What Every Mother Should Teach Her Daughter About Breast Cancer

03/08/2015 03:14AM | 7128 views

Growing up in a Hispanic household, my family was very modest. Nudity in any form was not accepted behavior. (I won’t even begin to get into the topic of walking barefoot). We never walked around the house without clothes in front of each other. That was completely a taboo. I remember taking showers with my best friend, Frances, when we were 7 and wearing swimsuits in the tub. Even as a young child of 3, at the beach I was never allowed to run around nude or without a top. Breasts were something we never talked about. They were something that needed to be covered up at all times no matter how old you were.

Fast forward more than 30 years later, and organizations such as the American Cancer Society state that breast cancer will claim 40,000 lives this year. I think to myself, I could be one of those 40,000. Growing up my mom never talked to me about breast health. We did have the “talk” when I had my first menstrual cycle a month before I turned 12; however, breasts, other than shopping for a AA cup training bra was as far as the conversation stretch. Although my mom had a close friend who died of breast cancer leaving her three adolescent daughters and a husband behind, to some degree breast cancer was a non-issue, an anomaly.

Now, as a mother myself to a six-year-old girl, I see things differently. Perhaps it the work I do, the exposure I have had with healthcare professionals, or close friends that I have watched endure their own breast cancer journeys, but I know I will have to talk to my daughter sooner rather than later about this topic.

For right now, we playfully talk about breasts as “chi chis” and we talk about the development of them as your grow older. I fully plan, as she matures, to explain to her the role breasts play in a woman’s life and how they need to be cared for. It almost sounds odd (I hear my mom almost appalled that I would broach this topic with my little one) as I write this, but it’s true. I am much more open that my parents were with me, and for this I am thankful.

Here are 5 tips I would give to other young mothers who are bringing up daughters:

From an early age, talk about breasts. Yours, hers, other people’s and their role in being a woman and motherhood.

When they are pre-teens, talk to them about what breast cancer is so that there is no misinformation. They need to know that breast cancer is not caused by infection, tanning, drug use, stress, and breast injury or bruising.
Tell them how smoking could increase their risk.
Emphasize good nutrition and regular exercise for overall health.
Talk them about breast self-exams and how to do them in the shower.