by Ewa Samples | Jun 13, 2012 | Breastfeeding, Family, Media, Motherhood, Parenting, Poland, Polish Mom Photographer, World Motherhood
A while ago, during a nice lunch in a restaurant, I had to feed my two-month-old daughter. The moment I put her to my breast (completely covered, by the way), a constant whispering and eyeballing from a table across us made me feel like I was doing something wrong. These were young people, among them a mother herself. (more…)
Ewa was born, and raised in Poland. She graduated University with a master's degree in Mass-Media Education. This daring mom hitchhiked from Berlin, Germany through Switzerland and France to Barcelona, Spain and back again!
She left Poland to become an Au Pair in California and looked after twins of gay parents for almost 2 years. There, she met her future husband through Couch Surfing, an international non-profit network that connects travelers with locals.
Today she enjoys her life one picture at a time. She runs a photography business in sunny California and document her daughters life one picture at a time.
You can find this artistic mom on her blog, Ewa Samples Photography, on Twitter @EwaSamples or on Facebook!
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by Mamma Simona (South Africa) | Jun 4, 2012 | Birthing, Breastfeeding, Motherhood, South Africa, World Motherhood
I was an arrogant “know-it-all” BC (before children). I considered myself a cross between a childcare library of knowledge and Mary Poppins! I studied Child Psychology and Development, and was trained in CPR (both adult and baby) as well as Level 1 First Aid. This enabled me to earn good money (through the agency, called SuperSitters in Cape Town) to move into the homes of wealthy parents and take care of their “trouble” kids. From babies with colic to special needs scholars, to “terrible” toddlers and spoilt “brats”, there wasn’t a child I couldn’t deal with, both swiftly and efficiently! Naturally, this made me a supremely smug and overconfident expectant mom. After all, I had both theoretical and practical knowledge of how to deal with babies and children up to age 12 … didn’t I? (more…)
Mamma Simona was born in Rome (Italy) but has lived in Cape Town (South Africa) since she was 8 years old. She studied French at school but says she’s forgotten most of it! She speaks Italian, English and Afrikaans. Even though Italian is the first language she learned, she considers English her "home" language as it's the language she's most comfortable in. She is happily married and the proud mother of 2 terrific teenagers! She also shares her home with 2 cats and 2 dogs ... all rescues.
Mamma Simona has worked in such diverse fields as Childcare, Tourism, Library Services, Optometry, Sales and Admin! (With stints of SAHM in-between). She’s really looking forward to the day she can give up her current Admin job and devote herself entirely to blogging and (eventually) being a full-time grandmother!
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by Martine de Luna (Philippines) | May 29, 2012 | Breastfeeding, Eye on Culture, Motherhood, Parenting, Philippines, World Moms Blog Itinerary, World Motherhood
Photo of the author and her then 5-month old son
I won’t go into the old news that is Time’s controversial “mom enough” mid-May issue. We all know they sold enough copies on that matter.
Instead, I wanted to share some views on attachment parenting and breastfeeding expressed by fellow Filipino moms.
To begin, let me say that I am a babywearing, formerly nursing mom (my son recently weaned after being breastfed for two years and six months). In fact, here’s a photo of me a year and a half ago, when my son was just five months old.
Here in the Philippines, we are not new to the concept of babywearing and breastfeeding.
Velvet Escario‐Roxas, a breastfeeding counselor and representative of Arugaan (ah-roo-ga-an), a non-governmental, WHO-funded organization that conducts breastfeeding training for the Philippine Department of Health, gave a good picture of this when she posted a recent Facebook status update on the fan page of the popular breastfeeding blog, Chronicles of a Nursing Mom:
“Our Pinoy [colloquialism for “Filipino] ancestors have been doing these things since the beginning of time. We call it the Filipino way of living or raising of children. They on the other hand modernized it and called it attachment parenting. Look at the indigenous folks of the mountain provinces. (more…)
Martine is a work-at-home Mom and passionate blogger. A former expat kid, she has a soft spot for international efforts, like WMB. While she's not blogging, she's busy making words awesome for her clients, who avail of her marketing writing, website writing, and blog consulting services. Martine now resides in busy, sunny Manila, the Philippines, with her husband, Ton, and toddler son, Vito Sebastian. You can find her blogging at DaintyMom.com.
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by Ms. V. (South Korea) | May 25, 2012 | Breastfeeding, Eye on Culture, Motherhood, Parenting, South Korea, Women's Rights, World Motherhood
It was the boob shot seen around the world.
