I posted on this sometime last year, wondering what the feeding of a baby at
her mother's breast is called in other languages.  The reason that I like
"nursing" is that is seems so intimate, and "breastfeeding" sounds
technical. But I certainly understand the confusion with the profession of
Nursing.  I think that we have to call it breastfeeding now in the U.S. to
distinguish it from the culturally expected way of feeding. Bottle feeding
the baby is subject/object so we substitute breast for bottle to clarify the
difference. But it doesn't really clarify the difference.

When I fed my babies I never thought of "breastfeeding" them.  It was closer
than that.  At least we've eliminated the hyphen (we try).

Someone who is Japanese told me their word for feeding the baby and I can't
remember it but it didn't specify the container.  Maybe breastfeeding is a
transitional word until the time when we don't need to clarify. We need to
someday have a word that expresses the oneness of this beautiful experience.

Patricia Gima, IBCLC
Milwaukee
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