I am a nursing student at UND and am following a mother who delivered this
last month.  During one of our initial home visits before she delivered I
asked her if she was planning on breastfeeding.  She responded that she was
not planning on breastfeeding; she also didn’t breastfeed her previous two
children.  She then proceeded to tell me in a sarcastic tone that “you
probably think that I’m a bad mother” because she wasn’t going to
breastfeed.  I was curious as to why she would say something like that and
assume that I felt that everyone that didn’t breastfeed was automatically a
bad mother.
Most of our society has been brought up with the association of the baby
with the bottle (Newman, 1999) so it’s no wonder that when mothers are
first asked about if they are planning on breastfeeding they say no or are
undecided.  Since this association has been a part of our society for so
long it may be more difficult to convince women of the benefits of
breastfeeding.  Another reason why it may be so instilled in our society
that bottle feeding is just as good as breastfeeding is because of formula
companies advertising this point (Newman, 1998).
In our Maternal-Newborn nursing classes we are taught that the “breast is
best” and recommend breastfeeding to all mothers.  When counseling an
expectant mother they may see us as a bit pushy when it comes to convincing
mothers to breastfeed since we know all of the benefits for mom and baby.
The mothers may feel, since we see breastfeeding so highly, that we will
look down on them if they don’t breastfeed.
So what is the best way to convince these mothers of the benefits of
breastfeeding without seeming too pushy or making them feel guilty about
not having the same opinion about breastfeeding as we do?  According to
Newman (1999), the best way to do this is with the “promotion of
breastfeeding coupled with good, knowledgeable and skillful support”.  What
needs to be remembered is that ultimately it is the woman’s choice if she
wants to breastfeed her infants.  It is our job to make sure that women
have all the up to date information about breastfeeding so they can make an
informed decision, then we need to step aside and respect the decision that
she makes (Slaw, 1999).

Angela Larson, SN      University of North Dakota

Newman, J.  (1998).  Breastfeeding and Guilt.  Parenting Web.  Retrieved
October 24, 2000 from the World Wide Web:
http://www.parentingweb.com/lounge/newman/nm_guilt.htm.
Newman, J.  (1999, June).  In my opinion:  Health professionals and
breastfeeding:  Why do they have so much trouble understanding?
International Journal of Childbirth Education, 5-8.
Slaw, R.  (1999, September-October).  Promoting Breastfeeding or Promoting
Guilt?  New Beginnings, 171-172.

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