Good post, Jessica, and good work you're doing! Aren't you glad you have the
opportunity, through WIC, to talk with so many? When I was at WIC, I
encountered SO MANY women every day who really wanted to do what was best
for their baby, including breastfeeding, but until they encountered us just
had no idea that it was something they could do. All the myths and old
wives' tales & family stories that stood in their way kept them from having
a clue that BFing is a perfectly natural, normal thing that they could do -
they didn't have to be rich, they didn't have to be well-educated, they
didn't have to be "perfect". For many, all it took was someone knowledgeable
about BFing telling them that they *could* BF, and offering them the support
& help they needed to make it happen, and they were more than happy to give
it a try.

Lower-income women get so many messages from the wider society that they are
"less", that they're failures either because they've done things "wrong" in
their lives or because they're just by nature of their birth not as
deserving of respect and dignity as others. Just one more way in which BFing
is incredibly empowering for women - not even to mention the better start it
gives to their children!

Cathy Bargar, RN, IBCLC Ithaca NY

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