Last week I was at a breastfeeding conference, and in making a short speech
I mentioned that my daughter was with me, and that she had been breastfed
for 5 years. Afterwards, a number of people came up to me and my daughter
(who is in her 20's) and asked her if it embarrassed her that I mentioned
that she'd been breastfed and for how long. She just shrugged her shoulders
and said, no it didn't bother her. Some asked her if she remembered nursing,
and she replied yes, she did, and they asked how that made her feel. Again,
she shrugged her shoulders and was kind of puzzled by the question.

Afterwards she commented that it seemed strange to get questions like these
from people at a breastfeeding conference. Breastfeeding is a good thing, so
why on earth would she be embarrassed to have people know that she breastfed
for five years?? Surely people would only ask that question if they thought
there was something wrong or weird or abnormal about breastfeeding, so you
wouldn't want it acknowledged in public. And secondly, how should memories
of breastfeeding make her feel? It's just a normal childhood memory.

It made me realize how far we still have to go in making breastfeeding "the
norm" even among a group of people who support breastfeeding and working
with breastfeeding mothers.

Teresa Pitman

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