Best to leave breast-feeding advice to the pros, Gisele

By Dr. Roshini Raj, TODAY medical contributor and author of "What the Yuck?!" Supermodels trying to dictate public health policy? Not a great idea. But that's exactly what seemed to happen earlier this week when Gisele Bundchen, the model married to Tom Brady, told Harper's Bazaar UK that it should be "worldwide law" that all moms should breast-feed their kids for six months. "Some people here think they don't have to breast-feed, and I think 'Are you going to give chemical food to your child when they are so little?'" Let me start by saying I am a huge fan of breast-feeding. With both of my sons, I breast-fed or gave them pumped milk for an entire year, because I felt that it was the most nutritious food for them. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends exclusive breast-feeding for the first six months of an infant’s life and then continued breast-feeding until 12 months of age. Health benefits for a breast-fed baby include decreased infections, possibly enhanced cognitive development and a possible decrease in the development of allergies, diabetes and other chronic diseases. Mothers who breast-feed also report decreased rates of post-partum depression, more rapid weight loss post-pregnancy and decreased cancer rates long-term. So is Gisele right? Should we make it mandatory that all new mothers breast-feed for at least six months? Well as a working mother, let me tell you that breast-feeding and later pumping breast milk was one of the hardest experiences of my life. Medical school and residency were easy in comparison! The relentless schedule of pumping, the inability to never get more than five or six hours of sleep in a row, the fact that no matter where I was or what I was doing, the world essentially had to stop so I could pump or feed the baby made me more that a little insane at times. But even more than the mental toll – which I still think was worth it – the impact on a career is huge. I was very lucky to have the autonomy and flexibility in my job so that I could set aside time to pump while at work. But most women do not have this luxury, don’t have a private space to pump at work and have to return to work so soon after having a baby, that breast-feeding is impossible. And I’m not even talking about the long-term impact this schedule can have on your career. I suspect Gisele does not have to worry about these issues nearly as much as the rest of us. I strongly believe that new mothers should be educated about the benefits of breast-feeding and encouraged to breast-feed, but they also need the tools to make it happen – namely more understanding work policies that allow women longer maternity leaves and spaces and time at work to pump. Gisele later modified her comments by saying “as mothers, we are trying our best” – that sounds more like it. Being a new mom is hard enough without being judged. TODAY medical contributor Dr. Roshini Raj, a mother of two, is board certified in gastroenterology and internal medicine with a medical degree from New York University School of Medicine and an undergraduate degree from Harvard College. Dr. Raj is also the medical editor of Health Magazine. Her first book, "What the Yuck?! The Freaky & Fabulous Truth About Your Body," debuted in 2010 and it answers the real questions you’re dying to ask a doctor.