In a message dated 6/16/00 7:28:54 PM, [log in to unmask] writes:

<< The husband's attorney referred to "The Breastfeeding Scam."  The mother
didn't have any idea what they were talking about and I didn't know either.
 Have I missed something in the news or what?
 >>

Lucy,
I had a client last year for whom I testified in a custody dispute. The
father also said the mother was no longer bf the 8 mos old--I saw him
nursing. The baby's pediatrician testified right before me that there was "no
benefit" to breastfeeding beyond 6 mos, although, according to him, it "was
not harmful either". The judge ultimately ruled that the bf relationship
should be protected and modified visitation to accommodate. It was obvious to
me that the claim that the mother no longer bf suggested that she was
attempting to "scam" the judge into limiting visitation by playing "the bf
card". The sad thing is, I see bf be more harmful to mothers than helpful,
b/c while the mother is trying to save bf, she is willing to give everything
else away to do so. In the end, the courts rarely care at all about bf or
attachment and are more inclined to be punitive towards the mother who bf
(esp an older child) than supportive. As one friend recently discovered, the
courts definitely favor fathers and separation over mothers and attachment
(termed of course as independence over dependence).
Jennifer Tow, IBCLC, CT, USA

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