One problem with marketing breastfeeding as free is that a good deal has already been written to 
counter that claim.  I remember reading one argument -- from a book or magazine, I can't 
remember -- that once you've paid for a breast pump and its paraphenelia, nursing bras, a special 
nursing wardrobe, visits to the lactation consultant, and probably a few other things I'm 
forgetting, breastfeeding is certainly not free!

So, if anyone wanted to market breastfeeding as free, she would need to counter these specious 
arguments.  And the problem, of course, is that a huge percentage of American breastfeeding 
moms do buy pumps, and other breastfeeding accoutrements.  Why?  Well, largely because 
Americans (and people in many of the other countries represented on lactnet) love to buy things! 

It's tricky.  Most people like freebies, but most people like to buy a list of things they'll neeed for 
their babies, because in a consumerist society, we tend to show love by purchasing things.   And, 
of course, many people stubbornly hold on the idea that "you get what you pay for," and that 
feeding baby something like nutramigen is equivalent to sparing no expense to give baby the best 
possible food.  

I do think it is good to stress the savings associated with breastfeeding; that even if parents 
choose to make one-time purchases such as pumps and nursing clothes, or even if they engage 
an LC for a few sessions, this does not compare to the expense of purchasing formula for an 
entire year and going to the doctor as often as most non-breastfed babies need to.  

Sadly, no matter what anyone says to market breastfeeding, there are some smart and passionate 
people out there waiting to counter us. A couple of months ago we discussed an article on Slate in 
which an author tore into LLL  for simply suggesting that not every nursing mother needs to buy a 
breast pump.

There are a lot of people, many of them good writers, who have a toxic mix of emotional 
responses to this issue, and no matter how we market bf, they will be there to tear us down.  This 
doesn't mean we shouldn't try to do it, but it does mean that when we do it, we enter something 
of a minefield -- one created by an industry that doesn't want bf levels increase and a society that 
lost bf as a norm several decades ago and is still ambivalent about getting it back.


Kerry Ose

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