Judy writes:

>My 84 year old neighbor gave birth to two daughters while her husband was
>employed as a career Navy chaplain here in the US.  She was not young when
>they married and then had their two girls. 
>
>She told me that it was insisted in that time frame (early 1950's) that all
>new mothers start breastfeeding at those two military hospitals.  And most
>succeeded, she said.


My mother - 81 - also gave birth in the early 50s (in the UK, though) 
and she and her contemporaries tell me breastfeeding was assumed, and 
it was insisted upon.

Interesting that  Judy's mother says babies were kept with the 
mothers. I think this is crucial.

With my mother, what was also insisted upon was babies in the nursery 
at night and in the day, feeding no more often than four-hourly 
(babies were brought to mothers at designated times - every baby was 
brought at the same time),  formula top ups for any baby that didn't 
settle immediately after the designated so-many-minutes per side and 
who cried between feeds.

They were in hospital for about 2 weeks - plenty of time to totally 
mess someone's breastfeeding experience up with those rules. My 
mother had raging mastitis with 2 of us and stopped breastfeeding 
very quickly. She tried again with number 3, still following the same 
crazy rules, and this time 'ran out of milk'. 4th time (1960s) she 
didn't try at all.

These experiences were absolutely typical for the time - insisting on 
breastfeeding, but with institutional practices that undermined it 
right from the start.

This is what bothers me about campaigns to persuade/encourage/teach 
mothers about the benefits of breastfeeding. Without the structures 
in place to make it work, mothers are still at the mercy of outdated 
knowledge.

We have mothers and babies together all the time in UK maternity 
hospitals, and no one insists on 4 hourly feeds any more, but there 
are plenty of people who should know better telling mothers to 
schedule from the start and to limit time at the breast, and giving 
top ups of formula right from the start for babies who don't conform 
to this regime.

Heather Welford Neil
NCT bfc,  tutor, UK

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