I wonder if Hannah Rosin would have gone out of her way to make a case against breastfeeding if she was Canadian? Would she have felt the same tied down-ness during her paid year long maternity leave north of the border? Or would she have insisted on going back to work and let her husband take half of the leave and let him be paid to be a stay-at-home dad? Because, let’s face it, the woman is going stir crazy. I can relate to that. But blame the society you live in that ties you down, not the breastfeeding.
Rosin needed a reason to write something to support her own waning desire to breastfeed child number three. All it took was finding some inconsistent evidence in favour of breastfeeding, and she tells us, “the seed was planted,”
from which grew “The Case Against Breast-Feeding,” a frightenly dangerous Venus Fly trap of an article that instead of eating flies has the potential to devour new moms struggling with breastfeeding. I hope her guilt has been satisfactorily fed by all the buzz.
I found Rosin’s argument to be a sad commentary on todays’ society. As a product of the convenience culture she appears to be working hard to make sure this fast food, disposable society stays this way. If you could produce the most perfect healthy food right out of your own body instead of shopping for, preparing and “cooking” something sub-standard, wouldn’t you want to feed that to your child? Think of the convenience, the no cost and no waste! (See “Nurse The Earth” for more benefits). I think going the route of formula is like saying, even though I have a garden of organic vegetables at my disposal, I’m going to go out of my way to buy some sprayed, imported vegetables at the big box store and feed those to my children instead. What!? They have all the vitamins and minerals the other veggies do! I can wash some of the pesticides off. What’s the big deal? ~ Are you getting my point?
Rosin complains of feeeling tied down to breastfeeding and envious of her husband going to work. “Being stuck at home breast-feeding as he walked out the door for work just made me unreasonably furious, at him and everyone else.” I suppose it is reasonable to assume some moms will feel this way, but I bet there’s a lot more of this feeling in the USA where The federal Family and Medical Leave Act allows for only 12 weeks of unpaid leave during pregnancy or after the birth of a child.
In Canada, according to Service Canada, moms get up to 52 weeks of maternity leave. Fifteen weeks are paid as maternity and 35 weeks are paid as parental, meaning dad can take these instead of mom or they can be split. Employers often top up these benefits up to 80% of your regular pay. Employers are required to hold your job until your return. When you’re allowed to be off work for a year and can rely on at least some money coming in new moms can relax and enjoy themselves and their baby a lot easier.
According to a new study longer maternity leaves for Canadian mothers have meant that more of them have met breastfeeding targets recommended by public health agencies. It only makes sense that without the pressure to return to work, moms can more easily breastfeed exclusively for six months and expand their breastfeeding realtionship even longer as desired.
According to Stats Canada, in 2003 85% of Canadian women attempted to breastfeed, 17% breastfed exclusively for six months and 16% of women were still breastfeeding after a year. According to the US CDC in 2003, 72% American women attempted breastfeeding, 10% breastfed exclusively for six months and 19.6% were still breastfeeding after one year. While the USA breastfeeding statistics have increased since 2003, I show them here instead only to make a fair comparison to the last collected Canadian statistics.
In Canada we have a number of luxuries moms in the USA do not have and while our breastfeeding statistics aren’
t staggeringly different, they are better. I fully believe our maternity leaves and the social and health programs that work to ensure breastfeeding success are the reason for this.
Aside from paid maternity leave here’s what else we have in Canada:
- Some provinces cover midwifery care under their provincial government’s health care system. If a mom chooses midwifery care she can expect to be followed for up to eight weeks post-partum while having unlimited access to her midwife to ask questions about breastfeeding and receive support to ensure a successful breastfeeding relationship with her baby. My midwives were paid for by my provincial government and I wouldn’t have had my babies any other way.
Midwifery Across Canada — a quick reference
| Province | Regulated midwifery? | Funded by government? | Fee for service? | Birth options with a midwife |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alberta | Yes | No | Yes | Hospital, Home, or Birth Centre |
| British Columbia | Yes | Yes | No | Hospital or Home |
| Manitoba | Yes | Yes | No | Hospital or Home |
| Newfoundland and Labrador | No | No | No | Hospital (only in certain areas) |
| New Brunswick | No | No | Yes | Home |
| Northwest Territories | No | No | Yes | Home |
| Nova Scotia | No | No | Yes | Home** |
| Nunavut | Pilot project | Yes | No | Most flown to other locations for birth |
| Ontario | Yes | Yes | No | Hospital or Home |
| Prince Edward Island | No | No | Yes | Home |
| Quebec | Yes | Yes | No | Birthing centre, Hospital, or Home |
| Saskatchewan | No | No | Yes | Home** |
| Yukon | No | No | Yes | Home |
** Legislation has been passed in both Nova Scotia and Saskatchewan to support midwifery, however, both governments have more to do in terms of implementing this plan. Reportedly, the first publicly-funded midwifery services will be available in Saskatchewan in the spring of 2007. In Nova Scotia, the government expects to have the legislation declared, including with all the related regulations in the fall of 2007.
