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

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

To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail
To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest)
To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet
All commands go to [log in to unmask]

The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(R)
mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html