Cathy B. says:
"But on the other hand, the women I've worked with from China (even very
rural China) and especially Korea, where I think of the culture being much
more "traditional", are among the most clueless I have ever known when it
comes to BFing or indeed any aspect of care of a newborn. They have been
raised with all knowledge of childbirth and breastfeeding and baby care
being kept far from them. They often find it embarassing to discuss BFing at
all. And even women who have given birth to a previous child in their home
countries are quite without a clue what to do with their babies born here.
It appears to me that for many of these women, anything pertaining to this
whole realm is somehow not-nice, and that "respectable" young women are
sheltered from such knowledge - even when they have had their own babies."

I concur and, despite the fact that women may grow up around breastfeeding
women, there may be a tacit expectation that when she gives birth the new mom
will be cared for by others more experienced until she "gets it."

Raphael did not say her research on doulas applied only to westernized cultures.
She explicitly stated that, it was from traditional societies (278 of them if i
remember correctly)that she got the idea of a doula.

Just knowing how to breastfeed is not enough. Having the support and care one
needs is essential.

I am always interested in the Asian families who believe there should be no
breastfeeding til the milk is in. How could they survive as a population? When I
was at a Birthing conference in New York last year with Arms, Davis-Floyd, Odent
etc. I found the answer to this dilemna. The midwives/ doulas in these places
have ways of bringing milk in. Teas....breast wraps....herbs....

Now when someone comes from another place and tells me they are not going to
feed until the milk is in, I ask them "Do you have access to traditional
knowledge about how to do this?" In other words did they bring a granny midwife
with them? If not, I say "well, this is all we know here in the US....."


All in all, I'm not sure I buy it that breastfeeding comes off without a hitch
in a vacuum void of social support and care just because the mom grew up around
other breastfeeders. My educated guess is: there is all kinds of knowledge that
gets handed down by the midwives/ doulas in those places.

Susan Keith-Hergert RN, MS, CPN, IBCLC

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