I'm reading a book (a collection of short stories) called the secrets of a fire king, by kim edwards. the story "spring, mountain, sea" is about rob eldred and his new wife, jade moon, when they came home in 1954 after the korean war. 

 the baby came in late april...in the manner of those days rob drove jade moon through the winding backroads to the hospital and sat through the piles of paperwork while his wife caught her breath and bit her lips against the groans. then she was whisked away, and twelve hours later he was allowed in to see her, sitting up in bed with her hair tied back, holding their baby daughter. jade moon was ecstatic, and also very angry.
    "I was asleep," she scolded..."that whole time they made me sleep, and when I woke up it was finished. the baby was already born. I have no memory of it!" he recalled the practice of her own country, where woman cloistered themselves with other women for a birth, and drank certain herbs, and let nature follow in course. jade moon went on, complaining softly but steadily, and rob grew conscious of the curious glances from the two new mothers in the other beds. these grew longer and more amazed as jade moon slipped her gown open and let their new daughter begin to nurse.
    "there is something wrong with them," she confided to rob, tilting her head toward the two women. "those poor ladies, they have babies but no milk. every day the nurse brings them cow's milk, warm, in a glass bottle. imagine!"
    rob turned to see the nearest woman...she was looking at him with a severe sort of pity... "it's really none of my business," she said, "but someone should tell your wife about- about that." she nodded emphatically at the white slope of jade moon's breast, then at the bottle she held tilted to her (own) baby."this is a modern hospital. civilized. we keep trying to explain to her- we've even used sign language!- but she just smiles and looks embarrassed." 
    rob, taken aback, did not know how to answer this. jade moon was being modest, he knew, and polite about her own full breasts when these women seemed bereft of milk. he turned to jade moon, who stroked his daughter's small head as she nursed, and then he forgot about the red-haired woman. he sat down on the bed, filled with joy and wonder.
    "what were you dicussing?" jade moon asked.
    "you," he said, taking her hand. "our beautiful baby."

:-) vicki hayes rn ibclc in brunswick ga
mom of sean (9/2000), harrison (9/2003), and lachlan (3/2006)
www.myspace.com/that_username_is_taken

             ***********************************************

Archives: http://community.lsoft.com/archives/LACTNET.html
To reach list owners: [log in to unmask]
Mail all list management commands to: [log in to unmask]
COMMANDS:
1. To temporarily stop your subscription write in the body of an email: set lactnet nomail
2. To start it again: set lactnet mail
3. To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet
4. To get a comprehensive list of rules and directions: get lactnet welcome