As an empowered woman, embodying the sacred feminine, you may wish to be aware of the following benefits for you and baby of using your wonderful breasts to nourish this precious new addition to your family.

 

  (1)   Plain and simple, your breast-milk provides the very best food you can give to your baby. Your amazing breasts accommodate to the needs of your baby and, depending on what has happened in the last feed, will provide exactly what your baby needs for optimum nourishment.

 

Each meal is tailor made for your baby’s requirements. Even the content of breast-milk for premature babies is different to that of full terms babies because their needs are unique.

 

  (2) Unlike formula that has been produced in a factory somewhere, travelled extensively and sat on a shelf for some time, your breast-milk is alive and oozing life force. Hmmm which would you prefer?  

(3)Love and bonding…as  your baby feeds, your body  releases Oxytocin known as the ‘love hormone’ or the ‘bonding hormone’. Oxytocin provides a sense of well being and calm in both mother and baby.

 

It also facilitates bonding and creates a desire in both of you for further contact with each other. So this hormone, produced while breastfeeding actually elicits those feelings of love and deep connection that support you in becoming the mother you really want to be….calm, relaxed, connected and happy.

 

(4) Not only does the breastfeeding and release of oxytocin enhance the bond between mother and baby, it also lays the very foundations for the experience of love for your baby.

 

In the breastfeeding act, your baby learns to be very comfortable being close to mum. She learns about being fully present with another as she stares into your eyes and you meet her gaze.

 

She learns that it is safe for her to receive love and that she is worthy of deep connection. Breastfeeding provides her cells with the experience of being cared for physically, emotionally and spiritually in a very intimate way.

 

These skills and experiences not only help her to recognise and choose relationships that are nourishing for her as she grows up, they also support her in nourishing herself and others in a healthy way.

  

(5) From a purely practical perspective, breastfeeding is much handier as you don’t need to spend endless time planning, preparing the bottles or cleaning up afterwards because you always have a supply when required.

  

(6) As women in the western world, many of us have been conditioned to deny, conceal or suppress the full expression of our femininity.  

 

Your  breasts were designed to feed your baby. You have the right to experience the wonder of breastfeeding. You are worthy of creating and knowing first hand the beauty and magic of breastfeeding and realising the deep wisdom of your body in this process.

 

(7) Breastfeeding allows you to come into your own power and embrace your sacred feminine energy.

 

Culturally, many of us have been downloaded with the message to aspire to a more male expression of ourselves. And while manhood and maleness is beautiful and sacred, so too is woman and womanhood.

 

It is time for us to allow ourselves to rejoice in who we are, in the perfection of being a woman and give ourselves permission to experience that fully. In doing so, we also free men to be themselves fully and pave the way for a generation of babies comfortable in their own skin and honouring both the masculine and feminine within.

  

So just ask yourself what you truly desire. What would you love for your baby? If you thought that you could do it and felt supported around breastfeeding would you try? 

 

Why not join on Maire Clements, Tracy Gary and myself on the Blogtalk Radio Show http://www.blogtalkradio.com/TheBreastfeedingSalon to find out more about you and breastfeeding.

 

In joy,

 

Deirdre Morris