Even prior to my giving birth, I’ve always told myself that I WILL BREASTFEED MY BABY.  I used to wonder why some moms don’t, when the benefits of breastfeeding are practically staring every mom in the face–from TV commercials to print ads to NGO’s promoting breastfeeding to doctors…everyone is raving about the pros of breastfeeding (the most important ones for me include raising my child’s IQ and the tipid factor).  Two of the most common reasons I hear from moms who don’t breastfeed include “Wala kasi akong gatas” or “Inverted kasi ang nipples ko.”  When I heard these reasons when I was young, I used to believe them—that indeed, there were women who don’t or can’t produce sufficient milk.  But when I started listening to breastfeeding advocates and reading about breastfeeding, I learned that these reasons were bull.  I learned that a woman’s breast follows the Law of Supply and Demand: the more your baby consumes, the more your breast will produce milk.  So I always wondered what was REALLY keeping women from breastfeeding their babies, but I still swore to myself that I will breastfeed my baby.

And then came Raviv. [Read more...]