In our North American society, it is hard enough feeling comfortable to nurse a baby in public and more many women who are exclusively pumping, the thought of expressing in public is likely not even conceivable.  Came across this news story in a European magazine discussing women who are expressing breast milk and I thought the pictures and the way they approached it was rather refreshing.  Using a breast pump to express milk on either a part-time or full-time basis is a reality for many women today, and yet it is something often done alone and without the knowledge and support of others.  Perhaps there is something to be considered and learned from this magazine article?

One Response to “Expressing in Europe”

1. Michelle Says:
   June 3rd, 2009 at 6:58 am

   Dear Expressing in Europe,

   This is a Dutch newspaper and the title “Melkmeisjes” means Little Milk Girls. I believe that the newspaper meant it kindly, but let’s admit we pumpers are W-O-M-E-N!

   I am an American living in the Netherlands and my third son was born with a cyst under his tongue. After his operation to successfully remove the cyst, he refused to latch and I have been EPing ever since. Although the Netherlands has the highest rate of at home births of any western nation, it is extremely naive in the realm of breastfeeding. Not to discredit Lactation Consultants, but I found that I knew more than some of them here in the Netherlands after having breast fed my first two sons for 18 months each. The LLLI meetings were hard to locate. The approach to breastfeeding seems somewhat backwards here.

   Ten months after the birth of my son and the chaos surrounding his diagnosis, my beginning to pump, his operation and the hours, days, weeks and months I attempted to get him to nurse, there is much that I see that could have been advised and acted upon differently. Hindsight is always 20/20, but for a mother struggling with a newborn with a mouth issue, two other kids at home, believe in breastfeeding and just trying to make it all work, I can list so much that could have been done differently by this medical and lactation society.

   The fact that mothers pump at work is true and that their employer MUST provide a quite room to pump is also true. But statistics showing how many babies are breastfed the first week of birth is around 80%. By one month that number has dropped to 55%. At three months old, that number drops to below 30%! At six months of age, that number is a meer 18%. I couldn’t even find numbers for the one year mark. So, the need for long term pumping facilities at work is not so pressing but they are available by the law.

   The rest of Europe is ahead of the Netherlands regarding breastfeeding percentages. I do not know the attitudes or experiences of other countries but I would think that this knowledge increases with the percentage of babies that continue to nurse longer. Unfortunately, I was here in the Netherlands when my son was born with his cyst and our nursing relationship could not flourish. I thank the heavens every day that his problem could be corrected. I mourn every day that we could not have a nursing relationship. Perhaps if I had been able to have a more savy and knowledgable insight of LCs, pediatricians, midwives or other professionals around me it may have been different. I will never know. I do know that my son has exclusively received my milk and has grown healthy and strong on it, not one ear ache, not one gastro problem. He is alert, bright and beautiful. That I DO know.

   So, although it is supported, the long term benefits of breastfeeding has not yet permeated throughout society here in the Netherlands as much as I hope it will in the future. The Dutch are an amazing people and I hope that they begin to incorporate long term breastfeeding in their children’s lives.

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