Usually, I shrug it off not wanting to cause a stir, but not this time. This time I'm pissed.
I also give breastfeeding classes, and I've attended other childbirth education classes before, have I ever seen a bottle present? Have I ever taught with a bottle present? Absolutely not. It is not necessary, it's actually counterproductive and detrimental.
When I was gazing through our most popular online media site, this is what I see. Headlines that state :
"Wit Gele Kruis cu Curso pa Futuro Mayornan"
or for my English speaking friends,
"Childbirth Education classes for expectant parents brought to you by the White and Yellow Cross"Eagerly I peered through the pictures and to my dismay (and yet somehow I'm not surprised) I see this picture.
This isn't the highest quality picture, but what do you reasonably think that mother is holding? A doll and a? BOTTLE
I've taught many a breastfeeding classes and attended many myself, and yet, when you're teaching a mother about breastfeeding, where does the bottle fit in? I am outraged because instead of reinforcing a stereotype that 'breastfeeding is normal', they are showing and passing around bottles. I don't care if they're pretending those bottles have EBM (expressed breast milk) in them, these are expectant parents, they don't need to be taught about bottle feeding before the opportunity to breastfeed presents itself.
How can we ever go forward if one of the biggest organizations that help our expectant and breastfeeding mothers on Aruba (and see 95% of all babies) is working (unknowingly?) against us?
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