> The director told us
> all about the corporate guideline she has concerning breastfeeding and
> the handling of breastmilk and enthusiastically accepted our offer to
> hold sessions with breastfeeding moms and with pregnant moms to
> encourage exclusive breastfeeding.
>
>
Our breastfeeding promotion committee has done presentations on
breastfeeding to children and donated materials to the teachers and
administrators. Different day cares are very different in their approach
and in their clientele, and one was definitely breastfeeding friendly.
Several Group mothers have children who attend; all of these are very ap
in their approach, and all of the children are over 2.5.
In the breastfeeding-friendly / cultural change area, I keep being
reminded of a mother in our Group who has worked since her baby was 5
mos. old and her maternity leave ended. Her husband is a farmer and I
know the economic facts of their situation. She is far more ap than many
of our stay-at-home mothers and is still pumping for her 2.5 year old.
I think, though, that part of our challenge is making our society normal
again, and agree that, if things were normal, mothers would not have to
seek out day care for their children before the children themselves
would gain from the interaction with other children... pumps would never
be needed for mother-baby separation... human beings would not have to
work due to economic necessity... families would be supported by the
community...
Meanwhile, we can take baby steps by suggesting to the mothers that
there are some alternatives to outside employment, that they don't need
to buy a pump just because they are planning to breastfeed, that they
don't need to spend money on cribs and playpens, etc... all of those
things that go back to the roots of our beliefs, and are therefore
radical.
Jo-Anne

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