In a message dated 10/19/98 7:22:30 AM Central Daylight Time, Heather writes:

<< n the West, validation of mothering and bf is a package deal - you can't
 have one without the other. >>

Thanks for your reply.  I guess this is the essence of my concern -
increasingly it seems that the emphasis is on breastmilk feeding which can be
done with very little mothering.  More and more women are going back to work
while their children are very young; and in this area even the women who stay
at home are doing a lot of "work" (shopping, decorating, Junior League,
political action, even breastfeeding advocacy) and placing their children in
some form of day care.  Many women even say that this is better for the babies
and toddlers - the child-care workers have more training, more patience, and
will make sure the child is "socialized."

Jan writes

<<Not only are we nowhere near the bf
initiation rate that the surgeon general called for for 1990, I see far more
problems and struggles with bf than I did back in 1985. >>

As breastfeeding becomes more and more "medicalized" I think that mothers will
want to turn to professionals (MDs, LCs, IBCLCs) for help; just as in birth
many women choose obstetricians over midwives.  They assume that the
professional can do anything the lay person can do and then so much more...LCs
will certainly have a role, as will peds, nurses etc..  But volunteers?  Why
bother with them when insurance covers professional help?  The  (fewer and
fewer) mothers who stay at home do find LLL meetings fun and encouraging, but
when mothers return to work and find those workplaces very supportive of
breastfeeding I don't think they'll take the time for meetings.  Aren't women-
only professional organizations dying out as co-ed associations take their
place?

Carla writes
<<n the utopia Elaine has faith in (must be a good week in the bible
belt) maybe an organization that exists solely to provide mother to
mother support for breastfeeding would not be needed>>

Mississippi is no where near breastfeeding Utopia (although our WIC program is
doing *great* things).   But breastfeeding advocacy has come a long way in 5
years and I do believe that in another fifteen it will be the norm.  When the
pendulum swings it swings fastest through the middle.  Look what has happened
with the tobacco industry (and drunk driving) in the last ten years.  People
will start to perceive the formula companies marketing as unethical (it
doesn't take a lactnut to think that Carnation commercials during Chicago
Hopeless are in bad taste - pun intended).  HCPs will get on the breastfeeding
advocacy train or be seen as "old fashioned."  The cumulative work of all you
wise women over the last four decades is not lost - it is a snowball that
keeps getting bigger.  In social change there seems to be a time when ideas
gain critical mass, I think we are near that time with breastfeeding (witness
the AAP statement).

I know that there are LLL list serves that could handle this discussion thread
- but I'm interested in the opinions of the rest of you.  When (yes, I'll
still say when :-)) the cultural barriers to breastfeeding are almost gone
what will the role of volunteers be?  Do you also see *mothering* through
breastfeeding as important - or does your job consist primarily of making sure
the baby gets breastmilk?  And what is your guess as to when Jan can open that
bookstore?  15 years? 30? more?  Am I the only one convinced that things are
getting better, faster?   (as far as bf is concerned, the mothering part is
more troubling than ever :-( )

Elaine Ziska
Jackson, MS (center of the state, 3 hours north of New Orleans and 3 hours
south of Memphis)