LOL Rachael, Don't reckon anyone could mistake you for an apologist for
anything other than breastfeeding!
This language stuff is important and just as we can talk about the
importance of breastmilk without judging mothers I think we can talk about
the importance of breastfeeding and personally I don't see this as a moral
issue at all but I do think we need to talk about it because many who
understand the value of breastmilk do not value breastfeeding...we need to
change this!
I would reframe what you have said and Weissingerise this! I would say that
"every mother who does not breastfeed is at a disadvantage in caring for her
child"  Now some mothers will be able to overcome this disadvantage, some
will not.......can't pick which ones but can guess that the most vulnerable
(mother or child) have the most to gain from breastfeeding.
Karleen Gribble
Australia



> I have never even hinted that I doubt that the neurochemistry of
> breastfeeding exerts a powerful influence on mothers.  My question is
> whether we have grounds on which to assert that EVERY mother will be a
> BETTER mother if she experiences these effects.  Not happier, not more
> relaxed, not with lower depression scores, but BETTER, for EVERY mother,
> which was the original claim.  I will confirm that I do have big problems
> with the notion that I am in a position to judge the goodness of a mother
on
> a normative moral scale, based on whether she is under the influence of
the
> neurotransmitters active in the lactating woman.  Kathy Lilleskov also
> mentioned the lack of a linear correspondence between neurotransmitters
and
> human behavior, and that is the crux of my skepticism to this approach.
>
>

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