A conversation recently came up in the BabyCenter Community, asking if an expecting father should attend breastfeeding classes with his wife.
If he wants to be there or is curious…Yes!
When it comes to any situation where a father can get more information and be more supportive of his spouse, then of course he should be encouraged to go to a breastfeeding class.
In my time at BabyCenter, I have discussed my family’s successes and failures with breastfeeding. A common thread in those posts is the lesson that having good information makes the situation so much better.
It’s extremely helpful for men to know about pumping, storage, preparation and ensuring that mom is getting enough calories. Yes, men (obviously) are not directly involved with the production of the milk and I noticed a few comments like this in the forum:
“Don’t have any experience on this subject but i don’t think he would have a very important place at those classes. It’s not like he’s gonna be the one to breastfeed.”
Quite a few of my previous posts on this topic received comments that men have nothing to do with breastfeeding and should have nothing to do with it.
I disagree.
The entire household is impacted when breastfeeding isn’t going well. When my son was an infant, our supplies were constantly low. It stressed out my wife (especially when she went back to work) and I was completely stressed out because I felt like there was nothing I could do to help. That cycle continued until we broke it with a meeting with a lactation specialist, lots of reading, and some clever use of tubes.
It WOULD have been helpful to sit through a class prior to my son being born to understand how much time and preparation is involved in breastfeeding. It’s counterproductive to scoff at your partner’s desire to learn and, in my experience, only leads to frustration and comments like this (from the forums):
When baby is cluster-feeding for 3 hours straight and mom is a zombie, he doesn’t jump in like an idiot and suggest that you don’t have enough milk and should give the baby formula.
When it’s day 5 with no milk but the hospital nurse causally mentioned you’d probably have milk by day 3, he doesn’t automatically assume that it’s never going to come in and that you need to give formula.
When baby is 14 months old and he doesn’t mention “isn’t she told old for *that*?”
And a million other things you’re going to want to lop him upside the head with a book for when you’re too exhausted, tired, and busy to explain in reasonable terms and then justify when he doesn’t believe you.
"I felt as though I had found my calling," says Munich-based photographer Tammy Nicole, recalling her first photo session with a breastfeeding mom and baby. Looking at this stunning collection of images, it's hard to disagree.
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Photo: Tammy Nicole Photography
Photographer Ivette Ivens' work has been featured by countless media outlets around the world. This ethereal series, she explains, aims to "depict the way each woman feels while nursing: pure, beautiful, saintly, celestial."
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Photo: Ivette Ivens
This very talented group of photographers picked some of their most powerful and moving images to share with us in celebration of World Breastfeeding Week. We think you'll love them as much as we do.
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Photo: Brynja Photography
“I know there will be people who don’t agree with me nursing in uniform. There are no regulations forbidding me to do so. I am a mother. Both inside and outside of my uniform. Breastfeeding is part of motherhood for me,”says Jonea, the subject of this much talked about image snapped by photographer Jade Beall.
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Photo: Jade Beall
"It’s hard, it’s a commitment, it’s a sacrifice. I’ve been frustrated, I’ve wanted to give up. I’ve been told I can’t do it. I’ve been asked why I don’t just give bottles," Ohio mom Brittany Yankowski tells BabyCenter of breastfeeding her triplets. She talked to BabyCenter to tell us how - and why - she does it.
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Photo: Babymonster Photography
Photographer Erin White captures nursing as you've never seen it before. Her gorgeous, wild breastfeeding photo shoot proved to be quite controversial.
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Photo: Erin White Photography
These images by Suzie Blake, on the other hand, will look very familiar to many moms. "This is about milk leaks and ratty hair," she tells us of the candid shots. "This is about giving in to all the demands of your 2-year-old while you try to feed your newborn. This is about dishes piled up in the kitchen and dirty laundry building in the corner."
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Photo: Suzie Blake
Photographer Jade Beall is used to being behind the lens, but she stepped into the spotlight when she posted this image of her nursing her 3 1/2-year-old son. “I see that with my discomfort in breastfeeding my son in public these days that there is a whole new way for me to promote and support feminism,” she said of her decision to share her own breastfeeding story.
See more: Bold photo gives a real-life look at extended breastfeeding
Photo: Jade Beall
This mesmerizing shoot by photographer Kyiera Jones is truly out of this world. These mermaid moms are unexpectedly unforgettable.
See more: Magical images: Breastfeeding moms like you’ve never seen
Photo: Kyiera Jones
It’s not something you’d expect to see smack in the middle of downtown Chicago: A group of 12 mothers gathered on a meridian at a busy intersection confidently, defiantly even, nursing their babies. That's exactly what happened, though, thanks to a jaw-dropping shoot staged by "Badass Breastfeeder" Abby Theuring and photographer Ivette Ivens.
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Photo: Ivette Ivens & Abby Theurig
"Motherhood ain't pretty," mom Elisha Wilson Beach, who is married to actor Michael Beach, captioned this candid Instagram post. She thought it was funny. Others, apparently, did not. One thing's for sure: It definitely got people talking.
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Photo: Elisha Wilson Beach
Angel Mickelle delivered her son at home, on her own. There was no doctor to catch the baby, no midwife to help her through the contractions. When baby Leo arrived, she immediately nursed him, and his big brother, too. “I wanted to tandem breastfeed as a way to introduce Paulo to his little brother," she explains. "To me it felt like the most gentle way for Leo to meet all of us and us to meet him.”
See more: Photos: Brave unassisted birth, immediate tandem breastfeeding
Photo: Earthside Birth Photography
Over the years, Jade Beall has turned her lens on expectant mothers, new mothers, survivors of abuse, survivors of eating disorders, survivors of cancer and mastectomies. Men, women, young, old. Her work is often controversial, and this breastfeeding shot proved to be no exception.
“We are so use to seeing hyper-sexualized images of women everywhere we turn, but when I want to celebrate a woman in an non-sexualized pose, nude, feeding a human that her body grew and feeds and calling her cellulite, curves or bones beautiful."
See more: The breastfeeding photo that sparked a backlash
Photo: Jade Beall
Do you think it’s a good idea for dad to participate in a breastfeeding class? Leave your thoughts below.
Leave a commentPhoto: iStockPhoto
