I breastfed my first son in 1978, almost exclusively for the first 6 months,
and my second exclusively in 1981. Like Barbara Wilson Clay, all my friends
had unmedicated childbirths and went on to breastfeed for a year or longer.
Amazingly, many of us were nurses. Hospital policies were certainly not
breastfeeding friendly at that time, but delivery room policies were, in that women were
supported to take as little medication as possible and  were not induced
without good rationale.  I remember reading somewhere that breastfeeding rates
reached a pinnacle in 1981 and then began to drop again. The "hippie" era when we
tried to be "natural" contributed to high breastfeeding rates, at least in
the San Francisco Bay Area. Things seemed simpler then. We carried or wore our
babies, no one transported them in buckets, and all my friends nursed in
public. Now when I see a mother walk into our outpatient center actually carrying a
baby and not the car seat I do a double take. Many of the women I work with
cannot even imagine nursing in public. They purchase their double electric
breast pumps before giving birth and they return to work early. I don't really feel
that breastfeeding rates or policies are better now. More women may make a
stab at it, but the rates of longer term breastfeeding and exclusive
breastfeeding have not improved. There is certainly more professional breastfeeding help
and support available and our knowledge base has grown exponentially. And
women know intellectually that breast is best.  I know that for committed women
who seek our help we make a huge difference.  Years back this expert help was
not always available. Nonetheless, I fear that overall things have not changed
much or may be worse--at least in the Silicon Valley where mothers schedule
their births and begin planning for return to work soon after.

Kathy Boggs, RN, IBCLC
Mountain View, CA

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