K. Jean Cotterman,
Here is the Catholic Churchs views.
Belinda Bohnert
Nursing Matters Breastpump Sales & Rental
Encouragement, Information & Support
Indianapolis Indiana
http://www.ewtn.com/library/PAPALDOC/JP2FEED.TXT
>>> ADDRESS OF JOHN PAUL II ON BREASTFEEDING
On Friday, May 12, 1995, the Holy Father met the participants in a
study session on breast-feeding, science and society organized by the
Pontifical Academy of Sciences and The Royal Society [of Great
Britain].
Your Eminences,
Your Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
1. As always, it is a great pleasure to meet the distinguished
participants in <the study sessions organized by the Pontifical
Academy of Sciences>, and I thank Bishop James McHugh for his kind
words of introduction. Today I am especially happy to extend my
appreciation to <The Royal Society>, which has co-sponsored this
significant meeting.
True to its purpose and statutes, the Pontifical Academy of Sciences
addresses itself to a wide range of scientific, social and ethical
issues which have a bearing on the Church's service to the human
family, a service which springs from the fundamental Gospel
commandment of love. The Academy plays a resourceful role in helping
the Church, in particular the Holy See, to fulfill this task of
service with the benefit of the most expert scientific knowledge and
insights. Your studies and inquires contribute to the Church's
supreme effort to journey hand in hand with humanity on its path
through temporal realities towards man's great and inexorable
transcendent destiny.
2. On this occasion you have been invited to share your expertise on
the specific subject of: "<Breast-feeding: science and society>", as
a part of the overall study which the Academy is pursuing since 1990
on Population and Resources. As scientists you direct your inquiry
towards a better understanding of the advantages of breast-feeding
for the infant and for the mother. As your Working Group can confirm,
in normal circumstances these include two major benefits to the
child: protection against disease and proper nourishment. Moreover,
in addition to these immunological and nutritional effects, this
natural way of feeding can create a bond of love and security between
mother and child, and enable the child to assert its presence as a
person through interaction with the mother.
All of this is obviously a matter of immediate concern to countless
women and children, and something which clearly has general
importance for every society, rich or poor. One hopes that your
studies will serve to <heighten public awareness of how much this
natural activity benefits the child and helps to create the closeness
and maternal bonding> so necessary for healthy child development. So
human and natural is this bond that the Psalms use the image of the
infant at its mother's breast as a picture of God's care for man (cf.
Ps 22:9). So vital is this interaction between mother and child that
my predecessor Pope Pius XII urged Catholic mothers, if at all
possible, to nourish their children themselves (cf. <Allocution to
Mothers>, 26 October 1941). From various perspectives therefore the
theme is of interest to the Church, called as she is to concern
herself with the sanctity of life and of the family.
3. Worldwide surveys indicate that <two thirds of mothers still
breast-feed>, at least to some extent. But statistics also show that
there has been a fall in the number of women who nourish their
infants in this way, not only in developed countries where the
practice almost has to be reinstituted, but also increasingly in
developing countries. This decline is traced to a combination of
social factors such as urbanization and the increasing demands placed
on women, to healthcare policies and practices, and to marketing
strategies for alternate forms of nourishment.
Yet the overwhelming body of research is in favor of natural feeding
rather than its substitutes. Responsible international agencies are
calling on governments to ensure that women are enabled to
breast-feed their children for four to six months from birth and to
continue this practice, supplemented by other appropriate foods, up
to the second
year of life or beyond (cf. UNICEF< Children and Development in the
l990s> on the occasion of the World Summit for Children, New York,
29-30 September 1990). Your meeting therefore intends to illustrate
the scientific bases for encouraging social policies and employment
conditions which allow mothers to do this.
In practical terms, what we are saying is that <mothers need time,
information and support>. So much is expected of women in many
societies that time to devote to breast-feeding and early care is not
always available. Unlike other modes of feeding, no one can
substitute for the mother in this natural activity. Likewise, women
have a right to be informed truthfully about the advantages of this
practice, as also about the difficulties involved in some cases.
Health-care professionals too should be encouraged and properly
trained to help women in these matters.
4. In the recent Encyclical <Evangelium vitae> I wrote that: "<A
family policy must be the basis and driving force of all social
policies>... It is also necessary to rethink labor, urban,
residential and social service policies so as to harmonize working
schedules with time available for the family, so that it becomes
effectively possible to take care of children and the elderly" (n.
90).
Is this a vague utopia, or is it the obligatory path to the genuine
well-being of society? Even this brief reflection on the very
individual and private act of a mother feeding her infant can lead us
to a deep and far-ranging critical rethinking of certain social and
economic presuppositions, the negative human and moral consequences
of which are becoming more and more difficult to ignore. Certainly,
<a radical re-examination of many aspects of prevailing
socio-economic patterns of work, economic competitiveness and lack of
attention to the needs of the family is urgently necessary.>
5. I am therefore very grateful to all of you for offering your time
and co-operation to this meeting co-sponsored by the Pontifical
Academy of Sciences and The Royal Society. I look forward to the
synthesis and report of your findings so that this information may be
widely circulated to our Church agencies and interested institutions
throughout the world. I pray for the success of your research and for
your own personal well-being. May God's blessings of strength, joy
and peace be with each one of you and the members of your families.
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