I had an interesting conversation the other day with someone who read the galleys of my book. This woman breastfed two children successfully in the late 80′s and 90′s when this feeding method was certainly not the norm; breastfeeding rates didn’t start really going up until the past decade, when campaigns like the log-rolling, mechanical bull-riding DHHS one began to to kick things into high gear.
Anyway, she had a good experience breastfeeding; she told me she never really experienced much pressure in either direction, and while she was aware that breastfeeding had become far more of an issue in society, she had no clue that formula feeding had become so vilified. Her exact words were “I had no idea how bad it had gotten.”
I know it sounds ridiculous, but this comment provoked a tremendous revelation for me. Imagine a cartoon image of the FFF (imaginary-draw me with a better figure and less wrinkles, will you?) being hit with a lightening bolt, next to the caption “Doh!“
Of course this person didn’t know how bad it had gotten. She hadn’t given birth in the last 5 years, when the pressure to breastfeed has gotten so ridiculously out of control. And neither have the vast majority of big-time breastfeeding advocates or policy makers, let alone the folks reading the various newspaper editorials and commenting on the heated threads of media-reported breastfeeding studies.
See where I’m going with that “Doh”?
I have had two kids in the past four years, and honestly, I saw a marked difference in the amount of breastfeeding pressure I experienced from one baby to the next. In 2008, it was tough to end up in the formula feeding category; still, most of the vitriol I encountered was the online variety, save for a few overbearing physicians and mommy-and-me instructors. By the time I delivered Fearlette in the end of 2010, even my childless, motorcycle-driving, gun-wielding neighbor threw me a look when he saw my bottle. And since I have my eyes on what’s happening in the breast/bottle scene, I can say without a doubt that things are just getting worse. I don’t know if these changes were spurred by Hannah Rosin taking a stand, or Joan Wolf questioning the science, or the Call to Action announced by the US government - but one thing is clear: infant feeding has become part of the national dialogue, and gone far beyond a trivial mommy war.
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| Mary wore the hairshirt, sans the “F”. Source: Wikipedia.org |
If you were a breastfeeding advocate who’d had children before this new front blew in, you might think my pleas for a ceasefire are nonsensical. Kind of like when my mom complains she’s cold on a temperate, 78 degree day. But then again, my mom happens to be super-skinny (like 85 pounds soaking wet), and those without any padding can have issues with temperature regulation. Likewise, women giving birth today have been stripped of the padding when it comes to breastfeeding pressure; no longer are we cushioned by “encouragement” to breastfeed, but rather thrown out onto a cold street with a hairshirt labeled with a big, scarlet “F” should we fail to meet expectations; if we end up being “suboptimal” in our feeding methods.
If you’d been a new parent in a different, not-so-long-ago time, you might think things aren’t so bad. You might brush off feelings like guilt, saying that “no one can make you feel guilty”. That’s easy to say when no one has told a 3-day postpartum You that your inability to breastfeed, or your choice not to, is damning your child to a life of poor health and low intellect. (It’s also easy to say when you’re someone who has never been through this kind of hell, or when you have a penis rather than a vagina and are therefore of the non-lactating persuasion.)
If you’d been a new parent back in, say, the 1970′s or early 80′s, when breastfeeding rates were at an all-time low, it might be easy to laugh at the stories we tell on this blog. Because nobody’s really telling formula feeders they are bad parents. It’s being a breastfeeding mom that’s hard. (Which don’t get me wrong, it can be. I think you’re damned if you do, damned if you don’t, in this regard. But that doesn’t mean formula feeders have it any easier- it’s just that our challenges come in different flavors. My platform is that we can’t protect one group of parents by shaming or neglecting the other – we all need to be supported in feeding our babies in the way that works best for our given situation.)
If you’d been a new parent even ten years ago, when breastfeeding began to be more popular, but three months was considered medically sufficient, and six months was considered ideal, you might not fully comprehend what this breast/bottle debate is all about. You might think hey, it wasn’t so hard to breastfeed, not realizing that by today’s standards, the fact that you stopped after 4 months and had been giving relief bottles every now and then would be considered abject failure by many respected experts.
If you haven’t given birth or adopted an infant since before Obama was in office, and don’t plan to again, you might not care that much about infant feeding “wars”. And that’s okay; I get that many things begin to take on graver meaning, like ensuring a good education (we’re facing that now and I swear I’m *this* close to closing down FFF and starting the Fearless Public School Parent in a Really Awful, Underfunded District blog, but then I remember Sandra Tsing Loh beat me to it), drugs, teen sex, and so forth.
