Ann C:  I share your concerns about the appeal of "FREE" goods in this
consumerism-driven culture.  You are right, the ABM industry understands
and uses our fixation with free goods very well.

So often, prenatal WIC clients tell me with pride (often very early in
their pregnancy) that they have already bought all the baby furniture,
equipment, bottles, nipples, plugs, etc that they will need, and that they
are well on their way to stockpiling a year's supply of diapers and extra
ABM.  They take such joy and accomplishment in amassing this stuff!!

I often wonder if breastfeeding is unappealing because there is so little
*stuff* to gather, and no necessary substances to stockpile before or after
birth.  I guess that this is where the market for all the BF gadgets has
come from.  [I want to tell women that they don't need most of this junk --
just a car seat, lots of baby Tshirts, bunches of cloth diapers, a couple
of good bras, and lots of supportive family and friends.  What a
spoilsport!!]

Is shopping the last vestige of our hunter-gatherer past??

Cindy Turner-Maffei, breathing a sigh of relief to have survived Edouardo
with very little damage, and only 20 long hours without electricity (we
played every board game in the house)!!

***Cindy Turner-Maffei, MA, IBCLC, aka [log in to unmask]***
Lactation Consultant/WIC Nutritionist/Cape Cod, MA, USA