Well, I guess you can put me in the hot water right next to Jack on this   
one...

I used to work at a rural hospital where the majority of Pediatricians   
were from
Indian and Pakistan.  Although they said they were pro breastfeeding, in   
reality
they did everything  they could to undermine it.  In one specific   
example, one physician told a mother that her breastmilk  was poisonous   
and that her baby would be harmed if she put him to breast (an L.P.N.   
witnessed this).  I was so
frustrated that one day I ran into one of the physician's wives, and I   
asked her why he was so against breastfeeding.  She told me that it was   
cultural, and that in their home area mothers were considered "dirty"   
 for 6 months after birth and that the grandmothers actually came to care   
for the babies until they were 6 months old.  Therefore, the mother   
couldn't breastfeed.
 Of course, I could only take this second hand account as a reason, but
It was reinforced by a patient from India we had not long after that   
whose mother flew half way around the world to come.  While they were in   
the hospital, the
Grandmother did all of the infant care, and the only time the mother   
would take her baby was when the grandmother was present.
 Any LACTNETTERS  out there from India who could comment on this?
     Thanks! Kathy IBCLC, Wash.D.C.