But for the breastfeeding advocates, physicians, psychologists, and media pundits out there, whose voices matter in this discourse: please, for the love of god, take a minute to consider that things may have changed dramatically since you were buying Size 1 diapers. This has nothing to do with the benefits of breastfeeding, nor am I belittling your efforts to make the world friendlier for nursing moms (which I appreciate and thank you for), but it is important that you realize this fact. You need to understand what it is to be a mom in 2012, when the internet has all but usurped the “real” world; when Facebook pages are not just about reconnecting with high school flames but are used to discuss parenting styles and form “groups” which simply exist to hate on other peoples’ choices; when a scathing blog post has the power to change the face of advocacy in a disturbingly negative way; when the media has covered stories which state that women who “fail to comply” with breastfeeding recommendations are costing our country innocent lives and billions of dollars.
I know everyone says the more things change, the more they stay the same. In this case that does not hold true. Things are not the same. The sooner society at large realizes this, the sooner this discussion will begin to evolve.
Or at least I hope it will. If it doesn’t, the silver lining is that I think I’d look pretty cool in a hairshirt.
About the Author:
Suzanne Barston is a blogger and author of BOTTLED UP. Fearless Formula Feeder is a blog – and community – dedicated to infant feeding choice, and committed to providing non-judgmental support for all new parents. It exists to protect women from misleading or misrepresented “facts”; essentialist ideals about what mothers should think, feel, or do; government and health authorities who form policy statements based on ambivalent research; and the insidious beast known as Internetus Trolliamus, Mommy Blog Varietal.
Suzanne Barston – who has written 428 posts on Fearless Formula Feeder.
I agree. With my 8 yr old and 6 yr old I left the hospital with a bag filled with an assortment of formula samples. With my 3 year old and my 9 month old I got jack. I also think I felt the pressure to nurse harder with my 3 yr old. I was being bombarded with the message and I had felt like a bit of a failure for not nursing my 6 yr old so I went crazy insane with the nursing attempts. I even used a sns to try and get him to stay latched and interested. I was pumping too. About the only thing I didn't do was take herbal supplements because at the time I lived in Kansas and there were no stores that I knew of that sold that kind of stuff. Luckily I had found this blog before I had my 9 month old, so even though I now live in Crunchyville California I can hold my head high and tell the haters to go mind their own business.
This makes me scared to wonder what it will be like when I have my next child. I had my first this April, and I gave bfing my best shot, and I finally had to quit. I live in Portland- crunchy, organic, baby wearing, breastfeeding capital of the NW (in my opinion) and while all of these things are great, some people are far too extreme in their activism for them. I have personally been told while mixing a bottle of formula for my son that I was POISONING my child by a mom who had her toddler attached to her breast while standing waiting for her drink at a coffee shop. I love your blog. And I have your button on my facebook page. Thank you for encouraging me to be a FFF!
fantastic, fantastic post.
Around 10 years ago maternity leave in the UK was around 16 weeks I believe, a close friend of mine who has a 9 year old told me that she bf (never thought much of it) – but the big debate back then was should you/shouldn't you go back to work – because working mums were contributing to intellectually inferior children who'd go on to terrorise their neighbourhoods and become a drain on society.
Fast forward 10 years and the standard maternity leave in the UK is 1 year – and you must, must, must breastfeed. You must, must, must spend 1 year of your life sat on a sofa breastfeeding an infant.
I think it also matters what your peer group is and who the “respected experts” you look up to are. Funnily enough I think when you live in a place without a lot of other parents, or places where there aren't really extended families (e.g. bicoastal big cities) you tend to go to the internet or parent groups or BFing groups for support and that's where the peer pressure for feeding kicks in. I had my child in a smallish town where my colleagues all had young children, some were extended BF and some were bottle fed and there was certainly LLL pressure at the hospital but none of the public shaming I see described here at times. On the question of whether it's getting worse – I actually think that enough time has passed since the Sears evangelism of the 1990s that people are more critical of all-out AP and similar “do this or you fuck up your child” approaches to child-rearing. That gives me hope.
