National Breastfeeding Week with Nikki Magennis

Whoops, dear Friends, I forgot to publish today's post today! Apologies! 


Assuming my brain remains functional, National Breastfeeding Week will see a guest post a day on the Friends of Breastfeeding blog, to mark the week, and discuss the theme of 'Breastfeeding Friendly'. 


So, happy National Breastfeeding Week everyone, mothers, babies, dads and grandparents and friends alike. This week is for all of us who feel connected to the idea of feeding mother's milk to our babies. It's also for all those who are interested, uncertain, perhaps even negative about the idea, as it's an opportunity to learn more about the challenges and rewards involved. 

link to bfing in public article, and breastfeeding portraits by Kate Hansen

We start the week off with a post from writer Nikki Magennis.

Breastfeeding Friendly

The prompt of ‘breastfeeding friendly’ seemed to beg for comment on other people’s reactions to my breastfeeding. I’ve got lots to say about how hard I found feeding in the beginning and how I had to find my own determination to ignore the dozens of well meaning midwives, health visitors and advisors and work it out for myself. But I couldn’t think of much to say about whether I’d found the world breastfeeding friendly or otherwise. So I racked my brain.

I’ve been feeding my son for nearly two years now. Not constantly, har har, although there have been times when it felt like it.

I’m pleased to say that the worst reaction I’ve had was in a safari park when I kind of forgot I was feeding him and looked up from conversation to notice a woman standing, open-mouthed, staring at my (admittedly rather hard to miss) boob. She shook herself and went off to look at the hibernating bears. And that was that.

I’ve been lucky, maybe. Or maybe the judgement breastfeeding mothers fear just doesn’t really exist as much as we worry it might. Admittedly, I’ve known from the start that the law protects me staunchly and clearly. I’ve been lucky enough to have a breastfeeding support group locally. And both my mother and step mother were breastfeeding veterans (from a time when the norm was to feed a child until 2 or 3)  so the whole process was grounded, for me, in normalcy. I have met others who didn't have quite that supportive background, and of course that makes a big difference. 

Nevertheless, I’ve fed while hillwalking, in Tesco, in cafes, beer gardens, cars, parties. I’ve fed while asleep, while sick, while the baby was sick. (In that instance, the doctor told me that if not for the breastmilk the babe would have been hospitalised, on  a drip.) and I’ve just not encountered any opposition. Not from staid conservatives, not from those who bottle fed their children, not from normally laddish men. All I’ve heard is support, and the occasional suggestion that I should maybe take it more easy and have another biscuit, neither of which I’m inclined to argue with.

Maybe if one is relaxed about it breastfeeding just looks like what it is – a massive, great, chilled out non-event. A mother feeding her babe, toddler or child. No big deal. I hope so. I like it this way. 




Nikki Magennis is an author, artist and animator. She lives in Scotland with her partner and nearly-two year old, between the sea and the hills, and tries to stretch the day to fit in as many lives as possible. You can catch her erratic blogging at nikkimagennis.blogspot.com