Bravo to everyone who reminded us that the main
purpose of breastfeeding is to feed the baby,
that the member of the couple who suffers most
when breastfeeding is threatened is the end-user,
the baby, and that framing breastfeeding solely
as an activity performed the mother, if she wants
to breastfeed, serves to distract us, often
deliberately, from the acute need of the child.
The language used to frame breastfeeding as being
only important for the mother sometimes reaches
dangerous levels, and I think we are so used to
it, that we may not even notice. I proffer an
example from a crucially important document on
prevention of mother-to-child transmission of
HIV* that I finally had a chance to read
yesterday. On the one hand, it contains the following reassurance:
For children, the overarching principle
is to ensure their best interests and optimal health outcomes.
However, a couple of pages later, under
Recommended Key Actions, comes a confusing mix of
suggestions containing the words "nutritional
kits", "ready-to-use food" and "building capacity
to make replacement feeding safer for women who
choose that option". Making replacement feeding
safer FOR WOMEN??? The safety - or not - is
ultimately experienced by BABIES, not women. Here is the actual wording:
• Develop supportive policies and build
capacity to revitalize breastfeeding protection, promotion and support in
the general population.
• Integrate nutrition support as a
component of the package of services for rolling out antiretroviral therapy and
promoting innovative approaches such as
nutritional kits and ready-to-use food.
• Build capacity and develop
competencies to actively support women living
with HIV who choose to exclusively
breastfeed, and to make replacement
feeding safer for women who choose that option.
Note how, even as the competing risks between a
lethal disease and a hazardous infant feeding
method are being teased apart, with the evidence
falling squarely on the side of breastfeeding
being much, much safer for the overwhelming
majority of the world's HIV-exposed babies, still
the issue is being framed as a mother's
choice. Interesting that this is only promoted for developing countries .....
But with all these different issues we can see
that there is a common theme - the focus on
women, the exclusion of the consequences for
babies - whether it's breast vs bottle, nursing
in public, maternity rights, or HIV and infant
feeding. Is it possible that this is a marker
for the lack of care that society in general
accords to children (one of my sons points out
that babies can't vote!) Or is it possible that
there is a deliberate manipulation of our
perceptions in order to trivialize the real
importance of breastfeeding for babies in order
to boost the sales of more "stuff"? I do think
we need to resist the urge to inadvertently add
to it by 'minding our own language' (thanks to
Diane) when we speak and write.
Thanks to all who gave examples of how they keep the baby in the frame.
Pamela Morrison IBCLC
(interest: Co-coordinator, WABA Task Force on Breastfeeding and HIV)
* WHO 2007 Guidance on global scale-up of the
prevention of mother to child transmission of
HIV: towards universal access for women, infants
and young children and eliminating HIV and AIDS
among children / Inter-Agency Task Team on
Prevention of HIV Infection in Pregnant Women,
Mothers and their
Children,
<http://www.unfpa.org/upload/lib_pub_file/736_filename_guidance.pdf>http://www.unfpa.org/upload/lib_pub_file/736_filename_guidance.pdf
-------------------------------------------
WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT THE BABY'S RIGHT TO NURSE-NOT THE MOM'S RIGHT TO
BREASTFEED!!!!
...I rarely ever mention anything to do with breastfeeding now, and not
start with "Breastfeeding babies...." as the baseline of the discussion.
...I, too, feel that often rights and
importancies are too much about moms instead of about babies. Babies can't
advocate their own rights, so it is up to their mothers to speak for them
and up to society to arrange for circumstances in which a mom doesn't have
to invest so much energy in defending her baby's rights at the expense of
her baby's wellbeing ..... Even maternity leave
is about baby's rights..
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