Rachel,
Animal studies into mothering behaviors induced by prolactin and
oxytocin...
The death rate from all causes during the first year of life
breastfeeding vs not breastfeeding- not all the difference is due to
reduction in infection...
Abandonment rates of breastfeeders versus non breastfeeders ie
kangaroo care...
Perhaps you would find it interesting to look specifically at Sara
Beck Fein's work comparing breastfeeders, partial breastfeeders, and
exclusive formula feeders and their rates of using a microwave to
oven to warm EBM and ABM...there was a dose dependent response
between the amount of breastfeeding and the mother's perception of
the relative risk involved...that is the more a mother was
breastfeeeding the more likely she was to prioritize infant safety
above parental convenience...esophageal burns are a significant cause
of injuries in infants...
Similar observations have been made on car seat usage although most
people attribute this difference to the chicken rather than the
egg...that is most people believe *better* mothers chose to
breastfeed and that is why they are more likely to exhibit other
beneficial behaviors, but Sara Beck Fein's work argues against this
overly simplistic interpretation because in her study both exclusive
and partial breastfeeders initiated breastfeeding (those both would
fall into the *better* at the outset category) but the amount of
breastfeeding affected their feelings and opinions and actions...
I am not seeking to antagonize any and every woman who has mothered
her children without lactation, some of the women dearest in the
world to me did not breastfeed. Let me turn the question around...if
asserting that one of the benefits of breastfeeding is neurochemical
"normalcy" for motherhood is antagonism, then why isn't asserting
lactation as "normalcy" for infant feeding likewise antagonistic?
The problem you are having is that you view a discussion of the
physical benefits to the baby as out of the realm of morality,
whereas you view a discussion of the physical benefits to the mother
in terms of mothering behaviors as in the realm of morality which for
some reason poses a stumbling block for you.
Since I view both aspects of breastfeeding through the lens of what
is justice for the child and good for the mother herself, and the
relationship between them, I don't see either set of arguments as
antagonistic, in fact I see them as charitable because I don't want
to see any mother-baby pair deprived of the breastfeeding
relationship out of ignorance of the full ramifications of choosing
not to breastfeed...
One of the most powerful arguments that lactation makes every woman
the best mother she can be is the candid admissions of mothers who
bottlefed early children but went on to nurse later children- these
happen in LLL meetings all the time...they are very sad that they
missed out on the special feelings of bondedness they feel while
breastfeeeding and they discuss how breastfeeding changes everything
from where the baby's sleeps to how much mother-baby separation there
is, to how they feel about the separation...as breastfeeding mothers
they are much more likely to experience mother-baby separation as
stressful whereas when they were bottlefeeding they experienced
mother-baby separation as a welcome respite...
I have no doubt that there is a small subset of mothers who are not
better/happier mothers in the lactation state...so when I said "every
mother" I wasn't as precise as I should have been...but I believe
there is a neurochemical origin for this...low dopamine levels can
cause feelings of depression and lactation further depresses dopamine
levels...for the mother who has low dopamine prior to lactation
perhaps lactation increases her risk of postpartum depression even
though this is not true for most mothers- who are likely to receive a
protective effect against postpartum depression by lactation...
Saying that lactation helps most every mother be the best mother she
can be, is not at all like saying every mother who ever bottlefed was
a *bad* mother...that would be like saying every man afflicted with
impotence was a bad husband...even though both acts are the central
acts which uniquely bond the couples they are not the only acts that
bond the couples...what I am saying is that the acts are the best
acts for bonding because they have a neurochemical effect on the
participants that are uniquely able to illicit other caretaking
behaviors...
I have found that discussions of breastfeeding do not antagonize
women who bottlefed in an era when the superiority of breastfeeding
was not widely known. These women do not feel guilt over not
breastfeeding although they may express sadness or anger. The only
people who seem antagonized are today's apologists for bottlefeeding,
and I am not going to circumscribe the discussion of breastfeeding
around their feelings because they don't want any discussion of the
superiority breastfeeding at all...
If you look into the history of wet nursing you will discover that
opponents of wet nursing opposed it on the grounds that mothers who
did not nurse their infants were more likely to be indifferent toward
their children than women who did nurse their own infants. This was
not to say every mother who nursed was a perfect mother and every
mother who used a wet nurse was a bad mother, it was just that there
was more risk of detachment.
If one takes the position that it antagonistic to discuss the
differences in mothering behaviors between breastfeeders and non-
breastfeeders than one wouldn't even consider conducting a well
designed study to illucidate the differences...but we can't be afraid
of the truth running counter to our philosphy- we have to be willing
to incorporate new information and adapt our philosophy to it...
If furhter studies prove there is no difference in mothering
behaviors between populations of breastfeeders and non-breastfeeders
there will still be plenty of reasons to promote breastfeeding, but
how likely is that?
Jen O'Quinn IBCLC
Rachel Myr wrote:
Jennifer, you cite an assertion that the neurochemistry of lactation
makes
every mother a better mother than she otherwise would be. Do you
have any
references for that?
To me, this sounds like an easy way to antagonize any woman who has
mothered
her children without experiencing the neurochemical changes induced by
lactation. I do feel that I was transformed as a person when I became a
mother, but I have no way of knowing how I would have been as a mother
without breastfeeding, because breastfeeding worked well for us and I
was
excellently supported before and throughout that period with my own
children, so I have no basis for comparison.
Both privately and in my work I have come across mothers who
breastfed but
did so rigidly, half-heartedly, out of a sense of duty rather than
enjoyment, and seemed very distant even with their babies at the
breast, and
I find it hard to believe that their children came out ahead compared
to the
children I know who were artificially fed by mothers who respected
and loved
them enough to walk over hot coals for them, and who would likely
have done
just that if it could have helped them bring in a full milk supply or
recover from the serious illnesses that made it truly impossible for
them to
breastfeed. Maybe some of the aforementioned breastfeeding mothers
would
have been even more distant if they didn't breastfeed, but I don't know
that.
So I would be reluctant to use such an approach in trying to convince
someone to breastfeed. I'd be interested to see what the research
says, but
I can't picture how I would incorporate it into my own messages to
mothers -
at least not to mothers who aren't breastfeeding.
Rachel Myr
Kristiansand, Norway
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