Elisheva's interesting post includes:

>
>
>But it is clear that some proportion of these ancient women saw it a) as a
>relief from obligation NOT to bf their children  AND b) as an economic issue
>-- even before the advent of Playtex and Enfamil.
>
>So I agree with Nicole that it's important in our own day not to simplify low
>bf rates as being EXCLUSIVELY about corporate distortion (even though
>obviously that is a huge factor).  This speaks to Mimi's point, too, that
>it's not as if Black moms will wake up to breastfeeding just because a bunch
>of strangers come around suggesting it in a video with faces of color in it.
>People want a lot of contradictory things in this life, and for us to treat
>the reasons NOT to bf as trivial is not only patronizing, it is also
>ineffective bf advocacy.


Absolutely.

Not breastfeeding (and I have said this before) is very, very
complex.  It *is* an economic issue, but it is also a gender and
racial issue. It's intensely poiltical.

Not breastfeeding can be a way of asserting independence in a life
where choices are few and economic autonomy is precarious.

It is often observed (in the UK, anyway) that the very poorest
mothers will manage to find the money (often by going into debt) to
buy lovely clothes and prams for their new babies. They may not have
a car or even a telephone or a washing machine (this is the case with
the poorest families in the UK - many don't have a phone as they
don't pay the bills - remember local calls are not free in the UK) .
I mean, I think a phone is an absolute essential for a family - I'd
have a phone before I bought a pram!

But in poor families the baby is provided for. The new baby is a
stake in the future, a piece of hope, worth spending money on. No one
will criticise the mother for spending money on her baby...and that
includes spending money on formula.

It may be difficult to sustain this 'investment' in the baby....but
many babies do at least start life with an excess of material and
consumer items, often ones which are useless, like huge soft toys.
That's what our society values, and if you're poor, you want your
baby to have 'the best'.

This is not the only reason or even the underlying reason. But I
think it is part of the picture.

Not breastfeeding has many advantages for poor families, in being a
legitmate way to spend money, and in being a consumer act (back to
economics again).

Heather Welford Neil
NCT bfc Newcastle upon Tyne UK

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