Dear Friends:
    Mary Ann Krainz wonders about sustained milk supply with exclusive
pumping. I have heard of women pumping 15 and 18 months for babies unable to
breastfeeding due to congenital anomaly. They need an excellent pump, of
course.
    I am presently questioning the notion that if a woman chooses to pump,
rather than to nurture at breast, it means a history of sexual abuse.
     In my area, women can receive 2, 3 or more breastpumps during their
pregnancy: from prenatal clinics, from baby showers and the like. A pump is
part of every published layette list. Isn't that a message? Vulnerable women,
i.e. those that are learning what to do when they become mothers, model on
what they see around them. I now believe that this is part of the reason I am
seeing more mothers pumping and bottle-feeding than I was 15 years ago.
     To carry this theme a bit farther, I believe that is part of the reason
there are so many plastic baby carriers and strollers in use in the USA;
women see babies pushed around in plastic boxes in hospitals and imprint on
that image. When do mothers on tour ever see a baby in arms?
     When I worked in hospitals, there were policies that said mothers
weren't allowed to carry their own babies, for fear of a fall and a potential
lawsuit. Mothers are escorted out of the hospital in a wheelchair. In several
local hospitals after delivery,  baby is wheeled to the nursery while mother
is wheeled to her room.
     What do you all think?
     Warmly,
Nikki Lee RN, MSN, Mother of 2, IBCLC, CIMI, CCE, craniosacral therapy
Adjunct faculty, Union Institute and University, Maternal and Child Health:
Lactation Consulting
Supporting the WHO Code and the Mother Friendly Childbirth Initiative

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