Philippines Breastfeeding Smart Mob 2013

Hello people of the Philippines! I bet you didn't know, August is the BREASTFEEDING MONTH. Now you know, so let us celebrate! Join the BREASTFEEDING SMART MOB 2013! #BreastfeedingPH #smartmob

To all breastfeeding pinays (purely / mixed, directly / pumping), also open to pregnant moms determined to breastfeed and also to those BF advocates who just weaned... Mag tapok og mag ila-ila ta (let's meet and greet) as we celebrate World Breastfeeding Month!

"COMING TOGETHER, FEEDING TOGETHER"
(A Breastfeeding Awareness Campaign)

This is a simultaneous event happening in various venues at Luzon, Visayas & Mindanao. First time in the Philippines. Tara! Don't be shy. Let's meet, greet and latch altogether.

When? Aug 3, 2013, Saturday at 3 - 4 pm

Where? Various venues in the country. (for Davao: Don Beppe Ristorante Italiano at The Peak, Gaisano Mall of Davao). For other locations in the Philippines, see the posters below.

What to do?
Simple... Let's meet, greet and latch alogether. =) (For Davao: Look for the ladies in orange with babies wearing white, that's me and some of my mommy friends from The POD-- medyo kinareer lang, nagpa print talaga ng breastfeeding shirts. hehe)

What to wear?
Wear any comfortable clothing, you may also use nursing covers. (For Davao: if possible, moms wear a color ORANGE top so that we'd be more "shocking" and let the babies wear WHITE. Well, just for uniformity in our pictorial <char>). Documentation will later be shared to the web through our photos and blogs.

Why?
Just IMHO (in my humble opinion) we do this to promote and "normalize" breastfeeding. We can still get too self-conscious to even try breastfeeding in public and only do it in private for some personal reasons (but not me.. or am I just so proud to flaunt that I finally have boobs now? hehe). Because sometimes our society makes us feel that nursing in public is obscene. But, indecent clothes and pornography are more socially acceptable than us women simply "feeding" our babies. And that's not cool! So together, let us fight for our right to breastfeed in public. Show the world how we can beautifully and blissfully breastfeed our beloved babies without discrimination.

In the first place, why breastfeed?
(Again, IMHO) This smart mob also aims to educate families about breastfeeding. Breasfeeding is still the healthiest & best way to feed (and to love) our children despite the availability of over-priced cow's milk extravangantly marketed by multi-million "business" companies. (Lactivist lang ang peg? hehe) And the best part, it saves us a lot of money. Heck, it's FREE milk! So, let's help market breastfeeding, also for free. 

See you!
Let's say hi to each other for an hour. I swear, it's super fun to meet new moms and have a mommy support group. Let's help empower Filipino women to nurse their babies in public places. 

Spread the word!
Invite all your fab BFFs (breastfeeding friends).  The more, the merrier!

Event Poster:
Poster from Mommy Sense (Davao), my personal breastfeeding support group.

Not from Davao? 
Other places in the Philippines are having their own celebration too. Check out these EVENT POSTERS from other (reliable sources) popular Breastfeeding-Support Groups in the country:

Malate, Manila
Poster from Chronicles of a Nursing Mom (Manila)

Cagayan de Oro Poster from Mommy Bright Side (CDO)

Cebu and Bacolod (I'm confirming it pa.hehe)

*If you have other information to add or have questions/comments/reactions, feel free to contact me (Sao) at saosao.yb@gmail.com and kindly indicate name and location.

JOIN our BREASTFEEDING GROUP in The Philippines:

Meet BFing moms from all around the country (Philippines) via online and feel free to learn, relate, get or give inspiration. JOIN this exclusive Facebook Group "Breastfeeding Pinays" : This group seeks to provide support and information to Filipino families who are interested in breastfeeding. 

The Amazing Nursingmom

I am obsessed with The Amazing Spiderman Movie so it inspired me for the title of this blog post (hehe).

