“My youngest is almost 18 months old now, and I still have not experienced my postpartum period.”
“My daughter is 14 months old and I am concerned about my continued infertility. Your book reassured me that rather than being unusual, breastfeeding infertility is natural, normal and healthy.”
In support of breastfeeding during World Breastfeeding Week, I have chosen to quote mothers who have used ecological breastfeeding to space their babies. The WBW blogs will be short because I like short blogs. Sheila Kippley
“I weaned the three older boys at 7, 3 and 8 months because my husband wanted me to get back to helping more with the ranch work. But baby #4 was with me constantly—in a big Allis Chalmers tractor, in the middle of the night during calving, and on a horse moving cows. She weaned at 26 months. My periods returned at 26 months postpartum.”
UNICEF and WHO World Breastfeeding Week message for 2016
Exclusive breastfeeding can promote birth-spacing—enabling women to delay subsequent pregnancy and empowering them to exercise greater reproductive autonomy, especially in countries and communities where women have limited access to quality contraceptive information and care….(emphasis added)
The evidence that breastfeeding benefits women, children, as well as communities and societies, has never been stronger—but breastfeeding rates have remained stagnant for the last 20 years. Too many children are missing out on this tremendous boost to their health and wellbeing. Too many women are not receiving the information and support they need to breastfeed successfully. (Signed by Mr. Anthony Lake, UNICEF Executive Director and Dr. Margaret Chan, WHO Director-General)
Sheila: I encourage those who give to missionary organizations to contact them and ask about their promotion of breastfeeding in this country and other countries. Encourage them to read the report.
New mothers need encouragement and support to breastfeed their babies; they don’t need free or expensive formula. New mothers-to-be should also be taught ecological breastfeeding which offers more extended baby spacing than what exclusive breastfeeding provides. God has a plan for both mother and baby via breastfeeding and natural spacing is one of those benefits.
Next time you receive a missionary appeal, use it as an opportunity to help those missionaries to promote breastfeeding which offers better health and lower costs.
Black Breastfeeding Week nationwide begins this Thursday, August 25. Some of our readers might be interested in our black breastfeeding brochure.
Sheila Kippley