Breastfeeding: Yes or No?

Breastfeeding has been in the news lately, after a breastfeeding D.C. cop was given leave without pay instead of the desk job she requested. Officer Sashay Brown said that wearing the bulletproof vest necessary for being on patrol was both painful and could keep her from properly producing milk.

And an Ohio woman realized the potential for breast milk weaponization (a phrase I never thought I would use) when she used it against police.

Breastfeeding is a topic that many moms feel strongly about. Some moms believe that breast milk drunk directly from the mother's breast is best for the child. Other moms opt for giving their children formula. Still other moms use a pump on a regular basis, or alternate between breast milk and formula.

And there's a lot of chatter from non-moms, too, like New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof calling breast milk a "miracle cure for childhood malnutrition."

If the mother has a career, the complexity of the issue only increases. Do you spend time pumping so that your child can have breast milk while he or she is at day care? If so, what do you do during that time? (This article suggests you can continue working at your cubicle.) Is there a brand of formula that you feel you can trust?

So tell us: yes or no? What's your situation and how do you make it work? We'll collect your answers, do some more research, and give you a longer article on the subject. Comment here, or, if you'd prefer, email me.

Note: In the interest of disclosing any biases, I was a breastfed baby. However, some of my siblings were formula fed. I have noticed no major physical, mental, or emotional health differences between us as a result of our different infant diets.