Morgan mentioned that some African cultures believe woman cannot have
 sex whilst lactating.  The reason for this is the belief that semen will
find it's way into the milk.  This belief seems to be disappearing where I
work and I seldom hear it now.  A common belief in some communities here is
that if a baby burps on the breast, the milk in that breast will be bad.
Some cases of mastitis are related to this conviction.

The giving of water is supposed to help initiate the passing of stool in a
new baby.  This seems to be a relatively "new" custom.  Health professionals
used to insist that babies needed bottles of water.  They eventually
convinced traditionally breastfeeding communities that  this was so and now
the belief is that this is necessary for baby's tummy.

Jean Ridler  RN  RM  IBCLC
South Africa   [log in to unmask]

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