Date: Wed, 26 Apr 2000 10:51:30 -0500
From: Kathy Dettwyler <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: From Dr. D. -- web sites on breastfeeding and guilt
>These are all legitimate
>reasons and should not be accompanied by a sense of guilt or inadequacy."
>
>Also, they said that there is no clear evidence that breastfeeding after one
>year is beneficial... It seems to me that whoever wrote this article has
>either misinformation, or another agenda besides informing the public of the
>facts.
e) all of the above is the correct answer
The "guilt" issue is an interesting one -- one that I give talks about at
breastfeeding conferences.
If there is a behavior that is bad for children's health and most
middle-class white people don't do it, then health care professionals have
no problem making women feel guilty about doing it. For example: drinking
while pregnant, using illegal drugs while pregnant, smoking while pregnant,
not using seat belts in cars, not vaccinating, etc. Health care
professionals often DELIBERATELY invoke guilt to get people to behave
responsibly.
One classic example is this public service radio announcement that played
for several years in the mid-1990s across the country to encourage people
to put their children in car seats, set to a country western music beat:
Safety Belt Education Campaign, Radio, January 1995, used with permission.
"Larry's Lament"
Announcer: Here with a message for younger and more sensitive passengers,
Vince and Larry.
Vince: (SINGS) My precious pet said "Don't forget Tommy's care
seat when
you go." But I paid no mind, and now I find, there's one thing I must know
. . . "
Larry: "Do little angels have car seats in their chariots in
heaven? If
my angel used his here on earth, today he would be seven. I didn't think
to buckle him in, just goin' into town."
Chorus: He's on the highway up to heaven.
Larry: I'm on the road that goes straight down.
Chorus: Forget the safety seat.
Larry: You're on a one way street,
Vince: That only goes straight down.
Announcer: A message from The Department of Transportation and the Ad
Council.
Nothing subtle there folks. Don't use a car seat, and you're going to
hell. No concern there for not making the parent feel guilty.
But many health care professionals raise this issue of not wanting to make
mothers feel guilty if they don't breastfeed. Why is this different? I
think it is because formula-feeding has become so much the norm in our
culture that lots of middle-class white folks do it -- including the
doctors, the nurses, etc. A doctor can get on her moral high-horse and
condemn a mother for using crack cocaine during pregnancy (something SHE
would never do), but since she formula-fed her own kids, it must have been
OK, right? These health care professionals are trying to keep *themselves*
from feeling guilty.
Anyway, end of lecture.
When you are evaluating any source of information about any topic, whether
from the internet or in a class, think about the credibility of the
speaker/author, who is paying for them to say what they say, who stands to
benefit from the information or misinformation provided.
It is no surprise that infant formula companies provide misinformation
about breastfeeding, or sponsor TV shows that provide misinformation. No
one stands to benefit financially when mothers and babies breastfeed --
there is no money to be made. That is one reason it is such a struggle to
fight the propaganda of the infant formula companies.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------
Katherine A. Dettwyler, Ph.D.
[log in to unmask]
------------------------------
Kathleen B. Bruce, BSN, IBCLC co-owner Lactnet, Indep. Consultant
mailto:[log in to unmask]
http://homepages.together.net/~kbruce/kbblact.html
LACTNET Archives http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/lactnet.html
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