02/19/2025
There she sat across from me. She was saying all the right words about wanting to breastfeed and knowing it was the best for her baby. But I could see it in her body language... in her eyes. She had been down this path before with her first.... had done all the things. Had driven herself to the point of insanity. And yet... her husband kept trying to encourage her by telling her that this time could be different. And he's not wrong, but I could see it in her eyes that she simply couldn't do that again this time, and yet she was torn. I could see the agony in her eyes. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but it doesn't look like you want to breastfeed," I said. The tears welled up as she tried to convince herself that she did want to try. "You know you don't have to. It's ok to stop breastfeeding, then you can just enjoy your baby and rest more," I mentioned. And with that, she started crying. I continued, "If you need permission from a lactation consultant to stop, I am giving you permission to stop. I'm recommending that you stop breastfeeding. It's not worth it. I want you to enjoy the journey this time around." And with that, she relaxed in peace. You see... our society and even the breastfeeding community have drilled it in our brains that it's all for the baby... all for the children, and with that, we start the process of dying and denying our very beings to the point of insanity and depression. It's gotten so bad that we have denied our own intuition the ability to tell us that something isn't right. Instead, we look for the "professionals" or our mothers or other type of authority figures to tell us that it's ok to stop. You are not a failure if you can't or don't want to breastfeed or simply are too exhausted or anxious or depressed. It's ok to stop. I give you permission. #
