably, calmly.

One more thing about "staying at home." There is an implicit problem , hidden, which everyone is not ready to talk about, postpartum depression.It is when a woman does not feel joy, but anxiety, shame and fear. There is such a sti gmate: "I'm a good mother, I have to deal with everything." And the gap of life in pictures, in social networks with friends and acquaintances, where everyone is happy, happy, handsome and l & # 39; A child beside his hair, with his own reality, where everything goes wrong, a lot of fatigue and sometimes even despair. This very often leads to a state of depression. But at the same time, the depression is hidden. There is such a characteristic in our society.

She wants to be a good mother, everything is beautiful and clean at home, the husband is nurtured, happy, the baby is healthy and happy. And the woman completely forgets about herself. This sacrifice is one of those moments that poison motherhood. Therefore, many women who are afraid to remember their maternity leave: a feeling of complete isolation from society, every day is absolutely the same …

And it is a Another reason why many mothers refuse badfeeding. Feed, in their opinion, binds to the house, they can not go anywhere. Go with a child in town, she does not allow herself, but you have to go out, you want to leave, you want to live! The fact that you have become a mother does not mean that you have stopped paying attention to earthly joys. Many women prematurely interrupt badfeeding, just to feel that they are living, to swallow the freedom. But in fact, you can live a full life without stopping badfeeding. To find time for themselves, to receive positive emotions.

"A woman can choose where and how to feed her"

– Recently, a restaurateur from Minsk said: the restaurant is not an airport, why should it for food? What do you think?

– I think it will be fair for restaurateurs to specify who their target audience is. If, for example, the beer restaurant and the target audience, the owners do not see any families with children, then I think it will not be very comfortable to go to the mother and the baby there- low. In some situations, I agree with that. I do not think there is anywhere a special feeding room as a prerequisite for opening a restaurant. But there are many cafes, whose core target is the families. Then having a room for food is an added plus. And if it's a cafe with activities for kids, then the feeding room is absolutely necessary.

Again, public eating in my understanding does not mean you have to sit at a table and challenge your bads. If there is no special room in the cafe, now a lot of capes and snacks are with the help of my mother. A woman should be comfortable. Feeling the looks of strangers is not very pleasant. And the baby will be distracted when there is movement around. Therefore, it is recommended that the food zone (at home and in public places) be quiet, calm and secluded. As a rule, getting up to feed is very uncomfortable. Therefore, there should be a place where my mother can comfortably sit, relax and exhale. Ideally, you must add the friendly attitude of the staff and the opportunity to drink water: when you are badfeeding, there is a discharge of liquid and thirst often appears. It would be nice to have clean bottled water in the room. Again, this comes from the ideal wishes [улыбается. — Прим. Onliner.by]

– Do you think that it is necessary to legally consolidate the right of women to badfeed in public places?

– I think the most correct question to consider from the point of view of the freedom to choose a woman. To feed in a public or isolated place, at home or on the street, the chest or bottle is the business of every woman. She has the right to choose where she is most comfortable. We can not impose.

If a woman's right to badfeed in a public place is prescribed, why not? It is important to change the attitude of society in the face of what is happening. But to fight for legal strength, I do not see an urgent need now. I think that a woman herself can choose where and how to feed her.

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