Cynthia Dillon Payne wrote: 'I think giving
"rules", even "guidelines", makes bf seems harder than artificially feeding.'

I so agree, Cynthia.

I cringe when I see leaflets and posters (often issued by ABM
manufacturers, of course - quelle surprise NOT ) which show all the lovely
healthy nutritious foods you 'have' to eat when you're bf. It's difficult
to argue against this sort of info, too, as *of course* we want all mothers
to eat well....


We know in the West at any rate there are a lot of women with eating
disorders and even more with a great preoccupation with their bodies and
weight and calories. In a class I took last week the question of 'how many
calories to bf'  came up (as it almost always does);  one woman said she'd
heard you 'must' eat 500 more calories a day when you bf - this sounds a
huge amount to some women, and one or two were horrified at the idea of it.

In some cases, I think it could be enough to put someone off bf - even if
they have also heard that bf helps you get rid of your pregnancy weight (a
statement that just is not true for everyone - I am pretty sure there's
some research to show just how variable weight loss is during bf).

heather Welford Neil
NCT bfc Newcastle upon Tyne UK