Feelings about not being able to breastfeed

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Feelings about not being able to breastfeed

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Not being able to nurse made me feel completely inadequate as a mother. You know, we’re told, “Breast is best.” And, “Babies are born to breastfeed.” And, “It’s the most important thing that you could do as a mother.” And when you can’t do it, where does that leave you? So I felt like a complete failure as a mom. And then, when I ultimately did switch to formula, and even though I knew it was the best thing for my family, there was so much judgment everywhere I looked – from all my friends who were nursing mothers who had never seen somebody bottle feed before, let alone use formula. And everywhere I looked online, I could find absolutely no support. So it just seemed like not only was I having my own personal feelings of inadequacy – the world was telling me I was inadequate. And it just was a really rotten way to start out motherhood.

View Suzanne Barston, CLC's video on Feelings about not being able to breastfeed...

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Suzanne Barston, CLC

Blogger & Author of Bottled Up

Suzanne Barston, CLC is the former Editor-in-Chief of Los Angeles Family Magazine, a Certified Lactation Counselor, and a freelance writer specializing in parenting, women’s interest, and science/health topics. She is the author of Bottled Up: How the Way We Feed Babies Has Come to Define Motherhood, and Why It Shouldn’t and blogs as her alter ego, the "Fearless Formula Feeder". "FFF", as it’s known to an international fan base representing over 40 countries, supports parents dealing with issues of guilt, fear, conflict and uncertainty regarding infant feeding difficulties and choices through critical assessments of research, pithy commentary, practical advice, and a weekly series allowing parents to share stories in a cathartic way. She is also the co-creator of the #ISupportYou movement. 

Barston was raised outside of Boston and earned her Bachelor of Science degree from Northwestern University in 2000. After living and working in Chicago and London, she now resides in Los Angeles with her husband, the photographer Steven Barston, and their two obnoxiously cute children. She and her husband were featured on two award-winning online reality series for Pampers.com, A Parent is Born and Welcome to Parenthood, about their pregnancy and first years as parents. Suzanne's writing and her work with FFF and Bottled Up have been featured in the New York Times, the Huffington Post, SheKnows.com, Babble.com, Pregnancy & Newborn Magazine, Parenting, Babytalk, OhBaby!, Fit Pregnancy, The Observer, Yahoo Shine!, Australia's Good Weekend magazine, and on a variety of radio programs including KPCC's "Take Two", numerous NPR affiliates, "Parenting Unplugged", "Positive Parenting", "Mom Enough", "For Crying Out Loud", "Voice of Russia", and more. Suzanne was honored to be one of the keynote Voices of the Year in 2012 for the annual BlogHer conference.

She currently works both as a writer and as an Infant Feeding Counselor. 

 

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