In a message dated 1/12/1 1:00:34 PM, [log in to unmask] writes:

<< given the right supports,
teen moms can and will breastfeed and develop wonderful parenting skills
(the kind that make us older moms stand back and say, "wow")
Jo-Anne, whose mother wasn't much older than those moms when she started
a long and beautiful mothering career. >>

Jo-Anne,
This is one my real annoyances with the whole teen pregnancy debate. There
was a time when "teen pregnancy" as a societal burden did not exist b/c it
was part of normal experience. The fact is that girls are biologically ready
to be mothers long before we as a society (or as their individual parents)
wish them to be mothers. (And of course, the same is true of boys ability to
be fathers-biologically speaking). We have created a period we call
adolescence and left many children confused with what to do with it. I think
it helps to be very clear and honest about this. An adolescence such as
Western children experience is certainly not a part of all cultures nor does
it go back very far historicaly here either. (Kathy D would know much more
about this, I am certain. )
    But, my point is that our whole approach to teen mothers can have an
enormous impact on their success with bf and as mothers. In a society in
which being a mother at 16 or 17 is normal, that mother would be expected to
parent just as well as anyone else. In a society where it is not normal, our
expectations can be very different. In the peer counseling program I
coordinated, about 25% of our clents were teen moms (so over 250 women in 4
years) and the factors defining their success had an enormous amount to do
with finding someone (usually the peer counselor or a group of other mothers)
who expected them to be successful.
    Is this really very different from the success of adult women in our
culture? There has become an expectation that bf doesn't work out for most
women and so it doesn't. I am by no means saying that I believe it is
preferable or desirable in any way, in Western society, for teens to become
parents (mothers or fathers). I am simply saying we have changed the rules in
a way that is inconsistent with our biology and we don't want to admit it.
Abiding by these new rules, however, depends upon their payoff. If there is
no perceived payoff in allowing oneself this period of time to learn and have
the experiences our present culture desires of us, why do it?
    I have found that preventing a second pregnancy is far more likely in our
work w/ teen mothers for this reason. If they can become aware of the nature
of the society in which they *could* participate and of its requirements, and
if they can believe its promise is for them *and* their own babies, then they
can shift their priorities. I have seen nothing impact this potential more
profoundly than establishing a sustained (great term!) bf relationship
between these moms and their babies. This is one of the most profound ways in
which I have seen bf serve society.
Jennifer Tow, IBCLC, CT, USA

             ***********************************************
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