Nursing within different cultures
@silvanaortega is from Ecuador and lives in Germany. She has three kids and told us about her experience of breastfeeding in Germany vs. Ecuador and one child vs twins. Hard to keep this post short as it was so interesting! Here are some key takeaways from our conversation.
One vs Twins
When I was pregnant with my firstborn Valentina, I wasn’t prepared to breastfeed in public and had traditional roles in mind. I had a bit of prejudice towards breastfeeding and an idea that it was something private that you should do at home. But when I started breastfeeding, I loved it. It was one of the best stages in the baby’s life. By the time I had the twins, I couldn’t care less what people thought of me breastfeeding in public.
I was happy to breastfeed wherever I was, beach, restaurant, wherever I was. With Valentina I stopped when she was 16 months, only because the gynecologist told me to as I was pregnant with my twins. So I was looking forward to breastfeeding the twins. But when they came, I couldn’t really enjoy the moment because there was always 2 to 1 moment instead. Sometimes I nursed only one, sometime both at the same time. And sometime Valentina was interrupting wanting to use the same pillow. So you can understand the difference.
On one side I was a bit sad about it but at the same time it made my life easier and I could leave them with anyone who could help. With Valentina she could not be with anyone else because she was an extension to me. In the end every child is different, and I just love the experience.
Germany vs. Ecuador
In Germany people do not care, you can do it everywhere. But in Ecuador they can look a bit weird at you. But I was confident in my role as a mother and did not let it bother me. In Ecuador for example in the city, people would look at you like, what are you doing this is something private, why don’t you stay at home? They're slowly opening up though which is great to see.
Thank you so much for sharing Silvana! <3