Multiplicity Summer 2013

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ta·boo adjective \tə-ˈbü, ta-\ Proscribed by society as improper or unacceptable.

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(aka bottle feeding your baby) by jill marcum

ou have to be made of steel to breastfeed twins, but you also have to be made of steel to put up with the discrimination that comes with bottle feeding your babies. I never knew about the war on bottle feeding before I became a mother three years ago. I wanted to breastfeed my babies, but then when my circumstances moved me to bottle feed my twins, I learned of the existence of breastfeeding “advocates.” Now don’t get me wrong. I support breast feeding, but I also support a mother’s choice. Bottle feeding mothers should not be made to feel like failures when they’re not; that they are not enough of a mom when they are; that they didn’t try their best when they did; and that they don’t care enough when they do. This can be demoralizing to a new mother who is already quite possibly feeling guilt or a sense of failure, and quite possibly even struggling with post-partum depression. The mothers who are able to breastfeed their multiples are blessed. Most moms do wish they could successfully breastfeed their babies. Statistics from the CDC show that (in the US) 76.9% of mothers attempt to breastfeed their babies, but only 36% are still exclusively breastfeeding at three months of age. The reasons for bottle feeding versus breast feeding can be numerous. Sometimes babies have milk intolerance. Other times, a mother needs to be on medications that would be dangerous if passed on to her babies. A mother may have had a breast reduction that inhibits the ability to breastfeed, or she may have a difficult time with milk supply for a number of other reasons. Some babies have such a difficult time latching on that it leads

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