>In a message dated 12/25/01 3:13:47 PM, [log in to unmask] writes:
>
>>Article on says 7 out of 10 infants in Ireland
>>are bottle fed<
>>
>>Sounds about right, according to stats I have heard.  Ireland has pretty
>>dire breastfeeding reputation.
>
>As a Bostonian of largely Irish descent (with a wee bit of English and
>Scottish thrown into the mix!), I'd suggest that at least in this area, the
>behavior carries over into their immigrant population as well.


Interesting....but most of the Irish who came to the US (say between
1830 and 1930) would certainly have breastfed, Lynn. Your family will
have started to use formula alongside the cultural norm of the US.
Immigrant behaviour can change dramatically where infant feeding is
concerned. Locally (North Est of England) a study was done with a
population of Bangladeshi mothers. It was found that babies born when
the mother was in Bangladesh were more likely to bf for a longer time.

Most of the babies were bf, wherever they were born, but if they were
in the UK, it was less likely to be exclusive, and more likely to
cease by three months or so. Feeding into the second year and beyond
was more likely to happen if the mother and baby were in Bangladesh
at the time. This applied within *the same families*....that is,
child no.1 might be bf for 18 months, and child no. 2  might be bf
for 2 months.

I think we might find that feeding behaviour - more than any
other???? - adapts to the cultural norms of the place you are in at
the time. The Bangladeshi mothers in the study were still feeding
more often and for longer than their white working class neighbours,
who mostly did not start to bf, and who would be very likely to stop
within a few days or weeks,  but just by being in the UK, the
Bangladeshi infant feeding practice differed hugely...veering towards
the UK practice almost as soon as they started to live here. Yet
these were mothers who kept their traditional dress, spoke little
English, and maintained most of the other domestic traditions of
their culture. Their mothers and mothers in law, and aunts, and older
cousins,  will all have breastfed, and for a long time too.


Heather Welford Neil
NCT bfc Newcastle upon Tyne UK

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