媽媽的煩惱英語美文

　　Breastfeeding in Public媽媽的煩惱

　　Why is it that something that should be totally natural to a new mother, so many times can put her into a state of panic? Breastfeeding our children is as natural as it gets. Women have been doing it since the beginning of time and yet, today, many mothers choose to stay home for fear they will end up in the middle of a mall with a starving infant demanding to be fed.

　　Can you believe that it wasn"t until 1993, that North Carolina where I currently live amended its indecent exposure law to exclude breastfeeding women? God created breasts for the ultimate purpose of feeding and nurturing our children contrary to how the media chooses to portray them!

　　Something happened to me the other day that allowed me to reach a personal milestone in this area. First, let me tell you, I am a very modest person. When I was pregnant, I could not have imagined breastfeeding in public. Society had "trained" me to think that it was inappropriate. I admit to nursing my child at the hospital with absolutely no anxiety over who watched. Of course the doctors and nurses had seen aspects of me I don"t even think my husband had ever seen - much less wanted to! Even at home, I happily nursed anywhere and everywhere. But when visitors - even family - were around, I was off to the nursery behind closed doors.

　　Then one day, I found myself in the middle of the mall with a 5 month old screaming to be fed. I was faced with a number of options - use the ladies" room (definitely a last resort - yuk!), go on a mad search for a department store with a lounge or large dressing rooms, go back to the car (my normal nursing spot when out and about) or find the nearest seat. That day I decided it was too far, too much trouble and totally unfair to my daughter to make her wait until I could get to the car or find a private spot. So, I plopped myself down on a bench in the middle of the mall, put a blanket on my shoulder and fed my daughter.

　　At first I was self-conscious. I was sure everyone who walked past was staring directly at me. After looking at the potted plant next to me for five minutes in an effort to avoid eye contact, I started looking around. I was surprised to find that most people didn"t even notice me. They were too engrossed in their shopping to see the young mother with the baby at her breast. The few people I made eye contact with just smiled back, but not one looked away in embarrassment or disgust. No derogatory comments were made. A mother with her teenage children even sat right next to me on the bench and still didn"t take notice.

　　It was such a liberating experience. One small step for nursing mothers everywhere - One giant leap for me. One I wish I hadn"t waited so long to take. I"m just sorry that I let society keep me from doing what I feel is best for my daughter. Of course, I realize that every situation is different and the next time might not fair as well, but I have gotten over the first hurdle and each time will get easier.

　　I wanted to share this experience for other nursing mothers who might just get that little "nudge" of encouragement they need to take that first step or at least help them to start feeling comfortable with the idea. For others, it may still be too big of a leap to take just yet. And by all means, you must do what you feel is right and are comfortable with. But if I could do it, I am confident that you can too.

　　為什么一些對于初為人母者來說再自然不過的事情會讓她們陷入恐慌呢?為寶寶哺乳絕對是天經地義的事了，自盤古開天以來世世代代的母親們就開始哺育幼兒。然而到了今天，由于擔心在逛商場的時候突然要面對嗷嗷待哺的寶寶，許多媽媽不得不選擇躲在家中。你能相信嗎?直到1993年，我目前所居住的北卡羅萊納州才將當眾哺乳排除在“有傷風化的暴露條例法案”之外。上帝創造母親乳房的最終目的是為了哺乳和養育幼兒，這和傳媒所渲染的正好背道而馳!

　　那天發生的事情讓我的看法發生了里程碑式的轉變。

　　首先，我得告訴你，我是一個很保守謹慎的人。懷孕的時候，我壓根就沒想過當眾哺乳的事情。社會的“熏陶”告訴我這樣的做法很不妥當。我承認自己在醫院喂奶的時候一點也不覺得難為情，也不管周圍是誰在看。當然了，醫生和護士在幫我接生的時候已經看過了我的身體，有些可能連我丈夫都沒看過的那種，不過話說回來，丈夫他也可能不太想看。在自己家里沒人的時候，我也能愉快地在任何地方哺乳。不過，如果家里有人，甚至是家人在場的話，我都會自覺地閃回房間里去。

　　直到有一天，在商場里，才五個月大的寶寶忽然哭了起來要喝奶。我當時有幾種選擇——到女廁所去(很顯然是沒有辦法的辦法，會讓人很不舒服);慌亂地找有休息室或大更衣室的百貨商店;走回車里去(在我產后下床以后我就常在汽車里面給寶寶喂奶);或是找最近的椅子坐下。那天，我覺得走回車里或找休息室都太遠，太麻煩了，而且，讓寶寶干等也對她不公平。于是，我在商場中間的一張凳子上一屁股坐下，往肩上搭了塊毯子開始喂奶。起初我還很不自在，覺得經過的每個人都在直直地瞪著我看。于是為了避免和人對視，我盯著身旁的一棵盆栽足足看了五分鐘。當我后來抬頭環顧時，這才驚訝地發現原來大多數的人根本就沒注意到我。他們都在全神貫注地忙著購物，無暇顧及我這個給孩子喂奶的年輕媽媽。偶爾與幾個人目光對接，也只是相視一笑，沒人尷尬或是嫌惡地躲開視線，更沒有惡言相向。一位母親帶著她十幾歲的孩子們還坐到我身旁，也沒注意到我。

　　這真是一次解放式的經歷，是所有哺乳母親們的一小步，卻是我的一大步!我只愿早點跨出這一步，我只遺憾這個社會曾阻止我當眾哺乳，這可是我的寶寶最需要的!當然，我也意識到情況會變化，下次說不定就沒這么順利了，但至少我跨越了第一道障礙，以后會越來越容易。我想與其他哺乳的母親們分享這段經歷，或許她們只需要一點推動和鼓勵就能邁出第一步，或者這段經歷至少能讓她們對當眾哺乳這樣的想法感到順心一些。當然，對于有些媽媽，可能仍然需要更大的勇氣才能走出這一步。無論如何，你應該做自己覺得正確和適當的事情。不過，我很確定，如果我能做到，你也一定能做到。

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