Apropriate Development

Today I participated in a breastfeeding worldwide wave. We breastfed our babies for one minute at 10 a.m. as did others throughout the world in an effort to promote breastfeeding because of it's benefit to both babies and moms. I strongly support the grassroots efforts of mothers throughout the world doing this event. It got me thinking about the many issues poor mothers face that moms who are not working and have time to participate in this event do not face and are not aware of. For instance, mothers throughout the world are faced with having to return to work immediately after having their children. Many women work long days and are not able to feed their children, don't have the resources to pump, or the ability or allowance of their employers to pump or express and store milk for their babies. The babies of low-income mothers throughout the world are often the most in need of the health benefits of breastmillk as they are the ones that are least likely to receive adequate nutrition or healthcare in their future lives. If we are to tackle the health care problems of the world and of our country, we need to allow mothers the opportunity to breastfeed and the resources (time, equipment) to provide breastmilk for their children. The US is behind the rest of the developed countries on maternity leave and breastfeeding in public places, only having in recent history made it law that women have the right to breastfeed in public. Some businesses are now providing areas and even pumps for employees, yet this is very rare. As we are attempting to tackle the health care crisis in this country, maybe we should start providing better benefits for our working mothers, making it easier for them to give their children a healthy start in life.