I know this is a bit of a tangent, but you mentioned above (somewhat sarcastically) that you are now concerned about education. Sometime in the last few weeks, there was a commenter (I don't remember which post) who said “Breastfeeding is the greatest gift you can give your child, as a mom.” Despite her awkward grammar, I understood her meaning.
But, I don't agree with it at all. I think a good education is a WAY greater gift than breastfeeding. I think a happy stable home with parent/s who give a shit about their children is a way greater gift. (I'm not saying BF'ers don't give a shit about their children, I'm saying we all know that neglect and abuse happens and it sucks.) Proper health care–also a greater gift than BFing.
Can BFing enhance the gifts mentioned above? It probably does. BFing IS a gift, but nowhere near the greatest/most important. I see what you mean about the pendulum swinging more toward the lactivism side, and encroaching in politics and public health policies. But I think now what I thought before I had my children and when my children were infants—BFing is NOT a big deal (in the Western world where we have access to clean water, etc). Do if you can and you want to. Use formula otherwise. End of story.
I agree with you Amy…even as a breastfeeding advocate and a mother who breastfed my children for between 2 and 5 years each. Breastfeeding is only a start and there's way, way, way more important stuff.
I was at work yesterday (LC in hospital) in a discussion with a male nursing student who could “not understand” why women would not do “anything” to breastfeed their children. The word “lazy” was used – and this IBCLC RN was starting to get a bit …. heated up, I guess.
I emphasized that he had no idea of the struggle faced for some women due to any number of factors (supply, pain, baby won't latch) or was he saying if the mom just did.not.want.to – that she was then “lazy”? That she should not have a choice? (he brought up that in other parts of the world, it would “have to work” – but that was not really his original point…) I found his attitude surprising, to be honest.
Were some women required to sacrifice their emotional health or they were just “selfish” if they wouldn't? (not sure I changed his mind – and as a future nurse – he has a ways to go to reduce judgement from his mind, it seems) He figured that if they “just knew about benefits” that a mom would / should do anything to get breast milk into baby. Sigh.
So along with education and assistance in breastfeeding at work, I try to open nursing students' eyes to the often complex experience of learning how to breastfeed – and how babies and bodies do not always cooperate in the manner we'd like. And trying harder or longer does not always fix everything, and there may come a time when it's time for THAT mom to move on.
As a mom who breastfed in the 80s with minimal issues – I recall no war. But today – not so much.
Knowing what she might face (based on stories here) -I often tell the mom who has decided to FF after a brief or lengthy struggle to breastfeed – “you owe your story to NO ONE” unless you choose to share it.
I know this comment is old, but yikes. Thanks for trying to reason with that guy. I hope he won’t be working with moms and/or babies unless/ until he changes his tune. New mommas do not need that kind of vitriol… and he isn’t doing babies any favors either (happy mommy= happy baby; moms need to be physically & mentally/ emotionally healthy for their children)
“You owe your story to NO ONE unless you choose to share it.”
Hear, hear! Way to help moms keep their heads on straight.
Well said. Breastfeeding can be great and all, but I could make a long list of gifts that would be more valuable, IMHO. Think education, happy and healthy mom, nutritious solid foods, a harmonious living environment, not growing up in poverty (which sometimes requires that moms work jobs not conducive to BFing), etc. Not that nursing always means sacrificing some of these things, but sometimes it does. Just to put infant feeding in perspective a bit.
I agree that this is a big issue, but I think maybe it's not so geographically widespread as many people in large cities/on the coasts believe it is. In Denver, breastfeeding is a Big Deal. There are support groups, special stores, you can't swing a baby without hitting an LC, etc., but that's just not the case everywhere in the US. I had my son in CO, but I'm pregnant again and living in Arkansas now. I wish there was 1/10th the support for breastfeeding moms here that there was there. Here, breastfeeding is “weird.” People still have absolutely NO idea that women are “allowed” to breastfeed in public and I see more women stocking up on formula like it's water than I ever have. It's especially surprising given the prevalence of WIC and SNAP here.
I've said it before, and I'll say it again: the biggest problem is this debate is that the information is so scattered, the levels of support are so unequal, and the knowledge of doctors is too varied. We need to focus on educating and supporting all moms, regardless of feeding choices. Are there more breastfeeding advocates out there now than there used to be? Yes, but it really isn't enough, because in many ways, the people who would benefit the most (financially and otherwise!) just aren't getting a different message, they're getting NO message.
