My husband says I post irrelevant pictures for the text on my blog. Well honey, I have very few photos of breastfeeding moms. I don’t want to use the one I used in the banner above or the other one I have used repeatedly. I picked this picture of flowers because flowers are feminine and breastfeeding is a feminine, womanly art, as in the womanly art of breastfeeding.

Here’s yet another reason to breastfeed: scientists found a protein in mother’s milk, called Trail, that fights cancer. You can read the story here.

I got into a little Facebook wrangling with an acquaintance about breastfeeding recently. He’s the classmate of my little sister from high school, so he’s not a close friend, but I claim him as a Facebook friend just because we both graduated from the same high school. I was promoting breastfeeding on Facebook with a link, and he wrote that people should stop making moms feel guilty if they can’t breastfeed.

I replied with empathy for his wife and encouragement to seek more information and education the next time she has a baby. Then he said she’s already done that and it didn’t work and people should stop making his poor wife cry. I told him there’s a difference between guilt and regret. I then refused to get involved in an argument and wished him a great day.

It’s really not about guilt. If you can’t breastfeed, truly and sincerely, because of lack of glandular tissue that makes milk, or the need to have chemotherapy, then please choose to feel regret, not guilt. If you don’t make enough milk, or have an adopted baby, or have a double mastectomy, you can still breastfeed (with the help of an SNS) Iike in this blog here about a mom who has Insufficient Glandular Tissue. I applaud this mom for not giving up on breastfeeding.

If you do feel guilt, then perhaps that’s a motivation from the universe telling you that your body is capable of producing an amazing substance for your baby. Get education and support to do it, as if you were an athlete who could win a Olympic gold medal if you just had the right education and supportive environment.