Breastfeeding Is Overrated… Apparently

There’s almost a dizzying amount of expert opinions, convincing studies and conventional wisdom about why breast is best. But if you’re to believe Courtney Jung, it’s actually overrated, overhyped and oversold.

Courtney Jung, a professor of political science working out of the University of Toronto, has made these sensational claims in an article on Vox, which came in turn from her recently published book on the topic, Lactivism: How Feminists and Fundamentalists, Hippies and Yuppies, Physicians and Politicians Made Breastfeeding Big Business and Bad Policy.

Jung says that she decided to breastfeed her own children because she believed the “conventional wisdom surrounding breastfeeding”. However, when she further explored the topic, she found that “much of it was far removed from what scientists actually knew”. Shocked by this, she dug yet deeper into the complicated world of breastfeeding, and claims to have uncovered a stark truth that mums may have trouble accepting: breastfeeding research is not very good, and there’s a lot we don’t know.

Here’s what she found.

If You Live Somewhere With Clean Water, Breastfeeding Offers Few Health Benefits

According to the science minds of the Breast Is Best philosophy, breastfeeding reduces the risk of ear, respiratory, and gastrointestinal infections. However, according to Jung’s research that reduction is actually very small, and unlikely to have any marked difference on your child’s life.

Breastfeeding Might Not Have The Positive Impact On Disease That You Thought

Breastfeeding has long been lauded as the perfect start of the line preventative defence to help your baby overcome everything from obesity to asthma and even types of cancers. But Jung’s digging found that most of the evidence supporting these claims were either weak or inconclusive, and have been very much oversold. There seems to be little evidence that it has any impact on obesity, type 1 diabetes, asthma, allergies, dental cavities, or on a variety of solid cancers.

Government Pressure To Return To Work Is Directly In Conflict With Breastfeeding Initiatives

In the United States, where Jung is from, there is absolutely no federally mandated paid maternity leave. She points out that, despite the incredible social pressures on modern mothers to breastfeed their children, government initiatives that promote breastfeeding actually promote pumping instead. This in turn puts even more pressures on mums to pump at work so their babies don’t fall behind.

No Research Has Been Done Comparing Breastfeed to Pumped Milk Fed Babies

Breastfeeding might be the big thing, but Jung claims that the push towards pumped milk as a highly preferable alternative to formula is based on a total lack of unbiased and conclusive evidence. In fact, in most cases it’s simply an assumption that it’s the chemical makeup of breastmilk that makes it so good for babies, not the mother-baby contact that happens during actual breastfeeding.

Not All Women Can Breastfeed

Jung’s research blasts breastfeeding advocates who push the line that ‘all women can breastfeed’ because it’s a natural thing to do. Just as no doctor would ever tell a diabetic that all pancreases can make insulin, so too should there never be an assumption that all women can produce milk or successfully breastfeed their child. The assumption that they can, and women who don’t are somehow failures as mothers, is one of Jung’s biggest gripes against breastfeeding.

So What’s The Answer?

Some of Jung’s theories might be a bit far out for most mothers to deal with. After all, the idea that there’s a breast pump conspiracy using societal pressure to get mums to pump is pretty outrageous. However, she makes some good points about the fact that we often accept things at face value, without really stopping to consider if an action (like breastfeeding) is in the best interests of every mother and child on the planet.

So what should you do? Simple.

Do whatever you want.

We aren’t going to tell you what the right answer is. If you feel like breastfeeding works for you, then do it. If the idea doesn’t sit right, or you’re not sure that you’re capable, then don’t. Nobody should judge you for the decisions you make for your own child and your own body. This is also true for mums who want to breastfeed, but realise after their baby is born that it just isn’t something they can balance. It doesn’t matter how you feed your child. It’s still motherhood, and you’re still rocking it.

Remember, your boobs, your child, your decision.