Did you know combo-feeding is the most common way to feed babies worldwide? In the US, 75% of babies and 59% globally receive infant formula during the first year of life, yet it is often overlooked in new parents’ infant feeding education and support. Given these significant statistics, parents shouldn’t have to navigate alone or rely on friends, family, and social media for potentially inaccurate information that could compromise the health of infants or breastfeeding itself. Continue reading
As a young girl, I knew something was wrong with my breasts when they began to develop. I had asymmetric tubular breasts, and it quickly became my biggest insecurity. At the age of 20, I saw a doctor who told me a breast augmentation would “fix” them. Trusting her medical opinion I had breast augmentation surgery. Now they were double the size and sagging from the weight of the implants. It was worse than what they originally were, making my anxiety and insecurities heightened. After a few years, I decided to get them removed by another doctor who specializes in reconstruction surgeries. I got the implants taken out, a lift of the skin and fat removed from my stomach to fill the empty pouches. With two surgeries comes many scars and of course trauma to the breast tissue.
I don’t think I ever thought about infant feeding till I became pregnant. I never looked at a baby and wondered what it was fed. But it seems like everyone nowadays is so concerned; it’s the first question I was asked with each pregnancy. When I imagined myself as a mother, I always saw myself breastfeeding. It’s something I wanted desperately, and yet, I couldn’t produce enough milk for my babies. I have insufficient glandular tissue (IGT) and I don’t make more than a half ounce to an ounce per feeding.
