I believe that everyone needs to know three things about breastfeeding: 

1. That it is the biological norm and the standard by which any alternative needs to be evaluated. 

2. That mothers and babies, with very rare exceptions, are competent to breastfeed. 

3. That social ignorance is the reason for almost all breastfeeding failures. 



I think that the belief that they cannot breastfeed successfully is the major reason women do not undertake it. They do not want to go into an intimate relationship with the knowledge that they will fail. It is just too painful. 



There is a new book out about social change entitled INFLUENCER. I have not read it yet but I see that one of the factors the authors recommend as important is the belief that a thing is do-able. So we need to emphasize the capability mothers and babies to breastfeed. 



We can also say that we do not want women to feel guilty, we want them to have all the information and support they need to fulfill their capabilities. Most of all we do not want women to feel like failures. Someone those who are so quick to say, “Don’t make anyone feel guilty,” are not similarly bothered by making women feel like failures. 



This is my message: No guilt, no failure. Demand success. 

Alice Roddy 
Nursing is the biological norm for mothers and babies. It is a relationship that links the baby's immune system to the mother's, 
provides the baby with stimulation and connection while providing the mother with stress reducing hormones. It even feeds the baby. 

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