Mary Black writes:

'Technological fixes to a societal issue appear to be gathering force on
the corporate horizon. For example, has anyone heard more about the breast
pumping system you can plug into your worksite, or is that just a nasty
rumour from the US?? '

Whaaaaaat? Oh, no.

This is really worrying - as is the trend I see very clearly developing
here. Instead of applying better and more flexible *paid*
maternity/parental leave, so babies can be with their mothers for longer,
the corporate obligation to families is now met by 'allowing'' 'better' and
'easier' ways to express milk.  So there is no reason *not* to be back at
your work station  24 hours/2 weeks/6 weeks/2 months after your baby's
birth, and 'still' supply breast milk which keeps your baby healthier, and
therefore you are less likely to take time off work for a sick child....

Breastfeeding is not just breast milk feeding, EBM given in a bottle by
someone else. Of course that has health benefits - but since when was
breastfeeding *only* about health?

And also: if one of the health benefits of bf  is that the mother produces
tailor-made antibodies to the pathogens she and her baby meet, how can she
do this if her baby is in daycare and she is at work? The pathogens her
baby meets are going to be *different*. There *are* health issues involved
in separating mothers and babies in this way.

Heather Welford Neil
NCT bfc Newcastle upon Tyne