Friday, May 8, 2015

Bottle Feeding is Beautiful (too!)

Bottle Feeding is Beautiful (too!)

NOTE: Please understand that this post is meant to be a thought provoking article that shows moms are on the same team and we want what is best for our children who we've been entrusted to care for.


Ever see those gorgeous breast feeding images? I have and I LOVE them. I have even taken some. There is something so raw and beautiful about the bonding you see. It's a wonderful natural event. As a birth photographer one of my favorite moments to capture is when the baby tries to breast feed for the first time.

 Breast feeding can have a difficult side, too. I have seen and heard countless women weep over difficulties breastfeeding; sometimes not being able to at all despite strenuous efforts, while others claim victory. Some women in shame pick up that bottle to nourish their child with the fear of being judged. This is not okay. Feeding your newborn should never feel shameful!

 Can we agree that as moms we are on the same team and bonding and health can be obtained many ways? Our priority is our babies.
My hope is to shed some light on what I have learned. Over the last few months I have met with women to do a  photo series I like to call "Bottle Feeding is Beautiful too."
It truly is. Seeing a baby bond with its mommy, daddy, sibling, family, or friend is a blessing. So I retain my opinion that bottle feeding is beautiful, too.






"For some, the choice of feeding their babies
rather than letting them starve is a very real scenario."





Recently, I met with women who have chosen to bottle feed on their own or because of circumstances out of their control. For some, the choice of feeding their babies rather than letting them starve is a very real scenario. I was surprised to find out some of the reasons women choose to bottle feed that I had never before considered. I thought my eyes were open but they had only caught a glimpse past my own personal struggles with breast feeding and bottle feeding.

Reasons why women choose to bottle feed: (These are some of the reasons I came across but I am aware that there may be many more reason out there).

- Severely clogged ducts
- Low supply
- No supply
- Insufficient Glandular Tissue (IGT) This means the breasts don't contain proper milk-making tissue.
- Physically abusive relationship
- Sexual abuse (breast feeding can trigger memories of past events)
- Adoption
- Working mom
- Because it fits their situation best
- Unable to pump
- Dad wants bonding time and to share nightly duties and pumping is limited
- Multiple babies
- Low pain tolerance
- Mastectomy
- Dysphoric Milk Ejection Reflex (D-MER)
- Undiagnosed tongue and lip ties on baby
- Latching issues
- Inverted nipples
- Thyroid issues
- Postpartum Depression
- Raynaud's disease
- PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome )
- Medications (some sustaining medications can be adverse to baby if passed on through breast milk)
- Postpartum Hemorrhage/Retained placenta

Alternatives women choose to breast feeding:

 - Milk donors: these are women who are able to supply additional milk by pumping. This gives mothers that are unable to nurse the benefit of breast milk for their baby.
- Formula
- Supplemental Nursing System: This is essentially a bottle with a very long tube that attaches to the mothers breast which gives the bonding of baby latching to the breast while the system is giving the child formula or donated milk.
- Wet nursing: This is when a woman breast feeds and cares for another's child. Wet nurses are a help (often employed) when the mother is unable or chooses not to nurse the child herself.
- Homemade goat milk formula.


 


 "This isn't a matter of being lazy.
Lazy is knowing something needs to be done
and choosing not to do it. This is a matter of informed choice."






The shame game is real. Seeing posts of women pouring out their hearts and not being able to work past the shame is heart breaking.
This isn't a matter of being lazy. Lazy is knowing something needs to be done and choosing not to do it. This is a matter of informed choice. We mamas know our child needs care and we give it. That is not lazy.

Moms, our job is a wonderful one that comes with many challenges. Let's not add to those challenges, let's start eliminating them.

 So, in conclusion, is breast feeding beautiful? YES! Is bottle feeding beautiful? YES!

 I hope you enjoy these images I was blessed to be able to capture of babies bonding and being nourished.
In the future I hope to incorporate these special moments even more into the blessed job I do.

One of the mamas that I met with has been brave enough to share her personal story. You can find her story at the bottom of this page after the bottle feeding images.























