>
>On the flip side of the coin, though, is that I've heard from a lot of
>mothers who exclusively pump who have said they feel "discriminated against"
>by lactation professionals, or looked down upon with disdain, because
>they're not breastfeeding.


Oh.....but this is an echo of what formula feeding mothers say, and I
believe it does *not* come from bf supporters or professionals, in
the main. Much of it comes from inside the mother. Most people in
this field are very 'mother-centred' and take pains to avoid
expressing disdain or even hinting it, no matter how the mother is
feeding.

I would hazard a guess that mothers who feed EBM only *know* in some
way what they are missing, and they are sad, or defensive about it -
even if they are actually doing what they prefer.

They then rationalise it, and say other people judge them...in the
same way some formula feeding mothers do.

Of course we shouldn't disdain anyone, or discriminate against them,
or judge them.  But just as this does not mean we 'present' formula
and breastfeeding as 'equal' choices, we shouldn't feel we have to
present feeding EBM as the same as breastfeeding.

Heather Welford Neil
NCT bfc Newcastle upon Tyne UK

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