Heather wrote:
>After the war,  NDM continued to be manufactured, and free clinic care for mothers and babies was an important part of the new National Health Service.  You got your free dried milk (and orange juice) at
the clinic, and once the 'free formula' genie is out of the bottle, it
becomes very hard to get it back in again.  Commercially-packaged
formula took over in the early 60s, still free/low cost to mothers who
'needed' it, but of course the state had set the scene 20 years
before.<

There is another component to this too.

Once artificial feeding had become the societal norm, medical staff
were no longer educated about he biological norm, breastfeeding.

When I was born, after WW2, the standard of care was to keep mothers
in hospital for 10 days after the birth. My own mother told me that
babies were brought out of the nursery to be fed every four hours,
wrapped up tightly like burritos. She was severely reprimanded by the
ward sister when she dared to unwrap me to count my toes. Mothers were
instructed to nurse for five (and later, ten) minutes on each side and
then top up with a bottle. Babies were not brought out for feedings at
night at all. Not surprisingly, by the time she went home her doctor
told her that she did not have enough milk.

The same scenario followed when my sister was born three and a half
years later. I remember not being allowed to go into the room at home
when my mother was trying to nurse her. Shortly afterwards, she was
also put into National Dried Milk  - I remember the big blue
canisters! I also remember how my sister screamed for hours,
especially at night, and the multiple ear infections we both suffered.
Penicillin was still in short supply in England at that time, and so
my sister suffered a  permanent hearing loss.

Of course nobody realised at that time that these were reactions to
what and how we were being fed. Even when my own children were born, I
nursed them because it felt more *natural* rather than for health
benefits. I feel so lucky to have been witness to the resurgence of
breastfeeding and the vast amount of research that has gone into the
amazing properties of human milk. Of course we still have a long way
to go, but at least we have made a start.

I am also, however, very sad that it is becoming more about the milk
than the actual breastfeeding. Breastfeeding is much more than a way
of feeding our children. It is a relationship. It is a mothering tool.
 We lose that aspect at our peril.

Norma Ritter. IBCLC, RLC
www.NormaRitter.com

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