I agree with you. I think some geographic areas are DEFINETLY worse than others, and it also varies greatly from doctor to doctor and hospital to hospital. I live in Atlanta, GA and while I wouldn't completely describe the climate here the way you've described your experience in Arkansas, I don't think Atlanta is nearly as bad with breastfeeding pressure as in some other cities (such as on the West Coast and Northeast). Of course, I disclaim that I have yet to have children so it's possible it just hasn't touched me yet, but I feel I have enough awareness of this issue that I would notice.
For example, there are currently no baby friendly hospitals in the entire state of Georgia (hoping it stays that way), even if the BFHI made its way to the Peach State, I find it HIGHLY unlikely that the 2 large hospitals in this city where many moms deliver would comply with it. These 2 hospitals already have large lactation programs but also use formula and at least as of a year ago were still handing out formula samples to new moms (one who was a breastfeeding mom and I know this for a fact because she is a co-worker of mine and told me she got a sample). My mother worked as a nurse (non-maternity) at one of these hospitals and when I told her about this “ban the samples” campaign she literlaly laughed in my face and said “X hospital would never do that! Are you kidding me?” I think these hospitals are probably just too big and too busy (one is jokingly referred to as Atlanta's “baby factory”) to ever have the time to harass bottle feeding new mothers or fully implement BFHI protocol.
I have never seen a mother nursing in public, but have seen plenty of bottles and plenty of people mixing formula in public (airport, mall, etc.) where no one seemed to bat an eye. A few weeks ago I was at Cosco and saw a family shopping with a young baby, the father walked right up to the formula display and grabbed a few tubs of Similac, no one accosted him or the mom or shot them dirty looks. On a separate trip to Cosco, same thing (only it was in the check out line that time), and no drama. (Yes, these are isolated incidents, but still…)
Georgia has a statewide campaign going on right now to address Childhood obesity. I've seen the billboards and visited the website-so far at least, it's focusing on actual causes of obesity (lack of activity and eating crap) NOT formula feeding (breastfeeding was not mentioned as a preventative measure-which is good because I strongly believe it's NOT). (www.strong4life.org)
Speaking of billboards, the only billboard I've seen having remotely to do with breastfeeding was an advertisement for a boppy pillow (that showed a mom nursing with the pillow on it). It was strategically placed right outside a Whole Foods (likely no coincidence…).
Don't get me wrong-Atlanta is certainly not hostile towards breastfeeding (at least in my limited perception). There are lactation consultants abound in the hospitals, doctors offices, etc. and if you need one there's certainly no trouble in finding one. Especially in higher end areas, there are maternity boutiques that sell all kinds of nursing accoutrements. It's just that it seems to me at least that the infant feeding culture in this city is far more neutral than some of the minefields elsewhere in the country. I hope I'm right and I really hope this doesn't change… (I also hope that the pendulum starts swinging back towards the center with this whole issue and everywhere. It seems we've gone from one extreme to another and it would be nice to land in the middle for once…). Here's to hoping.
Kristin,
I live just up the way from Atlanta, in a little more liberal leaning city (I'm sure you could guess!). And while I would not say we have been accosted or chastised for formula feeding, it is the perceived norm that you should breastfeed. I have gotten one (but only one) unpleasant glance from a fellow shopped on the baby aisle from reaching for the formula.
Mostly, our peer mothering groups are very pro-AP. But, while no one will bite your head off for formula feeding, I have found myself in long drawn out discussions explaining why breastfeeding didn't work.
But, that is mostly on me. Because I perceive that I am going to be judged. Because I feel like I have to offer an explanation. Because I feel like I have to make sure that these women understand that I did, in fact, try and try very hard to breastfeed and that it. just. didn't. work.
Maybe it's just our Southern way (bless her heart!) to not be downright confrontational or rude that I've never had to deal with someone up close and aggressively personal on the formula feeding front.
We do have friends that have both breastfeed and formula feed publicly and I cannot recall anyone ever having a problem here.
Honestly, the most hurtful things, by far, have been comments,articles and information I have read on the internet.
It seems funny that you can let complete and utter strangers throw you into a tailspin of anxiety and self-doubt. But, when you are in those precious early weeks with limited access to the outside world AND struggling, the internet is your lifeline, your library, your sounding board to the world. Because of that criticism (the 'you are the most terrible woman on the face of the earth if you give into the darkside of formula feeding, you child abuser!' sentiment), the decision to pump, to supplement, to ABANDON the S.S. BF ship! stings all that much more.
