Karleen, Thanks very much for sending in the Strathearn 
abstract.  Horribly fascinating, and another good weapon for our arsenal.

What I'm also interested in, though, is what might be described as 
reverse causality and breastfeeding prevalence;  the potential 
influence of society in general to actually promote or actually 
foster/promote infant neglect, the first manifestation of which might 
be to discourage breastfeeding.  I've noted that friends and 
relations of a new mother will often demonstrate a lot of concern for 
her, while simulataneously exhibiting quite a callous and frightening 
disregard for the very basic needs of the new baby.  They will often 
urge the new mother to leave a baby to cry, to stretch out the hours 
and minutes between feeds, and ultimately to abandon breastfeeding 
altogether - the "you're making a rod for your own back" kind of 
remarks we're all so familiar with.  It's quite astonishing to see 
that concern for the adult member of the dyad often over-rides 
concern for the terribly vulnerable new baby. There's huge approval 
the first time the baby is left with a baby-sitter so that the new 
mother and father can go out for dinner - alone. There's also huge 
encouragement to wean from the breast.  I've lost count of the number 
of mothers-in-law that are reported to urge the mother to leave the 
baby for a whole weekend so that the mother and father can go away 
somewhere romantic as a couple.  Then there are the sort of glib, 
clever articles in parenting magazines which urge a new mother to 
regain her pre-pregnant figure asap after birth, to take back control 
of her old life, rather than immersing herself in nappies and 
breastfeeding, implying that mothering will cause her body, her brain 
and her personality to stagnate ...(There's Life after 
Motherhood-type drivel)....completely missing the reality of the 
physiologically normal postpartum state.

I've known new mothers to become terribly distressed and confess to 
feelings of huge guilt because they think that somehow they're 
becoming too bonded to their babies, and should perhaps leave them to 
cry, should leave them to go out, should resist the kind of total 
engrossment they feel. It's almost as if everything is conspiring to 
suggest that babies should not be given first priority, that almost 
any other commitment or task should be put ahead of the baby's needs, 
as if society in general tries to drive a wedge between the mother 
and her young child at every possible opportunity. This manifests 
itself particularly in the very negative reactions that many mothers 
experience when breastfeeding in public, when trying to access 
maternity leave or nursing breaks.

It would be educational to know whether this kind of very pervasive 
attitude only finds its mark in a receptive woman, or whether it 
actually influences every mother in our westernized cultures.  When 
I've pointed out to my clients that they're merely responding to 
their babies in the way that nature intended, and that this is how 
babies survive and thrive, there's this huge relief that what they're 
experiencing is right and appropriate.   But how many new mothers, I 
wonder, fall for this detachment mindset, becoming more and more 
distant from their small babies, their toddlers, their pre-schoolers 
and ultimately their teens?  With devastating consequences for 
society in general and for the next generation in particular.  No 
wonder our birth rates are falling, when children are so under-valued 
and motherhood, by association, is such a thankless task.   This is 
why I've advocated so strenuously for breastfeeding to be seen as the 
right of the baby, not the mother.  This is another back to front 
statement, like Breast is Not Best, which can also be misunderstood!

Pamela Morrison IBCLC
Rustington, England
----------------------------------------
Hi Pam,
Here's the abstract.
I'm sure I have the whole paper somewhere but I will have to go looking for
it.
Karleen Gribble
Australia

Strathearn, L., A. A. Mamun, et al. (2009). "Does breastfeeding protect
against substantiated child abuse and neglect? A 15-year cohort study."
Pediatrics 123(2): 483-93.
	

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