The lactation counselors who participated in our study gave many examples of men who seemed more onboard with breastfeeding than the women. Sometimes their support translated into something more forceful, so wasn’t so positive in those cases, and was sometimes perceived as being in the category of “controlling.” It seems the men were convinced of the benefits of breastfeeding for the baby, and without benefit of postpartum discomforts or hormones, were more persistent in encouraging women to continue nursing, and were not always tuned in to their partner’s distresses, so were not as likely to translate that BF support into helping their partner’s access the outside support they needed to continue BF.
On the other hand, I don’t think men in general are any more supportive of BF than women. What makes the difference, it seems, is having their own baby.
The Curious Lactivist's Blog
The lactation counselors who participated in our study gave many examples of men who seemed more onboard with breastfeeding than the women. Sometimes their support translated into something more forceful, so wasn’t so positive in those cases, and was sometimes perceived as being in the category of “controlling.” It seems the men were convinced of the benefits of breastfeeding for the baby, and without benefit of postpartum discomforts or hormones, were more persistent in encouraging women to continue nursing, and were not always tuned in to their partner’s distresses, so were not as likely to translate that BF support into helping their partner’s access the outside support they needed to continue BF.
On the other hand, I don’t think men in general are any more supportive of BF than women. What makes the difference, it seems, is having their own baby.
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