A Gay Man's Guide to Breastfeeding: If I Can Do It, So Can You!

Note: This is about as far from medical advice as you can get.

Step One: Plan a home birth. If this is not possible for you, choose a nearby field preferably with tall, sweet-smelling grass. If you are more woodsy-minded, a small stand of trees will also do nicely.


Step Two: Gawk at people who are breastfeeding successfully. DO NOT politely avert your eyes at the sight of a bare human nipple, but instead, stare at it. Observe how the baby latches on.

Step Three: Birth on your own time, with privacy. Ask someone who has breastfed a child for at least one year to be on-call and ready to help you within an hour of the birth. DO call this person if you experience any difficulty latching your baby, or even if you are just not quite sure!

Step Four: Immediately after the birth, DO stay with your baby. DO NOT weigh or bathe your baby. BREASTFEED your baby.

Step Five: Breastfeed.

Step Six: Breastfeed.

Step Seven: Breastfeed.

Step Eight: Breastfeed.

Step Nine: Breastfeed.

Step Ten: If after all this breastfeeding, you still don't have enough milk, get some donated breast milk from a friend or through Human Milk 4 Human Babies.

Step Eleven: Keep breastfeeding. Use a supplemental nursing system if you need to.