Reviewed March 2007.
To continue:
- Free lactation consulatations from a licensed lactation consultant are available at my local public health unit.
- Moms who do not choose midwifery care receive follow up from a public health nurse within the first few weeks of birth to make sure mom and baby are breastfeeding well and to do a post partum depression screen on mom.
- Canadian Charter Of Rights and Freedoms states that a woman has the right to breastfeed her baby anytime, and anywhere she is legally allowed to be.
What else is important?
- The Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative. You can read about what this means here, but in a nutshell this means the nurses are not allowed to give babies formula without parental permission, parents do not receive samples of formula upon leaving the hospital, and nurses help to ensure breastfeeding success before mom’s departure. Any hospital in the world can join, and so far approximately 19,000 hospitals worldwide have.
I think Ms. Rosin might be lacking a feeling of empowerment. And rather than seeking out services and friendships to feed that need she’s surrounding herself with people who are disempowering her by siding with her (as her good friends in the video clips do! – eye roll – as an aside – who has seen “He’s Just Not That Into You?” Remember the first five minutes of the movie?) and egging her on to carry out this breastfeeding bashing crusade. Were she instead being empowered to continue and possibly even (gasp!) enjoy breastfeeding her third child, her breastfeeding environment would look a lot different than it does now. “A conducive breastfeeding environment is one that ensures that women have the right to correct information to make informed choices, the right to legal protection and social support for breastfeeding in public and at work, and the right to skilled counselling and sympathetic support.”
Would Hannah Rosin really have written her article if she lived in Canada? Is it really worth it to question the science behind the health benefits of the substance that has been ensuring the survival of our species since the beginning of time? All scientific findings are prone to inconsistencies. Do we actually choose to breastfeed to make sure our kids don’t get fat? Do we breastfeed to ensure a higher IQ? A decreased chance of allergies and/or asthma? Better complexions? Less behavioural problems? (See “Behavioural Problems? Yes, My Breastfed Baby!”) Maybe. But I breastfed because I don’t believe I need to mess with nature. Nature provides us with everything we need to ensure good health. Mammal instinct provides moms and their offspring everything they need to ensure survival. Formula is there when we *need* it, but if you don’t need it then why would you use it?
To go back to work? To feel worthwhile? Look into the eyes of your child when you nurse him or her. Do you get that mothering instinct that tells you you know you would do anything on Earth to protect this child? Follow it then. And if you’re an American mommy like most of my readers are, contact your State and Federal governments and demand the maternity leave and benefits you deserve. Demand better health and social programs. I think you have a president who is willing to listen, so use these next four years to your best advantage. And ignore moms like Rosin who try to bait you to question your instincts. She’s just pissed that she doesn’t live in Canada.
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Related posts:
- Canadian Breastfeeding Protection Petition
- The Canadian Maternity Experiences Survey: My Answers
- Feminism and Equality For Breastfeeding Women
- Breastfeeding Nature’s Way
- Breastfeeding, Formula Feeding and Social Oppression
Tags: Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative, breastfeeding laws, breastfeeding rates, Hannah Rosin, maternity leave, midwifery, nature, The Case Against Breastfeeding
Excellent post! I was waiting to read a good commentary on the lack of government support for mothers in America. American women think they are so progressive in their “freedom of choice,” but don’t realize that their choice has already been made for them.
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[...] Read the original here: Would Hannah Rosin Have Made A "Case Against Breastfeeding" If She Was Canadian? [...]
This is interesting for me , I am a Canadian who lives in the States. I was appalled at the lack of maternity benefits and do think it is the biggest road block to nursing especially past a few months old.
That said I don’t think Rosin’s arguments would have been any different if she was in Calgary instead of DC , because she made up her mind that nursing was something she was quilted into and that would have been stronger in Canada because of the better benefits.
