Hi,
>Anyway, my question is, what makes a mother choose to breastfeed? Why
>did so many of you make that choice, despite the massive pressure to
>conform to societal bottlefeeding norms?

Before I got pregnant, I had always assumed I would bottlefeed. In fact,
the thought of breastfeeding digusted me and it sounded very difficult
and "unhygeinic". I am severely asthmatic, and take lots of drugs at
times, so I assumed that would preclude me from bfing (I thought
Ventolin would harm the baby). I wasn't sure about getting pregnant, so
I visited an asthma specialist and asked him. My one concern was not
about how I would cope with pregnancy, but how to avoid my child being
as sickly as I am. He strongly advised me to breastfeed, in fact he said
"For most women, breastfeeding is a choice, for you there is not choice
- you must breastfeed if you want to give your child any chance of
avoiding your allergies. There is no formula in existence that I can
guarantee as allergy free, and one bottle of formula could sensitize
your child.". I was a little daunted by this advice, but decided to
follow it despite my reservations. I saw it as a form of martyrdom, I
think! :-)

During pregnancy, I met some "nutters" who were heavily into
breastfeeding :-) They reinforced my convictions and reassured me that
it really wasn't so awful. I went to LLL meetings and read the books and
was reasonably well informed when Emma was born (which was just as well
because I had to fight all the way to avoid her getting formula). My GP
was very anxious that I was "pressurizing myself" and gave me the
impression that many women were unable to breastfeed. He thought this
pressure would stop me producing milk! Learning to bf was a struggle,
but the information (not to say pressure) from my asthma specialist kept
me at it. I initially disliked bfing (it was painful and difficult) and
my confidence was incredibly low, plus Emma had terrible colic which
didn't help. I learned to tolerate it, but never enjoyed it, but knowing
my child was getting the very best made me feel a success as a mother
despite post partum depression. I am currently breastfeeding Alice. I
still don't particularly enjoy it (though more so than the first time),
but I feel good about doing it and have no fears I will be forced to
give up prematurely. Incidently, Emma has only very mild allergies (to
soap powder and eczema inside her ears) despite lousy genes. Let's hope
Alice does the same.

Lots of people cannot understand how I can breastfeed my child for a
year and not particularly enjoy it. All I can say is that they have not
had to live my life - I feel I must do all I can to protect my children
from such poor health and it's worth it to me even if it reduces the
odds by 10%.
--
Anna (mummy to Emma, born 17th Jan 1995 and Alice, born 11th Sept 1996)
Email: [log in to unmask]  Web Page: http://www.ratbag.demon.co.uk/anna