>I've had lots of mothers I've nursed in front of
>volunteer information about why they couldn't breastfeed, even though I
>have never asked them or even said a word about it to them.  (And I've
>heard some pretty feeble excuses, especially from other doctor's
>wives!)  This is quite obviously because they are feeling guilty.

I got a lot of those stories too, when I nursed in public, and I didn't
think it was because they felt guilty (that idea didn't occur to me).  I
thought it was just evidence that bfing is *very important* to women - all
women.  Some are angered by it, some are made nostalgic, some are envious,
many are consumed with curiosity, but all are strongly affected by it.

My father teaches nature study to adults, and I helped him out one day a
few summers ago.  I introduced myself as a lactation consultant first,
naturalist second, and during the course of the day (spent wandering thru
fields and forest, which gave people ample opportunity to have little side
conversations with me) I think every woman in the group *sought me out* to
tell me her story, positive or negative.  And most of these women were
decades past childbearing.

There was also an OB/GYN in the group, and I had to *seek him out* to give
him some bfing handouts I'd brought for him that I thought he'd enjoy
having.  He would never have said a word to me otherwise, and indeed made
it clear to me that his patients were generally uninterested in bfing.
Uninterested?  The women in the group obviously felt otherwise.

Diane Wiessinger, MS, IBCLC, LLLL  Ithaca, NY
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