Someone cited Jim Akre as saying that cultures breastfeed, rather than women. I disagree. A child can not be breastfed by a culture, only by a person with breasts. In the same vein, people belong to cultures, but cultures are not individuals. Each individual will have beliefs and ways of living that they have learned from their culture, but they will also have ways of doing things that are peculiar to them alone. If you think that because you know some tidbits about certain cultures, you will be able to give appropriate help to any individual who defines themselves as belonging to that culture, you are destined to fail. There are no shortcuts. You have to engage with the person in front of you. My hackles still go up more than 20 years down the road when I recall being asked by our INSTRUCTOR, no less, on the first day of midwifery school in Oslo, during our intro round where we said our names and where we were from, 'You'r American, eh? Tell me, why do *all* American women ask for dry-up pills in the hospital?' A third of my class had children under two years old when we started. One student was breastfeeding when school started - yep, the American. And I was supposed to be the expert on people who weaned prematurely, because I came from that culture. The population on which this instructor based her conviction that all American women wanted dry-up pills was the group of NATO officers' wives who were stationed at the base nearby and used the hospital where she worked part time. There was a post in this thread about Latina women being more likely to supplement in the early days. In the same post, it was mentioned that the pediatricians ordered supplements to any baby whose weight on the second day of life was more than seven per cent below birthweight. What mother would NOT be supplementing in such a setting? The pediatricians need re-programming more than the mothers do. I really feel for the breastfeeding brigade in that unit, it's an uphill battle. As to culture, human beings are much more similar than they are different, and still there is a wondrous diversity amongst us. Celebrate the diversity, don't bother labeling it. You'll find your work more fun, too. Rachel Myr Kristiansand, Norway *********************************************** Archives: http://community.lsoft.com/archives/LACTNET.html To reach list owners: [log in to unmask] Mail all list management commands to: [log in to unmask] COMMANDS: 1. To temporarily stop your subscription write in the body of an email: set lactnet nomail 2. To start it again: set lactnet mail 3. To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet 4. To get a comprehensive list of rules and directions: get lactnet welcome