At the end of the day, we all want reassurances that everything, that our parenting decisions, are going to be okay. That we are not horrible failures and we are doing right by our children.
Unfortunately, there is not a lot of that sentiment to be found these days.
The internet can be as isolating as much as it can be a source of support.
It's why I am forever thankful for FFF being there for us.
Agree! I'm so happy I found FFF before having kids. I think the current climate on the internet is appalling and believe me-there are days when I question starting a family at all due to the pressure, bullying and unreasonable expectations placed on mothers.
Just the way up from Atlanta? I'm assuming you're still in Georgia then. If so, are we talking a small city slightly Northeast from ATL? If so, then I think I know exactly where you are.
Haha! Yes! We are famous for a certain breed of dogs, rock n roll and a certain unibrowed chef.
Our hospitals, or at least 'my' hospital, had very nice LCs on staff, private rooms for in-rooming (if desired) and I received no 'gift bags' as I was listed as BF'ing (We were allowed to raid the freebies like diapers, wipes, etc… ). The LC's were just a phone call away if we needed an additional session or had any questions. They were also available to us at no cost AFTER we were discharged. Even for a non-BFHI, for others to suggest there was a lack of support for BF'ing moms holds no weight.
FWIW, DON'T let this nonsense sway your desire or decision to start a family.
The rewards FAR, FAR, FAR outweigh the rhetoric and vitriol.
I think this is one big part of the “war on women” particularly here in the states: pro choice or pro life, birth control or natural family planning, sahm vs wahm vs wohms, bfers or fffs. There is also a larger war on parents vs childless adults: how dare they fall asleep and roll on their baby? when is so n so going to start a family?
I think we thrive on a culture of attack. Think about it, when's the last time you saw a positive reality show (which dominates the air these days…) with women? They're few and far between and not on the popular mind. Keep blogging FFF. You're gonna be apart of the revolution to turn it around and create positive change!
When I had my first 21 years ago, how you fed your child was your choice. Now, giving birth as a single parent? That was controversy! A TV character called Murphy Brown became a single parent around the same time I did and the VP of the US said the TV character was going to be the ruination of the nation! Being a single parent was (and probably still is) statistically the worst thing you could do to a child. Using formula? Not so much. Well, I am glad to be thumbing my nose at Mr Quayle and everyone else like him because my son in neither a drug addict, a drop out, a thug, a teen parent, a convict (ex or otherwise) or any of the other labels folks said he was so statistically likely to become. Same goes with formula feeding. This is a storm in a tea cup and it has gotten out of control entirely.
I remember that, I was a big fan of that show, and though I was a teenager at the time, I still remember feeling like D.Quayle was being ridiculous. As far as I know, many single parents did not expect to be single parents. And for the ones that choose it, well that is their choice to make and none of my business. One of my SILs attempted to get pregnant, and be a single mother. She never got pregnant, so it's moot, but I think she would have been a great mother, and she would have had her family's support.
I remember that show as well! Although I think I was too young to really understand the issues with it at the time… I completely disagree with Dan Quayle's statement and any other broad sweeping generalization like it. I'd love to see research comparing single parenthood amongst those who carefully plan and decided to embark on it (i.e. adult man/woman with a stable career/income/extended family support) vs. those who fell into it (didn't chose it, i.e. a teenage girl who gets pregnant by accident). I'm sure you would see very different outcomes, at least on a population wide basis. Not to say at all that there aren't teen moms who have their acts together and do an awesome job (my aunt was one and my cousin is currently a happy, healthy, productive adult)…
I find it very disturbing that a MAN not only holds that view but has the you know whats to verbalize it. I wonder if his opinion would be the same if he actually had functioning mammary glands and had to face some of the very common issues and challenges, both physical and emotional, that many many women face related to breastfeeding. How would he feel if someone advocated for taking a choice related to an intimate part of his body away? I hope someone like him is never MY nurse… good for you for trying to educate him!
