I lived for two years in what is now back to being called the Congo and spent about 18 years traveling much of the time to many West African countries.  So I am quite interested in Pamela Morrison's comment.  If a mom is carrying a baby in a sling, walking or sitting on a backless stool, she may very well the feed the baby in A biological nurturing position, but not THE biological nutrition as defined by Suzanne Colson.  

In many places i visited, there were no comfy cushioned chairs or beds with lots of pillows upon which to "lean back". Most homes had low stools with no back.  Mothers would sit on the stools and lean FORWARD at about a 15 tilt -- with their shoulders and upper back slightly back -- not the shoulders dropping forward with the curved upper back that I notice most women adopt in the United States.  It is more like the position that occurs naturally when you sit on an exercise ball to balance.  And it is much more comfortable than sitting up ramrod straight.  You really canNOT lean back comfortably without a chair back to rest against.  I tried it last night when we went out to dinner and were seated on a bench with no back because the window was behind the bench.  I found myself doing the 15 degree forward lean with a straight back after my back started hurting from leaning back without support.

I'm wondering if women in the rural areas of Africa -- who sit on low stools, pound grain (if they can afford it) or roots and vegetables with a giant mortar and pestle made out of solid wood and nearly as tall as I am,  sleep on mats on the ground or slightly elevated, carry large heavy bundles on their heads, and use squat latrines -- have better core strength then women in developing areas who may only use some of the muscles used for those activities on a much less frequent basis even if they do take exercise classes.

I've noticed that I can do squats -- even very low squats forever when everyone else including the instructors in my Martial Arts class complain that it is tiring. I've always attributed it to the squatting I did when I was traveling -- and continue to do routinely when I weigh babies. I think if you are accustomed to squatting for hours on end that you stomach muscles are more developed for holding that posture in ways that align your back.  

Certainly no one without some sort of injury leans back when they walk and feed their baby in a sling. 

I love Suzanne's Colson's work.  It was an elegant study.  Keep in mind that it was a very small sample size in one particular population that doesn't encompass all situations. There are many many ways to breastfeed comfortably and moms always seem to invent new and creative positions that work for them when faced with challenges.  The reason why I've never liked biological nurturing as a term is that it doesn't describe the posture and it implies that if you find a different position that is comfortable -- somehow it isn't biological.

And as for antigravity -- I too have used it to describe milk flowing against gravity. But it actually is USING GRAVITY to your advantage because you don't have to lift the baby.  Since this term is easily confused depending upon what you consider gravity is acting upon -- the milk or the baby -- I think it is a poor term to use. 

Best regards, 
Susan Burger

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