As some of you may already know, I am currently training to be a breastfeeding helper with the Breastfeeding Network, with the hope that once my training is finished, I will be able to volunteer in breastfeeding groups, and even on the postnatal ward, supporting mums who are breastfeeding their babies, and may need a little bit of help or support to do it. The numbers of mums breastfeeding in the UK is quite poor really, when you consider that Mother Nature designed our bodies to perform this function for our newborns. I don't want to get into a whole political debate about the reasons behind this, nor to comment on it further really. Those of you who know me 'in real life' know how I feel about it all already, and really women should be able to make their own decisions, for their own reasons, on how they choose to feed their babies.
That said, I am obviously 'pro-boob' I couldn't deny that even if I wanted to. I am 7 months into my breastfeeding experience with my son, having fed my two daughters to 14 mths and 15 mths respectively. And the very fact that I want to be a Breastfeeding Helper kind of makes it a bit obvious how I feel on the subject!
So this week I want to use my blog to just promote the work that the Breastfeeding Network do. And to show you my boobs. Ok, before you get worried, I do not own a single photo of my boobs, or of me breastfeeding any of my children. So I don't want to show you my actual boobs. Just the ones I made. Phew.
The Breastfeeding Network is a charity whose aim is to offer independent information and support to breastfeeding mums and the people who care for them. In collaboration with The Association of breastfeeding Mothers they run a helpline, as well as running their own helpline too., and offer a range of information leaflets on a variety of subjects to do with breastfeeding. They also provide training in some parts of the country for mums, like myself, who want to help support other mums on their breastfeeding journeys. The training I am doing is also in association with Homestart, which is a family support organisation.
So why have I been making boobs? BfN helpers and supporters use them with mums to demonstrate hand expressing and also positioning and attachment with the cloth dolls. We were given the knitted boob pattern during a class, but me being me, I had to look and see if I could find a crochet version too! Apparently the charity is always looking for knitted boobs. Each helper is given their own boob during their training) so if anyone would like to help out then you can get in touch with the BfN or comment here, or email me (bluekasha@aol.com) and I'll put you in touch with my course tutor.
I have been looking for a pattern for a 'boob beanie' whilst searching the interweb for crochet patterns. I don't know if you have seen them, but they are for babies to wear on their heads while having their lunch in public. A very clever (and irritated I should think!) Australian mum came up with the idea due to being sick of all the negativity when she wanted to breastfeed her child in public. You can see it here. It basically resembles a boob. It is getting a bit cooler now, and I'm sure my little boy is in need of a new hat.... ;)
I am sure there are lots of other uses for these fabric bazoomas, especially since October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month too. Boobs are amazing things, let's celebrate them :)
I'm linking up with Wendy for Handmade Monday as usual. Please spend any spare time you have having a look at the wonderful blogs linked up over there.
(just a quick note to my fellow bloggers... I have had a fair few problems with logging into google this week, so although I have been reading your blogs, I have been unable to post comments. Hopefully that will be resolved this week!)
Have a great week,
