Not your typical breasfeeding counselor
Close your eyes and picture your typical breastfeeding counselor. Female, kindly, at least 30 years old, with a kid or two of her own and has her own breastfeeding stories to tell.
So what would you do and think if your counselor turns out to be Henry Hale, 25 years old – and male?
Henry is the first man ever to be a certified breast-feeding peer counselor at Chicago’s Rush University Medical Center. Men and women couldn’t believe it at first and thought he is doing what he is doing for some ulterior motive – to have access to breasts all day. But it’s more than that for Henry. He believes in what he is advocating – that breast milk is the best nutrition for the baby – as inspired by his daughter. The girl, aptly named Miracle, was delivered at 24 weeks weighing just 1 pound, 3 ounces. Yet, she survived and thrived on her mother’s breast milk which her mom pumped for several months. She is now three and happy to have a baby sister.
The fact is, both Henry and the girls’ mom Scott both decided to qualify as breastfeeding peer counselors after their experience with Miracle. However, it was Henry who attracted attention and was dubbed by the Chicago Tribune as “pitchman for breast milk”.
As a breastfeeding counselor, Henry does not necessarily have to work with women. Instead, he is aiming to work with fathers and show them how to support their wives/partners in breastfeeding and pumping.
In a previous post, the importance of a lactation consultant was discussed. I don’t know whether it is the same as a breastfeeding counsellor. It doesn’t matter. I believe we need more men like Henry. To be honest, I won’t be too comfortable having a man show me the proper way to breastfeed. However, I would have loved to have Henry around to give my husband some tips during my breast pumping stint more than 5 years ago!
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MrsH says...
Amazing! I like his aim on working with fathers because I’d be creeped out by a male lactation consultant.