>
>But interestingly, despite what the nurses say, I have never had a *mother*
>tell me that she got the idea to use artificial milk from her own mother.


Here (North of England) grandmothers' influence can be very strong.

Mother tell me their mothers (or mothers-in-law) say 'if you were
botte feeding, I could take the baby for a night and give you a
break'....or 'are you sure he doesn't need a top-up?'....or 'don't
make it hard for yourself - just give him the bottle' and so on. I
have spoken to many women who feel this as intense pressure, and some
who have given in to it.

A local study done about 12 years ago found that the more often a
mother saw her own mother, the less likely she was to breastfeed.
This is actually a marker for class, as well....older, middle class
mothers are more likely to bf, *and* more likely to live further away
from their mothers, and so see them less.

So it's a double whammy. The younger, working class mothers have
mothers who probably bottle fed, and they see their mothers very
often....in the study, daily visits to and from the mother's mother
were very common.

Heather Welford Neil
NCT bfc Newcastle upon Tyne UK

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