The recent cover of Time Magazine, has been quite controversial. A mother and her 3-year-old son face the camera as he stands in front of her, on a chair, and suckles at her breast. The accompanying headline is: “Are you Mom Enough? Why attachment parenting drives some moms to extremes – and how Dr. Bill Sears became their guru.”
There are a lot of words I could use to express my feelings about this cover, but very few of them are appropriate, so I’ll stick to just one word: infuriating.
This cover manages to insult mothers, attachment parenting, Dr. Sears, and any culture where breastfeeding beyond infancy is the norm. The photograph and headline are insinuating several things:
- Extended breastfeeding is so strange and unnatural that it requires props
- Extended breastfeeding is an “extreme”, one of many
- All attachment parents practice extended breastfeeding
- Those who practice attachment parenting and/or extended breastfeeding pass judgment on others and deem them as “mom enough” or not
- Those who practice attachment parenting view Dr. Sears as a guru (more…)
Ms. V returned from a 3-year stint in Seoul, South Korea and is now living in the US in the beautiful Pacific Northwest with her partner, their two kids, three ferocious felines, and a dog named Avon Barksdale. She grew up all over the US, mostly along the east coast, but lived in New York City longer than anywhere else, so considers NYC “home.” Her love of travel has taken her all over the world and to all but four of the 50 states.
Ms. V is contemplative and sacred activist, exploring the intersection of yoga, new monasticism, feminism and social change. She is the co-director and co-founder of Samdhana-Karana Yoga: A Healing Arts Center, a non-profit yoga studio and the spiritual director for Hab Community. While not marveling at her beautiful children, she enjoys reading, cooking, and has dreams of one day sleeping again.
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by Carol (Canada) | May 18, 2012 | Breastfeeding, Motherhood, World Motherhood
Breastfeeding is a learned behavior. It isn’t instinctive as many women are led to believe. Do some women have zero problems with nursing? Sure. But most need some help. Even gorillas and chimpanzees, who have never seen other apes caring for their babies are unable to nurse successfully.
Women don’t need to be told TO breastfeed. Women need to be taught ABOUT breastfeeding, and so do their doctors and support staff. We need to be taught a new idea of what is “normal”, both in terms of infant behavior and in weight gain.
After all, if the average baby is still formula fed, is it any surprise that breastfed babies don’t measure up to “normal”?
Most women I speak to still believe common myths about breastfeeding, the most common of which is this one: (more…)
Carol from If By Yes has lived in four different Canadian provinces as well as the Caribbean. Now she lives in Vancouver, working a full time job at a vet clinic, training dogs on the side, and raising her son and daughter to be good citizens of the world.
Carol is known for wearing inside-out underwear, microwaving yoghurt, killing house plants, over-thinking the mundane, and pointing out grammatical errors in "Twilight". When not trying to wrestle her son down for a nap, Carol loves to read and write.
Carol can also be found on her blog, If By Yes, and on Twitter @IfByYesTweets
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by Carol (Canada) | May 10, 2012 | Breastfeeding, Canada, Health, Motherhood, World Motherhood
I want you to meet three women I know.
Mother A is a business woman, well into her thirties, who was bottle fed as a baby. She is a health nut who definitely wants her baby to get breastmilk, but doesn’t want to be tied down by the breast, so she hopes to do be able to do as much pumping as possible and to deliver the milk via bottle much of the time.
Mother B is an older woman who has finally conceived a long-awaited child with the help of a lot of scientific intervention. She has dreamed of being a mother for a long time, and wants to overcome her difficult childhood by showing her child the kind of unconditional love and care that she never received (more…)
Carol from If By Yes has lived in four different Canadian provinces as well as the Caribbean. Now she lives in Vancouver, working a full time job at a vet clinic, training dogs on the side, and raising her son and daughter to be good citizens of the world.
Carol is known for wearing inside-out underwear, microwaving yoghurt, killing house plants, over-thinking the mundane, and pointing out grammatical errors in "Twilight". When not trying to wrestle her son down for a nap, Carol loves to read and write.
Carol can also be found on her blog, If By Yes, and on Twitter @IfByYesTweets
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A while ago, during a nice lunch in a restaurant, I had to feed my two-month-old daughter. The moment I put her to my breast (completely covered, by the way), a constant whispering and eyeballing from a table across us made me feel like I was doing something wrong. These were young people, among them a mother herself. (more…)