Would any of those who are in a position to compare being a mother in the 80s/90s + working outside the home with the way it is today care to comment on the impact of working hours on this whole holier-than-thou use of the BFing badge as badge of the Good Mother? I have a very unscientific impression from a small sample of acquaintances that those who pulled out all stops to BF/pump for a long time were often those who had such busy careers that BFing was one of the main things they felt they could give their children (my one acquaintance who EBF and was a Sears devotee in the late 90s though was full-on attached to child and home till he was 3). I have often wondered about the correlation between insistence on BFing as a sign of Good Mothering and insecurity about whether one is able to do the other things that make one a Good Parent. Or perhaps it's just a class correlation, and people who obsess about BFing are those who would never let an un-organic vegetable pass their lips and generally treat food habits as a sign of moral purity.
The intense pressure to BF my daughter in 2009 only made me jaded and disgusted by breastfeeding advocacy as a whole. After I was told by a LC that she would probably be developmentally delayed due to her poor latch (she is fine), I just wanted to spit at anyone that wanted to talk to me about BFing. I found all the LCs I met to be condescending and spoke to me like a child (I was 26). Fast forward to 2010 when my 2nd daughter wasn't latching (come to find out I have inverted nipples) I got so frustrated with the LCs in the hospital I left bottle feeding. I didn't want anyone to imply I wasn't trying hard enough. I often wished I had tried harder with her and maybe I could have had an enjoyable BFing experience but I was so consumed with not wanting to “fail.” Both my girls are fine. I was born in 1982 to a working mom who didn't know she was supposed to feel guilty about not breastfeeding and I am fine. In fact I am great. I am in great shape, have a great job, a great husband and two healthy girls. I would like another baby in the future and I will try harder to BF that baby. However I will not get caught up in the “us against them” rhetoric this infant feeding war has become.
I live in Atlanta as well. I think there is a TON of breastfeeding pressure here. When I was not able to breastfeed my son, I got nothing but grief from the people around me (except for the WONDERFUL IBCLC I worked with). Maybe it has to do with one's peer group.
Oh and I see moms breastfeeding in public all the time. It's not just my peer group in this case… I see them out and about. I live inside the perimeter in East Atlanta.
That's interesting, in my experience, the women who EBF are SAHMs or WAHMs.
Makes sense – I think my sample group is an unusual one, in that people have long working hours but a fair bit of flexibility and their own offices.
I live right outside the Perimeter (only about a mile) in Cobb county. It could just be different areas and also who I'm with as I don't have kids yet. Very disheartening to hear that you got lots of grief… I was hoping it was better here (from what I understand formula samples are alive and well in the maternity wards at Northside and Piedmont, unless this has recently changed). It could also be the peer group… My best friend plans to primarily breastfeed but is very well aware of my plans not to (or to only for a short time/minimally) and doesn't seem to care. I hope this doesn't change when we both have kids though.
Glad you found some solace with your IBCLC though (from some of the stories on here, seems like such an unlikely place!).
Ugh… this whole thing just seems so hopeless.
I agree. For the majority of moms that I know in my work place, they haven't been physically able to EBF after returning to work. And believe me, it's wasn't from any lack of desire. They seemed to be fine for the first couple months back from maternity leave but for 3 of them, supply starting taking a serious hit around 6/7 months and they all had to start supplementing, with one having to completely give up bf'ing at around 8 or 9 months because she just couldn't keep up. And my company's culture is pretty family friendly with ridiculous hours not being the norm. It seems, at least from my limited experience, that physical presence with the baby is somewhat of a must to be able to maintain bf'ing for anywhere close to the officially recomended times. A difficult feat for the majority of working moms…
Yes, that was very much my experience to. I was thinking of the few people I know who pumped a lot at work and made it to 18 months or so…they also did a lot of night feedings to be sure the child got enough. Very stressful for the mother.
I pumped for both my girls until they were a year, nursed the first until she was 25 months on demand when I was with her and am doing the same thing with my second at 18 months. Most of my peer group at work has done the same, although a large portion of them do not nurse as long as me. We are professionals, though, and have a large degree of flexibility with our time. Pumping was something I could do for my girls – a piece of me that I could leave behind when I was at work. And nursing is a great way to reconnect when I get home and overnight and on weekends. I haven't found it stressful (well, other than the pumping – gosh that is not fun!!) to nurse them on demand, but I also have not had supply issues. I think that I would have nursed the same length of time even if I had been a SAHM. It's part of my parenting tool bag and something that is precious to me. I didn't do it because it was a badge of a GOOD mother – although I imagine that many women do.