Decent Exposure
The other day I smiled when I saw a local woman in a long black robe (called an abaya) and a black head covering nurse her son on a curb fully in public and without a nursing cover of any kind. Her husband and the men walking around on the busy street didn’t seem affected by this spectacle at all. When I had my first son here, it took me a bit to adjust to the modesty expectations around me. I had learned to wear long skirts and shirts and to wrap my head loosely with a scarf. I was used to seeing niqabs and regular hijaab all around me. So I was surprised when I realized that breastfeeding my son around others was accepted and easy. Here are some things I learned:
- Women here spend most of their time around other women and don’t feel a need to cover when they nurse. They don’t have special breastfeeding clothes – they just work with what they have. Also, many women will nurse without covering around male family members, so a young man will grow up having seen mothers, sisters and aunts nursing babies and will be very used to the idea. When I had Caleb, new friends laughed when I tried to cover while I nursed him, even though there was a man in the house. I soon learned not to cover around women and liked the freedom.
- People are very supportive of breastfeeding, though many like to supplement with yonsoon – a sweetened anise tea thought to help the baby sleep or rice cereal from a can. Some also start their babies eating things like rice and yogurt as young as 3 or 4 months.
- When I had Evan, a very nice woman came to my hospital room to tell me what foods would help me produce lots of milk. New moms eat lots of “halaweh”, a sweetened sesame paste. Eating sesame seeds along with anise and yogurt is thought to help produce lots of milk.
- Women will generally nurse their baby for 1-2 years and on demand (not on a schedule).
- As with this post, I would love to show a photo of my beautiful friends mothering their new children, but they are too modest so I will include a photo of me nursing my little ones and feeling so thankful to local friends making that so easy for me.
