I was brought up short about the assumption I awlasy had that these words
are synonymously used when I began traveling outside North America. In most
countries, nursing refers to professional nurses and what they do
(regardless of who their patients are).

In some places (Australia), one nurses a child when a male (or female)
cares for the child, as on a plane.  "If you are nursing a child, be sure
to put your mask on first and then the child's."  When I first heard this
without looking at the picture, I thought, "How nice that the airline would
recongize breastfeeding!" Boy, was I surprised when I saw the picture and
it showed a 3 yr old on a Dad's lap--not breastfeeding, either!.

Breastfeeding refers to just that. Sometimes "feeding" is used hwen it is
clear that the baby is suckling the breast.

I agree with Chele Marmet that breastfeeding needs to come out of the
linguistic/cultural closet. Byh using that weord, we force people
(including ourselves) to recognize the adult function of the breast as an
organ.  I belive that is important and now use "nursing" far less
frequently than I used to. It does not seem to bother people as much as I
was bothered by it when first I began to use that term.



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 %% "We are all faced with a series of great opportunities      %%
 %% brilliantly disguised as impossible situations."            %%
 %% definition of a lactation consulting service.               %%
 %% Kathleen G. Auerbach,PhD, IBCLC - [log in to unmask]          %%
 %% Homewood, Illinois USA                                      %%

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