Abby Theuring Is A Badass Mom On The Loose!
Meet Abby Theuring, MSW. A trained social worker turned WAHM, Abby is passionate about breastfeeding and all of the benefits and rights that should naturally arrive with doing so. Notice, I said “should.”
As Abby, myself, and many other women have come to learn, “breastfeeding” children is a practice that remains at the center of much personal heartache and debate across this dichotomy of a nation we live in. Where “rights” come into play continues to be anyone’s (and everyone’s) guess, it seems. An unexpected, volatile reaction to a photo Abby posted to her Facebook page capturing her breastfeeding her oldest son attests to this as does the isolated stories shared in the news of mothers being chastised for whipping out their breasts in broad daylight to feed their offspring.
Personal choice aside, breastfeeding, today, is a behavior under constant scrutiny and fire in the United States. It seems nothing makes onlookers feel more uncomfortable than watching a mother nourish her child in the best way possible. Whether fully covered or not, the “breast” ignites a fury of controversy.
It also enlists anxiety, fear and overwhelming thoughts of failure in new mothers, unseasoned in the realities of breastfeeding. Convinced that breastfeeding is as natural as the act that actually landed them in the maternity ward to begin with, many young moms succumb to bottle feeding their newborns formula due to the lack of available (and truthful) information and proper guidance provided by many hospitals. Not unlike Abby, I too experienced this. Fortunately, we both found our footing with the help of knowledgeable assistance we proactively sought out.
However, where I went on to sluff the entire experience off, Abby did not. She launched an informative blog, The Badass Breastfeeder, which helps many insecure and naive mothers succeed in their efforts to breastfeed. Never intending to be the single, passionate voice in a sea of naysayers, Abby brings common sense to the highly emotional circumstances that underscore notions of “perfection” for numerous, inexperienced moms eager to breastfeed yet enslaved by the fallacy that “feeding milk to your child from your breast is both easy and pleasurable from the onset.” Educated breastfeeders will be the first to tell you, neither claim is true.
They will also share with you their own “first-time” horror stories when, they too almost gave up on breastfeeding due to the over-zealous demeanors of hospital caregivers committed to the bottom lines of the hospitals they work for over the good of their patients. Hospitals don’t make money on breast milk or build multi-million dollar relationships on it either.
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“The free market is the primary destroyer of breastfeeding relationships,” says Abby Theuring. “We need to support moms in respecting their natural instincts and then adhering to them.”
A woman who stands by her beliefs, Abby refuses any and all sponsorships from companies who fail to become or remain WHO code compliant (World Health Organization). Thus, her current list of sponsors includes Motherlove Herbal Company, Earth Mama Angel Baby, Ardo, Rumina. Abby also refuses to accept society’s over-sexualization of the female nipple. “A nipple is a nipple...whether on a woman or a man. Nothing more.”
Although, she and I differ in our opinions there, we come together in our penchant to eliminate the stigma associated with breastfeeding in public or at all. Simply put, “we need to adopt a more enlightened attitude to the entire endeavor.”
The beauty and benefits of breastfeeding should outweigh any discomfort passersby
experience, given they catch a glimpse of a naked nipple. Our “young” country needs to mature in this regard just as we need to refrain from allowing money to drive us at every turn.
Suffice-it-to-say, listening to women, like Abby, who spend their days placing the health and welfare of mothers and children first, is a wonderful beginning to accomplish this goal. Another way is to join her by following her blog, the link of which you can find HERE.
It’s time we all became badasses in our fight to breastfeed!