As has happened many times before, I was involved yesterday in a
breastfeeding-related activity on Zoe's birthday. She's my first-born and
the person who turned me into a mother. It always feels good to note her age
because that marks how many years I have been part of the breastfeeding
sisterhood.

The event was our Pennsylvania Breastfeeding Coalition's training (under a
Federal grant) in how to talk to businesses about ways to support their
breastfeeding employees and benefit their own bottom line. Turns out that a
key lesson is "Never say the word 'breast' !" Employers, it seems, don't
even want to THINK about the fact that their workers have breasts. 

Huh? Last time I looked, other body parts and body systems were allowed to
come to work. Workers eat, digest, breathe, and circulate their blood on the
job. What's different about lactating? The fact that it's temporary? But if
I broke a bone, my employer would allow me to wear a cast on the job...

I guess we still have our work cut out for us, until the time that lactating
women who feed babies are treated like other people...normal!

Chris Mulford, BSN, IBCLC
Project Coordinator, the PA-BC Business Case for Breastfeeding
Co-coordinator, Women & Work Task Force, World Alliance for Breastfeeding
Action

 "When she gives birth, every woman has the potential resource of breastmilk
for two years or more. This ample food resource is perfectly targeted,
already distributed to households with the need, and should be controlled by
the mother and baby." --Helen Armstrong (1995) 
Breastfeeding as the foundation of care. Food and Nutrition Bulletin, United
Nations Univ Press, 16:4, 299-312.



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