Style Weekly, Ottawa Citizen, March 9 2002

First page - full page colour photo of statue with nursing baby.
Caption  "Can you get too much of a good thing?  NIPPLE WARS".
Second and third (yes, three full pages for this) pages have huge headline
NIPPLE WARS (right, in caps).

Summary - a very few good points but mostly very negative and states there
are two 'camps' - not sure who they are supposed to be, but there are
"extremists', "nipple wars" and two "sides".  Unfortunately it's not on the
web and too long to type.  Three photos are of bfg babies, and two INFACT
posters.

Quote in a block in large letters: "It wasn't listening to the LC read her
the Riot Act that in the end did it for Lori Thornton.  It wasn't the raw,
cracked and bleeding nipples, or the recurring bouts of mastitis that left
her feverish and exhausted, or that the piston-driven breast pump mede her
think of the Holsteins on her family's dairy farm.  The end came as she
stood in the shower, weeping, hot water pounding on her chest while she
pushed and pressed and kneaded her bruised breasts from her armpits to her
nipples, desperately trying to clear the plugged milk ducts.  Lori Thornton
finally, silently said:  Enough."

Next large headline "HAS BREAST IS BEST GONE TOO FAR?" (yup, caps again).

"... Lori shook off the LC's admonishments that she 'owed it' to Angela to
breastfeed and that with every plastic bottle and artificial teat, she
risked turning her child into a sicker, less intelligent, less productive
member of society...'I couldn't breastfeed.  And I felt like a criminal.' "
(this last phrase was repeated in a block quote).

A few good points;  listed WHO's recommendations and Canadian Ped Society
saying that "there are rarely reasons not to breastfeed",  "that breastmilk
is superior...is not in dispute" and listed many of the health benefits of
bfg.

" 'New mothers are not fools, but...especially vulnerable to the claims of
extremists who tell them that exclusive bfg is the one, true way'  Liz
Porter writes ... proving the nipple wars extend halfway around the world."

Dr. Dworkin (who wrote the original column that started all this) "says the
breast-is-best approach now resembles a regimented boot camp."  He has
received "reams" of letters accusing him of being irresponsible, delusional
and (as he puts it) Satan incarnate.  "If people react that way to me, how
are they racting to mothers who are questioning what's going on when they're
breastfeeding and they're having problems?  Are they being treated with
compassion?  Or are they being told, 'No, no, no just keep to it!  If you
don't do it, you're going to fail, and you're going to hurt your baby'."

Dr. Newman is quoted quite extensively, stating that bfg mothers don't get
any support from the health professions and should feel anger not regret if
they an't exclusively bfd.  Jack is quoted on routines that harm the bfg
relationship, and incorrect advice that is given - and that LLL "has worked
hard to provide the information that babies don't feed by the clock."

"Groups such as La Leche League, which believes 'mothering through bfg
deepens a mother's understanding and acceptance of the responsibilities and
rewards of her special role in the family,' rejects suggestions that they
bully women.  'When people say we make mothers feel guilty about bfg, no one
can make anybody feel guilty' says Michelle Bentley, prof'l liaison for
Quebec and E Ontario.  'That's something we put on ourselves.  And we don't
hesitate to inform people of the dangers of not using car seats, or the
dangers of smoking.  We need to inform people about the dangers of not
breastfeeding"  (repeated in a block quote).  Unfortunately she didn't keep
the end of my sentence, "...so that women can make an informed choice."  And
I guess I will have to write to correct the idea that LLL recommends
exclusive bfg for 6-12 months - most kids do need solids by then, and I'm
not sure what they were eating for the first 6 months!  I guess I should
also correct the idea that the uterus shrinking quickly is what leads to
faster weight loss?

Other sensationalistic quotes were from Dr Susan Love that some mothers find
the idea of nursing "unpleasant, even repugnant", how a surgeon stopped bfg
when she dripped milk on a patient during surgery, and that there are
"plenty of emotionally healthy people who were bottle-fed, and many
neurotics who were breast-fed."  Then we get to read a list of the toxins in
breastmilk - but that the benefits of bfg do outweigh any risks (doesn't
mention these same toxins are in formula, or that bmk protects against
harmful effects of toxins received in utero).  "Both sides agree that more
needs to be done to support women who choose to nurse."  Hospitals and
public health are listed as resources (not LLL).

Then this very long article ends with the fact that Lori breastfed her
second child with the help of an LC who was a "godsend, an angel."  Too bad
it wasn't included sooner, or in another block quote!

This certainly didn't turn out the way I had hoped.

Michelle Bentley

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