The problem I have with any video for Third World women that suggests they
not touch their breasts is that . . . . . . . . lots of women in Mali (my
only real Third World experience) have 3-4 foot long breasts.  Yes, you
read that right.  If they don't hold up the end of the breast and place the
nipple in the baby's mouth, then they're going to have to have the baby out
at the very end of their laps, or even on a chair, and do some pretty
bizarre manipulating of the baby.  I've seen toddlers standing *behind*
their mothers, nursing, with the breast either thrown over the mother's
shoulder, or pulled around the side underneath her arm.  I've seen a child
standing several feet away from the mother, holding the breast and nursing.

A much more logical recommendation, if they are worried about breast
contamination, is to have the mother wash her hands with soap and water
often.  Not a bad recommendation for all mothers, everywhere, under all
circumstances.  But babies in Third World countries are going to come into
contact with all sorts of contamination from many different sources.  I
would not particularly worry about their mother's hands on their mother's
breasts, if I ran the world.


----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Katherine A. Dettwyler, Ph.D.                         email:
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Anthropology Department                               phone: (409) 845-5256
Texas A&M University                                    fax: (409) 845-4070
College Station, TX  77843-4352
http://www.prairienet.org/laleche/dettwyler.html

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