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Date: | Tue, 23 Jan 2007 08:03:43 -0800 |
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With all due respect, there are a few key differences between breastfeeding
and putting baby on back or using a carseat:
* We don't need workplace accommodations to put baby on back
* We don't have to spend 10-20+ minutes putting baby in carseat
a dozen or more times a day
* The burden of putting baby on back doesn't lie solely w/mom
* There is no social stigma attached to using a carseat;
moms aren't kicked out of places for putting baby on back
"indiscreetly"
For many mothers, breastfeeding is so much more complicated and demanding
than using a carseat or putting baby on back. Not just the physical act of
breastfeeding, but all the other cultural issues that swirl around the
choice to breastfeed in a place that fetishizes breasts, demands ceaseless
productivity from workers, and gives little support or credit to mothers.
I am not suggesting that we should worry about making mothers "feel guilty,"
but that we should all recognize that their objections to breastfeeding may
not stem from selfishness or lack of concern about their baby's well being.
Some may not fully understand themselves or be able to tell the lactation
specialist (a stranger, whom mom may assume is judging her for her choices)
why she is reluctant to breastfeed. As people who encounter mothers when
they are at their most emotionally vulnerable, to help them with making a
choice that is far more charged than making the choice to use a carseat, it
is important to see the whole person, not just "the mother who doesn't care
about the risks of not breastfeeding."
Chris Musser
Mom's Milk Anywhere
Portland, Oregon
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