We had another Parent's Meeting at school, for my eldest child Ace, who is in Nursery. And as usual, my EBF baby boy, Coy, was with me. There's no way (no time & energy left) for me to be pumping & storing breastmilk for now. Heck, it's even a struggle for me to find time to have meals. So baby must come with me, I am a nursing mom. And so, another parent (this happened before) who's sitting next to me asked what baby's age is (just to add, lately I'm not receiving questions that asked how many months but rather 'pila na ni ka tuig?' or in english: how many 'years'?). When I answered that my baby is 8 months old, she seemed amazed and added that he is 'buyag' (I can't translate buyag, but it's something like she can't believe he's still an infant). Then I sensed that just like everybody else, she's gonna ask what's his milk (in many instances, what 'brand' of milk), so I took the opportunity to share before these words come out from her mouth...

By the way, all conversations (written in bold) are originally spoken in vernacular (bisaya/visayan). I said, "He's breastfed so I just can't leave him at home. Besides, he loves it here during meetings." And there, the mom had eyes widened and are dashing with amusement and she added (or to re-confirm the BF thingy), "As in purely breastfed? No powdered milk?" then I proudly replied, "Of course, hello? Formula milk is just too expensive." And just like any other stranger I met for this year, I'm feeling glad that they'd get amazed and would usually comment, "Wow, mother's milk, that's great!" or "Wow, so this child is really close to the mother" or "Wow, how big your financial savings are!" and always, always with the tone of surprise. Can't blame them though, anyone who'd discovered that an ultra petite & teenage-looking mom like me could be capable of producing food for my baby & could dare to pop those boobies in public, would be just as amazed.

To continue, she praised the fact that I am breastfeeding my baby and that's a very great thing but she still seemed to be curious about  my breastfeeding experience (by the way she told me she has a 1.5 year old child left at home, who I suppose is not BF anymore), she asked again, "So you still can't sleep through the night coz you're feeding? Isn't it tiring?" Then again, proudly answered (and corrected this very common misconception) "Oh no 'te, he sleeps by my side, all I do is to be on a side-lying position and that's it, no effort!" She nodded, still surprised and so I added, "Because with my eldest whom I weaned at only 5 months old, I experienced the most dead-tired days and nights of my life. Imagine getting up at night, at dawn, at sunrise just to prepare milk, shake the bottles then wash & sterilize them all. With BF, all I do is lie down, I don't even have to really wake-up, I mean anybody can do that (change position) while half-asleep or even on deep sleep so technically, I am sleeping through the night." And I smiled the whole time while explaining.

Ok so I guess, for that day, and for that specific mom, breastfeeding is well-'defended', oh well like I'm at a court trial (hehe). More to go. Hwew! I just can't believe many parents still are amazed, but I don't know if it's a good thing though, sometimes I think that they think it's too inconvenient for a young-looking mom like me and that they think I am rich (I just look like one but I'm so penniless/unemployed), thinking that I can afford formula milk but why settle for this impractical, non-modernized, primitive way of feeding (I think that's what they think). In my mind, they might even wonder why I dare to face the hassle of bringing baby anytime anywhere, why dare to bare (sadly, Filipinos still have this discrimination for BFing & most people associate this to be only for the poor who can't afford formula milk, or for those unattractive not-so-young moms since men wouldn't care to look at her topless expo), why dare to wake-up at night feedings, dare to submit myself as a full-time mom when I can do better and earn money as a career-woman, and many other suffs I personally call 'myths'.

Well I completely understand, we all have different choices, beliefs and priorities. But just in my humble opinion, the fact is, there is something better than all of these (of what they think is better)-- and for me that's the 'best'. And the best choice, best belief, and best priority is what I have right now. Might not always be best for everybody but it is for ME. Afterall this is my baby, my family, my boobs, my life. I'm willing to share to anyone what works best for me (with matching #BREASTisBEST hashtags on my Instagram photos of me, beautifully and blissfully breastfeeding). And yes, just simply be amazed. ;)