Gifts of Breastfeeding

Tuesday December 1st La Leche League of Murray held her final meeting in her first year! Hooray! What a fun an exciting year this has been. We've had so many committed moms in our group, lots of new babies, and THREE new leaders! This month we had FOUR pregnant mamas, three of whom were all first timers with our group. Three of our four leaders were there, and three returning mamas too. We had three tots, and four babes 6 months and under.

This month's discussion surrounded the "Importance" or "Benefits of Breastfeeding," and was lead by yours truly, Timbra. We started the discussion by going around to introduce ourselves, babies and due dates, and answering the question "What holiday traditions are you either starting new for your growing family, or passing down from your own upbringing." There were some really fun answers, some moms who didn't grow up with a lot of tradition but enjoyed the idea of starting some for their families, some moms struggling with WANTING to start traditions but having a hard time sticking to them, and some really fun traditions that started our of necessity, during childhood that have carried on to this day.

Because this is a season traditionally known for gift giving, the discussion was focused on "Gifts for our children and ourselves" with regards to breastfeeding. We talked over emotional gifts that breastfeeding brings, comfort, security, independence, and for mom, self confidence and "warm fuzzies." We talked about physical gifts of eyesight, brain development, hand/eye coordination, neck strength, and for mom, weight loss, ammenoria, a better focus on diet for the whole family. We talked about physiological benefits of fighting childhood and adult illnesses like diabetes and obesity, as well as for mom certain cancers and osteoperosis.

There are SO many gifts that we give our children through breastfeeding, which can not be met through anything other than physical contact and breastmilk. This list just covers some basics, but our discussion went so much further, deeper, and touched on some very serious things for some of the mothers in the group, as well as reminding or telling some of us for the first time, of the gift of breastfeeding, which is not just for baby, but also for mom and for the entire family.

Enjoy the gift, it really is the a gift that keeps on giving!