> I believe there are only 2 reasons (or excuses) why a mother doesn't =
> breastfeed: IGNORANCE and/or SELFISHNESS.  Are there others?

Interesting to invest the mother, an individual women, with the sole agency
and decision making ability in this situation.  A bit like some medieval
theories of disease which attributed the sick person with moral
characteristics that invited the illness.  In more modern times we have
learned to take a somewhat more epidemiologicial view of disease -- how is
it located in populations and how spread?  What factors is it associated
with (eg in this instance, aggressive promotion of alternatives,
sexualisation of the breast, certain employment conditions, being totally
unprepared for how intesely embodied an experience it can be, etc etc.) ?
And so on.

Of course I find the idea a bit counter-intuititve because two of the main
reasons I breastfed my children were that I was ignorant -- ignorant that it
was going to be so life-changing and challenging on so many levels, ignorant
that it would create a bond with my children which means that they are still
inconveniently fond of their mother and desirous of spending time with me so
that I don't always get on with all my tasks as a worker and housewife --
and selfish -- too selfish to conform with capitalist expectations to get
out of the house and earn money instead of staying at home and enjoying
slobbing around with the kids, too selfish to spare members of the public
the affront of seeing my body parts hanging out as I fed by babies, and too
selfish to contribute to the economy by buying lots of formula, bottles,
teats and colic remedies.

Magda Sachs
Breastfeeding Supporter, BfN, UK

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