That’s my take – great post!
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Until I got pregnant I didn’t realize that here in the U.S. we are esentially last on the bus for providing maternity leave. I spend most days angry at the system for making me choose between financial security and raising my child. Some states, like California and New Jersey, have state mandated leave, but where I live there is no such thing. I once contacted my local state senator who happens to be a woman. When I told her my story about being fresh out of college and new in the workforce without any paid leave, she basically told me that things were that way when she was my age and that I’d get through it. That was forty years ago! Nothing has changed! Hopefully with our new administration we can get something done. You ladies in Canada are lucky that your culture values families.
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Excellent commentary. For me, Rosin’s comments came from a very personal place. She claimed that breastfeeding kept her down and was, essentially, antifeminist, but her disatisfactions seemed to come primarily from the dynamics of her relationship and the fact that she’s a mother. Rosin doesn’t like being a girl!
The entire article comes off ranty and whiny. Frankly, I have better things to do than whine that some studies findings may be slightly inflated; I’m busy living the life I really want to live while raising my children. I was doing that when I was breastfeeding my kids, too.
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Well done! It’s nice to see a Canadian’s take.
I particularly love this sentence, “Is it really worth it to question the science behind the health benefits of the substance that has been ensuring the survival of our species since the beginning of time?” Breastfeeding has certainly stood the test of time!
Very well written blog entry. I am a Canadian new mom currently enjoying your mentioned 52 week maternity leave (with excellent top up by my employer!)
After breastfeeding exclusively for 3.5 months now, I finally got to enjoy her looking up at me and giving me the best smile as she is nursing. I am so happy I made the choice to provide her with the best possible nourishment she deserves!
It is so refreshing to read your post which truly emphasizes the importance of mothers being given the time they need with their babies. But you also highlight the effects on mothers of being able to choose their type of birth provider. This is wonderful reading!
I blogged about the Atlantic article as well from a very different point of view. You might find it interesting http://conservativegranolamomm.....tific.html
Thank you again for such a terrific post!
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“Rosin needed a reason to write something to support her own waning desire to breastfeed child number three”.
I totally agree with you. She’s trying to rationalize her way out of breastfeeding her 3rd born. Why build a case AGAINST breastfeeding, for ALL OF THE OTHER MOMS out there? That’s just an ugly thing to do. The “convenient” culture we live in strikes us Mom’s in the delivery room. In pain? Have meds. And just in case you “can’t” breastfeed, here’s a “gift” of ready-to-eat formula. We are barraged with these messages from jump! If she doesn’t want to press on w/ her 3rd, then she should just be honest, quit judging HERSELF and bow out. It’s her choice. Look, I can imagine that child #3 would present a logisitical challenge in the nursing department. I just had my second, and sometimes I feel like I’m juggling nursing him and entertaining my toddler at the same time. But it’s doable. Truth is, It can be hard. But when YOU WANT something, you press on. Period. I feel so proud about being able to give both of my children the nourishment that “mother nature” intended. The bonding that comes as a result is dreamy and priceless. I nursed my 1st for 17 months – weaned when I got preggy with #2. I plan to nurse my 2nd baby for as long as he wants to. I stay at home with them and love being here for every moment of their precious early lives.
NOW…
“Being stuck at home breast-feeding as he walked out the door for work just made me unreasonably furious, at him and everyone else.”
Sounds like she’s got a lot of resentment with her husband. How does “furious” come into the equation when you’re nursing? I get that there are things that take a bake seat while we’re nursing. But it’s short lived in the big scheme. Breastfeeding is NOT A SENTENCE, it’s a gift to your child, for goodness sake!! Perhaps she should take a look at what she’s REALLY so angry about.
Sadly, what I took away from her article is a woman who’s lost sight of the gifts she has: her healthy children, her employed husband, her ability to nourish her baby. She’s resentful and bitter. Trying to explain away why she doesn’t want to nurse her baby. She’s defensive, and looking for the information she needs to back-out of it, at the expense of all of the women who are currently/plan to breasfeed. It’s offensive, quite frankly.
She seems like the kind of lady I would avoid at the playground… complaining about motherhood. She needs a bubble bath, if you ask me.
