There is more to breastfeeding than just "eating" and "drinking." I
think this fact can help to justify our assertion of women's and babies'
right to breastfeed wherever they happen to be. Suckling is a way to
comfort and care for a baby, not just a way to get milk into a baby.
Therefore, I think we can make a strong case that breastfeeding should
be socially accepted in any situation where a bottle-feeding caregiver
would offer a bottle OR A PACIFIER to a baby.

Another strand in this discussion is that a mother does a favor to the
bystanders when she soothes her fussy baby at her breast. Wouldn't most
people prefer not to sit in a waiting room with a cranky baby? If the
mother has the power to quiet the baby by nursing, what does anyone gain
by denying her that option?

I vividly recall the moments in my life-thankfully, there were only a
few-when I felt constrained not to soothe my baby by nursing. I
experienced a high level of physical tenseness in the neck and
shoulders, plus unaccustomed feelings of both belligerence and
"victim-hood."  I have always assumed these were hormonally-caused, and
that at some level my psyche was going into a protective
"fight-or-flight" mode. VERY unpleasant, and not the best condition for
passing one's time in a doctor's waiting room.

It always bothers me just a bit when nursing in public is justified by a
statement like, "A baby's gotta eat!" I think that limits the
discussion.

[Sorry to jump in without having followed this whole thread, but I've
had to leave a large batch of Lactnets un-read! Forgive me if someone
else has already said this.]

Chris Mulford, RN, IBCLC
working for WIC in South Jersey (Eastern USA)
Co-coordinator, Women & Work Task Force, WABA

PLEASE NOTE new email address.


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