2011 The Year of The Breast (Feeding)

2011 winds down to just hours before the induction of 2012. As I look back, I can safely say it was another good and productive year personally. My family is healthy and happy and my relationships with my children and husband remain positive and empowering. I thank the good Lord for the blessings that have been bestowed on me and I hope you all have had a year just as blessed as mine. 

I wanted to thank all of my readers, subscribers and those who follow me by email, Twitter or Facebook. Thank you for making TheOliveParent a success! I can only hope I've contributed to the positive in your lives, which is my ultimate goal in operating this blog. I hope the giveaways and reviews I have chosen to share with you contributed to the productivity in your lives. Without your support, TheOliveParent would not have experienced the success as she (yes, my blog is all woman!) has. :) I hope I can continue to share with you my experiences, encouragement and information that has contributed to my own well being as well. 

What a year it's been, huh? I think it would be worthy to call it the year of breast feeding! We have seen controversy over breast feeding that I haven't seen in years past. Starting with the Breast Milk Baby Doll, a doll that initiates breast feeding when brought to the chest.The doll met with all kinds of controversy and the makers of this doll, Berjuan Toys, a Spanish manufacturer was, unfortunately subjected to all kinds of ignorance. 

Photo credit: WorldNetDaily

What about the whole craziness brought on by Michele Bachman and Sarah Palin? In response to Michelle Obama's promotion of baby-friendly hospitals Bachmann and Palin apparently took political offense to the First Lady's initiative. That of course, invited ignorance comments and opinions from all across the nation.

And finally, the breast feeding cause ended with a bang, a National Nurse-In directed at Target's harassment of a mom trying to peacefully feed and care for her child. 

With all said and done, breast feeding had definitely received a LOT of attention. This is good news for everyone. The more that is spoken about it, the more misunderstandings that can be addressed. 

Home birth was under attack this year, with midwives being scrutinized over every mishap and the erroneous and questionable release of the Wax study. The safety of home birth has been constantly questioned. This is a good attempt to deflect from our very REAL statistics of maternal and infant mortality. A ranking that does not support the safety of hospital births over home births considering that 99% of moms birth in hospitals. Please take a moment and visit some of the links I have shared on the sidebar for more information. I'm hoping with the amount of coverage breast feeding has received in 2011, home birth will be exposed more and more as a viable option...or at least the truth about America's birth statistics are exposed. More and more women need to understand the risks that come with hospital births as many doctors do not make them known.

I wish you all a HAPPY NEW YEAR! Be safe! Don't drink and drive! 

XO