Of course there was breastfeeding in the 70's, but I think the comment was
made for two reasons: breastfeeding in the 70's was still pretty rare, and
it was even more rarely exclusive. My two eldest children were born in 1977
and 1978. The 1977 baby was the only breastfed baby in the hospital nursery
at the time. The nurses actively tried to discourage me from breastfeeding
(telling me "you don't want to do THAT"). Hospital policy was that babies
got nothing for the first 24 hours, then could go to the breast for 2
minutes on each side every 4 hours, with each feeding at the breast followed
up with a bottle of sugar water. The next day, you got 4 minutes on a side.
If the baby lost "too much" weight or developed jaundice (and LOTS of them
did) formula supplementation began promptly. I did not follow those rules,
but it was a huge battle. When I had my daughter in 78, I got out of the
hospital after a few hours, despite warnings by a steady stream of medical
personnel. Hospital policies at that time were only just beginning to
change. And most people started solid foods by six weeks at the latest; many
were even earlier than that.

So while I do know some people my age who breastfed their babies, few were
breastfed for very long or were breastfed exclusively. And we know that
makes a difference in outcomes.

Teresa Pitman
Guelph, Ontario

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