Just add milk.

While Moe and I were in Austin last month, we visited friends and their two girls. One of the girls was 10 weeks old. At one point, I went to the bathroom, and when I came out, Mama appeared to be hugging her youngest, who was covered with a blanket. I asked if the baby was cold, and she said no; she was breastfeeding.?

She then shared that her milk was the only nourishment she had given her since birth.

For the first time, this 79-year-old guy understood one more miracle of life and another extraordinary dynamic of a woman’s body. It never occured to me that this was how it worked! I believe that most guys are clueless about how a woman goes from menstrual cycles to pregnancy to carrying and then birthing and nursing babies then raising them and eventually to menopause.

I was struck by how a woman’s milk ensures that a newborn has proper nourishment from birth.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO):?

“Breastfeeding is one of the most effective ways to ensure child health and survival.

Breastmilk is the ideal food for infants. It is safe, clean, and contains antibodies that help protect against many common childhood illnesses. Breastmilk provides all the energy and nutrients that the infant needs for the first months of life, and it continues to provide up to half or more of a child’s nutritional needs during the second half of the first year and up to one-third during the second year of life.?

Breastfed children perform better on intelligence tests, are less likely to be overweight or obese, and are less prone to diabetes later in life. Women who breastfeed also have a reduced risk of breast and ovarian cancers.?

Inappropriate marketing of breastmilk substitutes continues to undermine efforts to improve breastfeeding rates and duration worldwide.”

Times Square was recently the home of a 45-foot-tall billboard featuring an image of pregnant celebrity cookbook author, Molly Baz. The billboard was taken down just three days after the image was posted.

The ad, which was developed in partnership with inclusive breastfeeding brand Swehl, featured a primarily nude Baz holding lactation cookies over her breasts, along with the tagline “Just Add Milk.”

Clear Channel, the billboard company that powered it, deemed it inappropriate. Should a woman’s breast be inappropriate? It’s not in most of the world.

Last year, we visited a friend who was breastfeeding. My first response was, “What a beautiful sight!”

Then I thought, “Hey, I shouldn’t be looking,” and I turned my eyes away. When I shared this with her, she said, “There is no reason for you to look away; breastfeeding is a beautiful gift of mother nature.”

“Breastfeeding is a mother’s gift to herself, her baby and the earth.”?

- Pamela K. Wiggins

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