It’s World Breastfeeding Week!
And we are here for it! We see you mamas doing your thang’, feeding that baby literally from your body. Do you! And you know what? We also see you mamas who may be feeling like this week is about a club that you never quite made it into. We are here to celebrate you too. This is a week where feeding our babies is an even hotter topic than normal and it can easily be polarizing. We’re not about that here.
Let’s leave the other-mothering at the door because judgement and stress aren’t invited this week. Everyone’s journey to how and what they feed their babies is different. Maybe for you, nursing was easy (get it touch because I’ve always wanted to meet a unicorn!), or maybe you breastfed, but it was a battle the whole way (way to push through, mama!). Maybe you’re like me and it was a little of this and a little of that (it was a whole thing). Maybe your little love got that liquid gold after you pumped, or through a tube. And maybe you chose not to breastfeed because you just didn’t want to. I could play this maybe game all day because the layers are many and the issue is deep.
With as many mamas contributing to Waco Moms, I know we’ve done it all and we’ve linked arms with other mamas as they’ve walked out their unique journeys, cheering them on and bringing them chicken soup (or bottles of wine) when the going gets tough. We’ve got our feet firmly planted in the Fed Is Best Camp and our message to you is:
Mama, you’ve got this. You are a hero. You are the boss of your life and the boss of that baby and only you know your family’s lifestyle and limits and your own capacity and comfort level. If you are feeding your baby, Mama, you are doing things right. As you see those images of breastfeeding mamas and their babes on social media this week, I hope there’s consideration given to what it took her to get to that point…because behind even the most peaceful of pictures, there can be a rough journey. And if your journey didn’t look like what you’re seeing, I hope you’ll share it with us, because representation of differences matters and can weave us together like silence never will.
We value and honor the mission of World Breastfeeding Week, the stories shared, and the people that have shared them. We love the way this week can and has brought support, awareness, and dialogue between mamas in the world of social media.