Like many of you, I have incredible discussions inside my head before approaching pregnant relatives. I sometimes feel like they can *see me coming* and I certainly don't want to put them off breastfeeding by being too strident. A couple of years ago my niece became pregnant, and my dilemma was even more nerve-racking because she happens to be a physician. Should I? Shouldn't I? Finally, I sent her a bunch of information together with a little note encouraging her to call me if she had any questions. It paid off! Despite having to go back to work when Ilan was three months old, she is now nursing a toddler. Daddy stayed home to take care of the baby, feeding him her pumped milk and bringing him to the office to nurse when she was on-call. As she said to me on the phone, *Who would have thought it? I was only going to nurse for a couple of months and then switch to formula!* Ruth is now the person all the office staff go to when they have nursing questions, and she has recently become a breastfeeding activist, as you can see from the letter (below) that she just wrote to the Richmond Times Dispatch. Take a chance! Talk to a relative! hugs from Norma Norma Ritter [log in to unmask] >September 1, 2001 Dear Editor, Richmond Times Dispatch, As a physician and breastfeeding mother of a 17 month old toddler, (and as a member of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts), I feel I must respond to the letter from Patty Doyle published on Saturday, September 1, 2001 regarding her negative views toward breastfeeding. Breastfeeding is natural and is very important to the well-being of both child and mother. It conveys innumerable benefits-nutritional, psychological and economic. Our society should promote breastfeeding rather than discourage it. I am disappointed that anyone, let alone a woman, would express such negativity about breastfeeding in public. The Policy Statement of the American Academy of Pediatrics (as published in the Journal Pediatrics, Vol. 100, No.6, Dec. 97, pp 1035-1039) reads “exclusive breastfeeding is ideal nutrition and sufficient to support optimial growth and development for approximately the first six months after birth. . . it is recommended that breastfeeding continue for at least 12 months, and thereafter for as long as mutually desired.” Thus, extended breast-feeding is not strange and is certainly not “appalling.” Most often when a woman breastfeeds in public there is no exposure of the breast to the public. Often others are actually unaware that a child being held in the mother’s lap is nursing. Furthermore, Ms. Doyle states that the public wants to view art , not breastfeeding. I do not see how the presence of a breastfeeding mother and child would interfere with that. If Ms. Doyle is embarrassed by what I think is the beautiful image of a breastfeeding mother and child, then how does she deal with all the nudity presented in art. Finally, Ms. Doyle would ask breastfeeding mothers to go to the lounge or confine themselves to home. The Victorian age of confinement for expectant and new mothers ended many years ago, and I would ask Ms. Doyle if she would like to take her meals in the bathroom. As a final note, breast-feeding is legal in all public areas in the United States. Many states have passed additional legislation supporting breastfeeding. And as Don Dale of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts stated, in a letter responding to my inquiry about this matter,” the museum’s policy , in keeping with state law, allows breastfeeding in all public spaces.” Ruth Felsen, MD Surgical Associates of Richmond 1401 Johnston Willis Drive, Suite 1100 Richmond, VA 23235 804-560-5960 _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp *********************************************** The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html