by Carolyn Robertson posted in Parenting

It's World Breastfeeding Week, so perhaps you've been seen a lot of articles toting the incredible and miraculous benefits of breastfeeding. That's as it should be; every new mom should feel informed, supported, and empowered when it comes to feeding her child.
Melinda Gates is a strong proponent of breastfeeding. Not only did she nurse her own three kids, but the philanthropic organization that bears her name -- the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation -- has identified "immediate and exclusive breastfeeding" as part of its strategy to improve global nutrition.
She admits, though, that the ongoing conversation surrounding breastfeeding often fails to mention the fact that this natural, loving, wondrous act can be really hard. "I think a lot of us go into motherhood with these idealized images of breastfeeding in our minds. But what those don?t show you is that keeping a tiny baby alive comes with a tremendous amount of pressure," Melinda writes in a piece penned for Refinery29. "A mom has to worry about whether her baby has properly latched, whether her baby is gaining weight, whether she?s producing enough of that milk that everyone keeps lecturing her is so essential to her baby?s survival and success."

She also shines a spotlight on the fact that despite all of the lip service paid to how absolutely important breastfeeding is, policies are not in place to support it.
Pointing specifically to maternit...