In this essay, the author highlights her difficult journey to breastfeed her son, discussing the physical, mental, monetary, and temporal difficulties faced by those who desire to breastfeed and offering recommendations for clinicians and society to make breastfeeding more attainable. Despite knowing breastfeeding can improve outcomes, even the author, a privileged and highly informed obstetrician and gynecologist, nearly could not afford the multiple, varied costs to breastfeed. Breastfeeding should not be a privilege, but an option accessible to all our patients.
Dhanalakshmi Thiyagarajan (2026) studied this question.