June asks whether any of us have this problem which she notes with 'Asian' women.
First, Asia is big, and includes countries from Turkey to North Korea, including India, Pakistan, several former Soviet republics, China, and other Far- and SE Asian countries, spanning numerous religions, language groups and stages of industrialization.   There is no one feature common to the cultures in all these countries though as far as I know it is still women who give birth to the babies everywhere.

That said, this is a problem I have in my hospital with women of all cultural backgrounds including Norwegian, and several of our educated staff members in our Baby-Friendly certified unit, from pediatricians right up to maternity care aides, including midwives, seem to have a touch of it as well.  Unless a woman is in pain with glossy, rock hard breasts on day four, she may be perceived to have 'no' milk or 'not enough' milk, especially if she has a baby who is obligingly feeding nearly continuously.  (Don't even get me started, I know.)  In my experience British and US women are among the most difficult to teach 'new' ideas, and they are the ones I can most easily communicate with both linguistically and culturally!

When I can convince 100% of native Norwegian women (and the health professionals caring for them) that term babies will almost ALWAYS get their needs met through unlimited, frequent, effective suckling at mother's breast from birth on, I will turn my attention to those groups I need an interpreter to speak with.  I think I need to sweep in front of my own doorstep first :-)

Actually, it's easier to tell new immigrant women this, because they are less likely to dare to protest at an authoritarian model of maternity care and I can just say through the interpreter 'This is how we do it in Norway, and it's why our outcomes are so good' - if they could chat with the misguided Norwegian women who insist on supplementing before their milk 'arrives', they would be less likely to comply with my dictatorial style.  Harumph.

Cheers
Rachel Myr
Kristiansand, Norway

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