I've read all of your comments, and I have said many of these things to many mothers over time.

This mother, in particular, was not saying she was afraid of depriving her other child or her husband of their rightful love and affection..  She was saying she did not want to develop the same attachment with the second child.  She felt her first, as much as she loved him, and loved the breastfeeding (for 8 months), was far too dependent on her.  She felt the breastfeeding was the reason, and she did not want to develop a second overly-dependent child.  She felt that due to the breastfeeding, she had been far too hovery and overprotective a mother, and did not want to repeat the mistake.

I did talk to her about the prolactin protectiveness.  Also pointed out that almost by virtue of the situation of the 2d child, that is with a first child demanding much of her time, and still having a household and husband as well to take care of, she would not have as much time to develop such an "overprotective" mode.  Also, that being a second time mom, she might find she was much more relaxed about many of the things she took so seriously with the first -- she was now a more experienced mom.

But I think this mom had many issues that needed to be resolved, beyond the breastfeeding one itself.  I feel that if she had a caregiver she felt close to during her prenatal visits, and if she had more time with that person, and if that person asked about her previous breastfeeding experiences, much of this could have been dealt  with before the baby was born.  Maybe with the same result, in the end, though I doubt it.  But at least it wouldn't be   because everyone else was ignorant of the problem until the very last minute, by which time mom's mind was pretty well made up.

Sincerely,  Chanita, San Francisco