Pictured above in black & white is Brittnae and Mason. Here is their journey:




We welcomed our sweet baby boy, Mason Russell, on June 10th 2014. After a very difficult pregnancy, I was able to have the hospital water birth of my dreams. After a 7hr labor, I was on cloud 9! Before discharge I was seen by the hospital lactation consultant (LC). She was impressed by Mason's strong suck, no lip or tongue ties, lots of swallowing, and seemed very optimistic that we were all set up for success.
I left the hospital feeling untouchable. Fast forward 3 days, Mason began refusing the breast. We tried a nipple shield, different positions, skin to skin, everything I could think of. At his pediatrician appointment he had lost more than 10% of his birth weight (7lbs.11oz) but the doc wasn't too concerned. He just assumed that my milk hadn't come all the way in yet and he was very supportive. We scheduled a weight check for 2 days later, as well as an appointment with the lactation consultant. After a positive meeting with the LC and getting Mason to nurse more, I was feeling a lot better. However, at the weight check he was down to 5lbs. 13oz. I was devastated.

He hadn't been fussing as much so I assumed he was satisfied. I will never forget the sting I felt when the doctor told me "he hasn't been crying because his body shut down to save calories." I cried the whole way home and the rest of that night. We began supplementing and every other day there were weight checks with meetings with the LC. I began taking every milk-making herb, food, vitamin, tea, and tincture known to man. The third LC I met with was a wonderful woman whose kindness I will never forget. She suspected I had something called Insufficient Glandular Tissue (IGT) that means my breasts don't contain proper milk-making tissue. It affects about 5-10% (percentages are under study) of women making it mostly unheard of. After a thorough examination, it was confirmed. I had IGT and I was devastated. I felt like I had totally failed my son.

We tried one last ditch effort, a prescription called Reglan. After a round of that, I was still only producing drops of milk. I knew I had to give up on my dream of nursing my sweet baby. I began mourning the loss of that tender relationship I was so looking forward to, but I refused to let it develop into any kind of depression. I would let myself cry for 10 minute spans, then remind myself how lucky I was to have a happy healthy baby who was now thriving on formula. I was very thankful to have the formula that in essence saved my baby's life and sustained him when I could not, but I believed in the benefits of breast milk so I decided to take the plunge and put an ad out on the Human Milk 4 Human Babies Facebook page. I had heard of milk-sharing and honestly I had only "liked" the page while pregnant because I was hoping to donate. Within an hour I had a response from a woman who lived about 10 minutes down the road. She exclusively pumped for her son, and was pumping about double what he ate. I was excited and nervous! We picked up the milk and I fed it to Mason through a supplemental nursing system which allowed me to "nurse" with a tube attached to my breast. Finally, I felt some peace and that I was doing something right. Mason thrived on the milk, he was gaining rapidly and was less constipated. We received milk from four other mamas as well and Mason has been on exclusive breast milk (other than occasional supplementing) since about 4 weeks old! I will forever be thankful to the wonderful "milky mamas" who gave such a wonderful gift to us! My struggle to breastfeed and my journey to find what was best for our family has completely humbled me. Where before, I would judge other mothers for parenting differently based on what I thought was right, now I completely understand that motherhood isn't a "one size fits all" gig. Whether you cloth or disposable diaper, breast or bottle feed, crib or co-sleep, what matters is the love you do it with. My hope is that through all of this I will somehow find a way to support new moms no matter what their choices are. This is just one story of a new mom's journey to bottle-feeding but there are many more!






46 comments:

  1. Please check your statistic on IGT. It is off by an order - 0.1% not 5-10%. It is very rare. Quoting such a high statistic can needlessly scare mothers into thinking their body is not working right.

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    1. Anonymous, thanks for the tip! I will certainly re check stats that I pulled originally. If there is a specific site you think I should look at please email it to me for reference. Thanks for thinking of the moms out there!

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    2. email: nikkewhitmanphotography@yahoo.com

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    3. Try this link to online version of Breastfeeding and Human Lactation by Jan Riordan, 3rd ed, 2005, pages 295-296. The statistic 1 out of 1000 is given. I found this in other texts as well, so I assume this is the generally accepted statistic. Riordan has a math error though. She puts the percent at 0.01% but it should be 0.1%. Either way, it is much less than 5-10 per 100 women. https://books.google.com/books?id=aiVesab_2bwC&pg=PA308&lpg=PA308&dq=ng+powers+insufficient+glandular+tissue&source=bl&ots=EdsiwNQPo_&sig=L1xTbgXWF8kQPeJ4JF9HHuLLZBs&hl=en&sa=X&ei=EKRbVa_JLoGWgwSnxoP4Cg&ved=0CCcQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=ng%20powers%20insufficient%20glandular%20tissue&f=false

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    4. Thanks Anonymous. I may just re word the part on IGT. I will read up on that link. The article I was reading gave account for those undiagnosed and or self diagnosed. I appreciate your concern and willingness to educate.

