Mark A. McDonnell, RS, MS, Health Commissioner
Robert P. Dillaplain, MD, Medical Director
News Release
For Immediate Release Contact:
Sara T. Pappa, Public Information Officer
August 4, 2008 (937)
374-5662 or toll-free at 1(866) 858-3588
Winner of Breastfeeding
Awareness Month Essay Contest
(
Here is Ms. Wallace’s winning essay:
When I gave birth to
my first child, I was only seventeen years old. Very young and even more afraid,
I tried to breastfeed with no success. It felt dirty and wrong, besides it is
easier to bottle feed right? WRONG. My thinking did not change until I had my
second child. After he was born I lay there, holding my new born baby, thinking
to myself, “I will give this breast feeding thing another shot.” Praise the
lord, he takes right to it and what an amazing gift! A bond forms immediately
with him that took days with my first child. The very next day my son starts to
have breathing problems and the hospital nurses take him. They took my newborn
baby out of my arms and tell me I can’t hold or even touch him for at least ten
days. He needed to be in an incubator and should not be handled so his immune
system could heal. I could only look at him through the plastic or glass
incubator that now held my baby. “But wait,” I heard one of the nurses say, “He
is a breastfed baby.” I will never forget that moment, this meant my baby could
be taken out of the incubator only to nurse every two hours, instead of being
fed through the IV, and so I did. He had some health problems that first year
and at seven months old he needed to have surgery. Fortunately we were still
nursing and breast milk is considered a clear liquid, so I could nurse him
right after surgery. Formula fed babies have to wait hours afterwards (for a
seven month old baby it would feel a lot longer). My son is now almost seven
years old and very healthy; he nursed until he weaned himself at only ten
months old.
It is probably safe to
say most people know all the health benefits to breastfeeding and would not
question the fact that the breast is better than bottle. For me to share what I
feel are all the benefits of breastfeeding it would fill a book. I wanted to
share the experience, my experience. I have sat on both sides of the fence, and
all I can say is nothing compares to the bond you share with your baby when you
breastfeed. Nursing is something that should be greatly valued and those of you
who choose to give this wonderful gift to your child, you should be celebrated.
This is not where my
story ends. Ten months ago I gave birth to my third child. As you could imagine
I was determined to nurse her as well. Like my oldest son she did not take to
it. To my surprise and some help from the local WIC office she caught right on.
It was at that moment, obvious I had given up too soon with my first child. Had
I just tried a little harder, it could have been different. It was not as hard
or impossible as I had once thought.
When she (my third
child) was only a month old, she got thrush (an infection in her mouth) and
passed it to me through nursing. Sadly we had to stop nursing, I had no choice,
the infection was too bad. With tears in my eyes I came to my local WIC office
to tell them I had to switch to formula and like in the hospital someone met
with me. The infection had healed but unfortunately my milk had dried up. As I
sat in that WIC office, she told me I didn’t have to stop nursing. It had been
five days since I last nursed her, but there in that office we tried. Of course
there was no milk, but she showed me how to help bring it back and put me in
touch with people who could help. I read everything she gave me and talked to
my doctor, then gave it my best. The WIC office called after that to see how we
were doing. With their help we did it and I am still nursing today. Some things
really are worth fighting for, and all things are possible when you choose to
fight for them.
Photo caption: Greene County Health Commissioner, Mark
McDonnell with essay contest winner Elizabeth Wallace and her children (l to r)
FOR MORE INFORMATION
about breastfeeding, contact
Greene County
Combined Health District – Your center for public health services
and health information in
