I posted that Nursing Etiquette video on YouTube (as well as here) on Sunday, and it has kind of gotten a lot of attention. I mean, it's no Evolution of the Dance or anything, but posting a semi-decent video about breastfeeding with a semi-decent message, tends to get a semi-decent amount of attention. Breastfeeding women LOVE their breastfeeding videos, I tell you. In only two days, the video has already gotten 5,403 hits. (That means over 5,000 people have seen me breastfeeding. Weird.)
A big part of what made it get a lot of hits was the fact that KellyMom.com (a BIG breastfeeding site) found it and posted a link to it from their Facebook page. It got 78 responses, and 185 people *liked* it. The only negative response was from someone who thought it implied there was something wrong with women who chose to cover up in public. So, I wanted to address that a little bit. First, I would like to include how someone responded to this on the thread, which pretty much sums up how I feel:
"I think the maker of this video would not say that covering is bad. In fact, I'm sure she would be pleased as punch to know that a mom is nursing her baby no matter how she gets it done. That being said, I think the video speaks to me as a modest mom. Trust me, I would use a cover every day of my life if I could, but by about 6 months that was ... not realistic. I just think the point is that the more people do it the easy way (without a cover) the more normal that becomes, and then more people will feel comfortable doing it with or without a cover. I really doubt she had any negative will towards any nursing moms."
So, I guess if we're going to analyze it a bit further, the video was just a tongue-in-cheek way of saying: "Isn't it cute how most babies don't like to be covered up, so why should we feel like we have to?" And, if anything, it was a look at the culture that produces this attitude, and maybe a way to change it (the attitude).
That's it. I think.
Oh, one more thing. The other day I was nursing at the mall, and a lady came up to me and said, "Thank you for breastfeeding." I thought that was nice. I think more people should be thanking women for breastfeeding. After all, there was a recent study that come out that said if 90% of American mothers nursed their babies exclusively for the first six months, it would save the nation $13 billion each year in medical cost, and it would also save more than 900 babies from dying each year.
So, THANK YOU, to all you women who breastfeed (and also a special thank you to those of you who watched and commented on my video).
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