“Have you tried breastfeeding yet?” the nurse asked me as I sat with my newborn baby a few hours after giving birth, clutching a bottle of ready-to-feed formula.
“I’m not breastfeeding—I can’t. It should say that on my chart,” I replied.
“Really? Are you sure you can’t?”
“I’m sure. Can you tell me how much to give my son of this bottle? I need to feed him.”
The nurse let out a sigh of disapproval and proceeded to rush through instructions on how my husband and I should feed our son, as if she was handling contraband. I could have provided her with much more of an explanation to alleviate her concerns, but in my post-labour stupor, I didn’t really care to delve into my life story.
Stephanie Gilman 