Nursing my 5 month old as I type…
MomE
Thanks for writing this. My partner and I actually had originally planned to start having children until we move back to Canada in 2010 – we are living in the US right now. However, that would have me delivering the first at age 37 or so, and that just seemed like asking for trouble. Fortunately, getting pregnant at 35 was really easy for me, so maybe if there’s a baby #2, I’ll be able to enjoy that paid 52 week childcare time. In the meantime, I’m glad to be working for an American employer where I will get 6 weeks paid after the baby comes (Oh! 8 weeks if you have a c-section dear, they say when they see my expression of horror). I’m lucky as well that my partner wants to, and we can afford to, have him stay home with the baby after I go back to work.
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Thank you everyone for your valuable feedback. I find it interesting that it sounds like most of us would choose to avoid Ms. Rosin if she were just another mom at the playground complaining about motherhood. While we may all be guilty of this at times, she really does go out of her way to try to get us to feel sorry for her and take her side. As her readers she has a captive audience in us and doesn’t know if we are siding with her or not, and she in turn can choose whether or not to read our responses. Somewhere over the past couple days I read where someone said they had talked to Rosin who stated she had gotten exactly what she had expected, personal calls and letters from moms who thanked her for writing her article and a bunch of angry internet moms who thought she was a bad parent. She got the attention she needed and likely *is* having a bubblebath now. I hope it makes her feel better too.
I’m inclined to agree that Rosin wouldn’t have had the same take on things if she were in Canada, and had access to long-term paid maternity leave. I don’t see moms turning down maternity leave here because they don’t breastfeed. The fact is that moms and babies are meant to be together in the early days and months. Breastfeeding is an important part of that time, but so is all the other stuff we do.
And I also agree, I breastfeed because it feels like the right thing to do, not because I am hoping for a specific outcome down the line. All I have to do is look at my babies to know that this was what I was meant to do.
I join you in hoping that our American friends advocate for and receive better maternity benefits. I think it’s long overdue.
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I think Rosin sees bf’ing more as a lifestyle choice than ‘natural’. I also felt she was resentful of a society that had totally turned from shaming bfing in public moms to the opposite and was feeling the guilt of admitting or showing herself FORMULA feeding in public…and admitting to that choice.
Where I don’t think formula should be a choice of convenience..I also feel that a mother needs to do what works for her..not for laziness or ease..but for her mental well being..happy moms and all that.
At a recent outing I was in awe of how many bfing moms were there and NO bottle feeders in sight.
While I am happy to see that, as a mom who sucked at bfing in my previous efforts and switched to formula, my fear of the playground ladies is in full force as I wait to deliver this next one.
I also think this guilt and back and forthing is a North Am thing…My friends in the UK who formula fed have no guilt about it whatsoever….is that lack of education?
I don’t know.
I also am curious about how the consulting in hospitals has improved since I had my last two.
Bustling about me and making me try different positions did nothing to help ‘me’ and show me and explain to me what was going on.
It just made me feel more frustrated and annoyed. This was at two different hospitals and at home consults too.
I am hoping a midwife helps more this time.
I think of how mentally I felt with a newborn and frustrated and tired and so on….and I can see how that resentment would linger with a person, no matter what side of the border they are on if they are just not comfortable with bfing and my sympathies do then arise.
I really enjoyed reading what you had to say about this “case against breastfeeding.” I’ve read another post elsewhere that left me with a bad taste in my mouth. As an American living in Canada, I love all the benefits that parents get when they have a baby here. I gave birth at a baby friendly hospital, and the nurses were spectacular. I truly credit them with helping me get started right and gave me the knowledge I needed to nurse my baby for a year so far. I also took advantage of the public health nurse coming and she was so good. I had a lot of struggles initially and she was able to give me the guidance and support I needed. She came back several times to make sure we were doing ok and calls several times in between.
I will say that a year later I can sometimes identify with how Rosin felt being home. I get that “stuck at home” feeling.
I think that maybe she didn’t have anyone to come in and say, you know what you are feeling is perfectly normal, but it does get better. I think with a lack of support even the mom who really wants to breastfeed will struggle and may even quit too.
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excellent post !!! well, well said!!
Great response! I am amazed at the US maternity leave policy. It’s utterly ridiculous. I am so proud of my friends there that pump during work for a year minimum.
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Good post. As if I needed one more reason to be jealous of you Canadians — it’s hard knowing that if I lived a few hundred miles north I wouldn’t have had to pump at work that whole time, or even be away from my baby. The last year of my life would have been unequivocally better for my own mental health, and for my relationship with my children.
But alas, I’m American. And I’m not proud of it.
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