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    5. 2005 is quite outdated info, I believe your statistics are currently accurate (as diagnosed - lord knows there's more of us out there!). A beautiful post, thank you!

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  2. I love this blog. We as mamas need to be less judgmental of each other. Mamas unite! Being a mother is beautiful period

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  3. This is wonderful! Thank you for doing this!

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    1. You are so welcome! Thanks for reading and showing the love.

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  6. Thanks for this! As a prospective pair of Gay Dads, breastfeeding is not an option for us :-) We have been researching and the consensus from actual data is: there seem to be definite benefits to breastmilk the first 24-48 hours after birth, related to immune development in the newborn, but after that, studies don't show any difference re: IQ, height/weight, rates of autism, or anything else.

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    1. Congrats Anonymous! Be at ease guys - I had no milk when I had my daughter 17 yrs ago and I can tell you that she hasn't suffered a bit. She was actually the healthiest kid from most that I knew - she didn't have ear infections or that stuff, just the typical kid bugs. She'll be a senior next year, she's on the honor roll and plans on being a nurse. Just give your son or daughter lots of love, patience and understanding and they'll be fine.

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    2. Anonymous & Laurie, thank you for reading and sharing!

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  7. I saw your article on CNN.com and just wanted to thank you. I too ended up bottle feeding my child. Although the experience was beautiful and allowed bonding for both myself and my husband, I still carry feelings of guilt and being less-than to this day, 7 years later. Articles like yours hopefully will go a long way towards changing that for other moms like me.

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    1. Anonymous, thank you for reading and for sharing your story. I hope those feelings of guilt turn around for you.

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  8. I am an adoptive mom who is also a breast cancer survivor, and lost both breasts at the age of 26. Bottle-feeding my daughter has been, and continues to be, the most amazing, memorable experiences of bonding with her. thank you for sharing this beautiful post.

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  9. As a pediatric nurse practitioner, I am a devout follower of the mantra "what is best for Mom is best for baby". I love this article. I have seen countless mothers struggling with breast feeding. Babies can thrive on formula-they DO suffer from maternal stress. Less judgement and more support please!!!

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  10. Thank you so much for this great post! Moms need more support and less guilt for the decisions they make.

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  11. Thank you, sincerely, for writing this. I gave birth to twin boys in January and had every intention of breastfeeding. Looking at your list above, I ended up with at least six of those problems. Some of which left me with tears streaming down my face because of the pain. I stuck with it for eight weeks because of the guilt and eventually I made the informed decision to stop. It's very sensitive for me and it's hard when people imply that the decision I made was not best for my babies. After all, "breast is best!" Breast wasn't best for us, and I feel more bonded to my babies now because I'm not in constant pain. I no longer resent them for the pain they were unintentionally causing. My babies are happy and healthy and so am I!!

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    1. <3 thank you so much for sharing a little bit of your amazing story! Thanks for reading!

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  12. I LOVE that you're focusing on the pluses of bottle feeding! I think it's a very personal decision, and like you said, so many reasons. I think it's good for a mom to be informed of the pluses/minuses, but needs to do what works for her. I was concerned about my meds passing through the breast milk, but one added plus of bottle feeding was that Daddy, Grandma, Auntie could help and bond through feeding, and I got better uninterrupted sleep, which helped with my mental health! So, I am glad you are an advocate of supporting everybody. We are all taking care of our babies and making sure they have the nourishment and love they need!

