Siau Yien and Wei Meng visited me this afternoon. It is good that friends visit me occasionally, to keep me updated and also make me tidy the house. Tidying and cleaning action in full swing this morning for two hours. Cleared the thick stack of documents and bills that need to be filed, wiped all the dusty table, scrubbed all (ok, only four) the mugs with stains, put away the books lying around , folded the clothes that have been in the drying for 4 days. At least, the place looks presentable on the surface.

I am glad that this time round, Siau Yien didn’t bring any more news about her son Elias(about 18mths now) falling sick again. That poor boy was down with some aliments almost every month for a period of time, lost weight and made the parents very stressed. I remembered SY once lamented that she wondered if it was because Elias wasn’t breastfeed and therefore more prone to falling ill. She sort of regretted not trying harder.

She gave up breastfeeding because it was too painful. Elias was birthed naturally without any pain relief. SY said breastfeeding was more painful then the labour contractions, so it must really be a very painful experience! She tried direct feeding, couldn’t endured the pain. She tried expressing, but was bleeding with sore nipple. She gave up after a week and I was one of the guilty busybodies who tried to comfort her by saying :” Don’t worry, we are all formula fed babies and we all grew up to be healthy and intelligent adults.” If only she had better support from less ignorant people like me, she would probably have persevered and succeeded in breastfeeding.

Our society is really one that is not pro breastfeeding at all. Most people are ignorant about its benefits. Many think that it is troublesome. Some think that breastmilk is not sufficient to fill the baby up. While others think that it is a disgusting sight. . Sometime, even the nurses or paediatricians aren’t encouraging. And like myself, many first time mommies lack confident and question our ability to produce enough milk. Thinking back, there were so many times I wanted to give up too. Luckily both James and my mother-in-law are pro breastfeeding, whom always reminded me that breastfeed babies are healthier and easier to look after. And thank God I have friends who gave me tips, and a lactation consultant to turn to when problems arises.

And if SY or other non breastfeeding friends are planning for more children, I will definitely be more busybody this time and poke my nose around, spread the wonderful message of breastfeeding and cheer them on when they start to loose heart.