Yesterday I was working with Cathy Liles on something at her office, and a
woman came in for breastfeeding help (Cathy is our local IBCLC).  The woman
has been pumping and giving EBM in a bottle for two weeks, now is trying to
put baby to breast.  I don't know the background details.  I was
eavesdropping from another room and heard the mother say "My husband says
since she's getting all the nutritional benefit of my breast milk from the
bottle, why should I try to get her to the breast directly.  He thinks we
should just continue to pump and use the bottle.  Does it make any
difference?"

Of course, Cathy, who has been an LLLL for many years and is wonderfully
patient, astute, and calm, helped the mother gently and politely.  I managed
to hold my tongue, but I really *wanted* to run in there and say "Tell your
husband that sex is ONLY for procreation, and therefore there will be no sex
until you decide to have another child.  And even then, you're going to
insist that he get the semen out by himself and then give it to you in a
container, and you'll use a turkey baster to inseminate yourself.  That way,
no one will have to actually put one part of their body inside another
person's body.  After all, the end result is the same, you'll get pregnant.
And you won't have to *bother* with all that physical contact and intimacy."

This woman's problem was not breastfeeding-related, it was husband-related.

Now you all know one of the reasons why I would never be successful as
either an LLLL or an LC!
Katherine A. Dettwyler, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Department of Anthropology and Nutrition
Texas A&M University
Co-editor of "Breastfeeding: Biocultural Perspectives"