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  13. Love this! I nursed my babies, supplementing with a bottle when the milk I produced just wasn't enough. Then when they started solid foods, they seemed to prefer the ease of the bottle over the breast. They were more mobile by then and I think nursing just didn't fit into their busy schedules. :-)

    My mother was unable to nurse, just producing drops of milk. It didn't take long for the doctor to figure out that her first child was crying because she was hungry and put her on formula, which was pretty new back then. By the time I came along, she didn't even try to nurse. Being bottle fed from day one, I bonded just fine with my Mama and grew up to be just as well adjusted as anyone and smarter than most. Then when I struggled with nursing, she didn't try to talk me into trying harder or into giving up. She just told me about when her sister-in-law told her she could get a lot more done if she'd just prop the bottle. Her response was, "If I could nurse my baby, I'd be holding her. I'll do the same when I give her a bottle." My babies were held when they were fed, whether bottle or breast, often even after they insisted on holding their own bottles.

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  14. My issue isn't with the use of formula but with its abuse. Formula is there for when it's necessary, like IGT, mastectomies, no milk supply, medications that aren't compatible with breastfeeding, etc. Those are its uses, and thank G-d we have formula!!
    But sometimes it gets over-used, or, in other words, abused. Instead of pushing formula, we need to be pushing donor milk. Instead of pushing for a certain lifestyle that doesn't allow mothers to continue nursing, because they have to go back to work after 6 weeks, we need to be pushing a different lifestyle that takes the baby's (and mother's) needs into account.

    We shouldn't shame mothers who can't nurse; we should support them.
    But we shouldn't shame mothers for breastfeeding "too long" or support choosing to formula feed without a medical reason, either.

    Beautiful pictures, by the way. But they're not brelfies, they're like pictures of my kids playing together.

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    1. Littleduckies,
      Thanks for your input. I agree no mama should be shamed whether it be breast, bottle, donor or formula.
      My goal was to capture how these particular families bond. I understand that looks different to everyone and yours may look different too. I see beauty in those differences.
      I feel bonding should be captured the way it works for you if you choose to document it. If there's one thing I've learned it's that people identify with imagery differently and I'm OK with that.
      God bless, thanks for reading and sharing what bonding means to you.

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    2. Littleduckies, whatever reason someone chooses to FF or BF is not up for (well, should not) debate by anyone other than her doctor and her immediate family (child/father etc). I'm sure my reasons for never considering breastfeeding wouldn't fall into your requirements above, but they are my own/my husband's own. Formula is not an abusive substance and there is sometimes more than a medical reason to use it rather than breastfeeding. Sometimes it is a quality of life for the whole family. How about we just not shame parents at all, as long as they are feeding and caring for a child?

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    3. I would much rather give my baby formula (which I know is good and harmless) than use donor milk where I have NO CONTROL and no certainty that there are no harmful substances. Yes, the donors are not allowed to use medication or other drugs - but guess what, people can lie! I would just never take that risk with my baby, unless it was from someone I personally knew and was friends with.

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  15. My daughter started in NICU, where they bottle-fed her while I desperately pumped trying to get my milk come in. I will never forget the day she increased to 3 oz just as I finally pumped 1.5. I was devastated. I did breast feed about 3 months, but always supplemented. And the struggle was so hard, I felt we bonded more when we bottle fed. That was the eventual reason I quit. When I tried nursing, my daughter was a project. When I gave her a bottle, I was relaxed and we gazed into each other's eyes. It was the better decision for our family, for mom to not be crazy.

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    1. Wow! Thank you for sharing. I love your story and thank you for reading!

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  16. I have a stubborn child who won't take a bottle so in my eyes bottles are glorious amazing inspiring devices that allow for so much more freedom. Dad gets some milk drunk baby love eyes, grandparents too. You get to share the love if baby takes a bottle and momma gets to get her hair done without having to bring lil one with her.
    So beautiful

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    1. Thanks for the article. I do agree that nursing and mama's milk is certainly the healthiest way to go. I just want those who cannot nurse or choose to do different based on circumstance to not feel shamed and to know that they can bond as well with their child and that their child can be healthy too.

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  18. Thanks so much for doing this, it is so nice to not have bottle feeding shamed and vindicated somehow xx

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    1. I am glad that this resonated with you! Thank you for reading and for commenting! Blessings!

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  19. Thank you for writing this! I have had a double mastectomy at 29 because of a Brca2 gene defect. I wont be able to breastfeed my children, and the enormous focus on how good breast milk is for your child can sometimes leave me with a lump in my throath since I am not able to give that anymore. Not that its not important to spread the benefits on how good breastmilk is, but all the pressure leaves you feeling like you are a second grade mom and have to explain yourself to strangers!

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