The Moscow Times

Mothers Share Tips at Milk Meetups

By Alastair Gee
Special to The Moscow Times

Michael Eckels / Mt
Yaroshevich, right, and her daughter, Emma, chatting
to Rachel Lebaredian and son Daron at Ogo Gorod
in February.

Moscow's Mommy Milk Meetup for breast-feeding moms is the largest Mommy Milk group in the world. Every other week, around 20 of its 60 members, along with their hungry babies and the occasional dad, get together to share breast-feeding problems and tips.

The moms meet in Ogo Gorod, a bright, modern complex for young children in southern Moscow. The first moms arrive at lunchtime, and the event usually stretches on late into the afternoon as attendees chat, browse breast-feeding books and feed their babies. The babies themselves are quiet and content, playing with their adoring parents, a mix of expatriates and Russians, and taking frequent naps.

The group was founded in 2004 by Theresa Yaroshevich, 36, an American who arrived in Moscow in 1994 as an English teacher and stayed after marrying her husband, Alexander. Alexander works for Coca-Cola, and as she introduced him, Theresa quipped, "We're both in the beverage business."

Theresa, who has three young children, was motivated to create the group by her own negative experience of being a first-time mother in Moscow.

"My mom is a labor nurse in the United States, and I grew up thinking of birth as this beautiful, spiritual experience," she said. "Here, it's like you're in a factory -- you have to get it out as soon as possible and then go. ... I came across as a bit traumatized after that."

Theresa found no one in Moscow to help her figure out the nuances of breast-feeding Yan, now 6, and turned to the La Leche League organization for breast-feeding moms in the United States. She received one of their qualifications and, in addition to running Moscow's Mommy Milk Meetup, one of eight in the international organization, is available for consultation if a mom is having trouble feeding her child.

Theresa stressed that breast-feeding is an art -- one that was passed on more easily in earlier times than it is today.

"You grew up in a village, and you got it by watching others. We don't have that. In modern society, there's a disconnect. All of a sudden, a woman is thrown from college or working life into the role of a mother without anyone to emulate."

Alexander said that fathers who were opposed to their partners breast-feeding did not realize its advantages.

"Bottle-feeding is a lot more complex," he said. "You have to heat it, mix it. Here it comes in bulk, there's no packaging, and it's already blended to perfection. And you don't have to buy it."

During the interview, Alexander suggested that their daughter Emma, 5 months old, was hungry. Aware that some in Ogo Gorod might never have seen a mom breast-feeding before, Theresa, laughing, was reassuring: "Don't worry, I'm a stealth breast-feeder," she said.

At a Mommy Milk meeting in February, Tatyana Demishkevich, a midwife and breast-feeding mother, emphasized the health benefits of breast-feeding, and warned that there might be a greater risk of physiological and psychological problems in bottle-fed children.

Many of the moms expressed surprise that a mother would choose bottle-feeding when, they said, breast-feeding had so many benefits. One Russian mom, Mariana Bashkirova, said that while she enjoyed coming to the meetings, she felt sad that breast-feeding moms had to arrange special meetings, as if it was something unusual.

"If you bottle-feed, it's a kind of medicine -- it's only for a very special situation, when perhaps you can't breast-feed," she said.

"Breast-feeding is only natural. For me, a breast-feeding mom is like a breathing mom."

For more information, call Theresa Yaroshevich at 8-910-422-4373 or go to: http://mommymilk.meetup.com/22