I recently read in a faith-based publication the following, on the morality of breastfeeding: "[Our organization] promotes breastfeeding because it is the optimal way to feed and care for a baby. [Our organization] teaches the art of breastfeeding so couples are encouraged to choose breastfeeding out of selfless love for their babies. Breastfeeding benefits baby, mother and father, and in fact, all of society, but should be done primarily for the baby's benefit rather than for other motivations." Does anyone have any idea what "other motivations" they might be talking about? This idea has been coming across my desk frequently lately. I also corresponded recently with a prominent theologian who indicated to me that any mother who breastfeeds "solely or even primarily" to encourage natural child spacing was "using her baby as a means to an end" (in other words was breastfeeding for an immoral purpose.) I am pretty worried about how close this comes to the old accusations used to discourage mothers from nursing a child, say, past the age of 2 - "that mother is only nursing for her own selfish benefit..." I am also worried that a young woman who doesn't know anything about breastfeeding or who has a particularly sensitive conscience is going to start worrying that if she reads about the child spacing effect (or the reduction in her own cancer risk, etc.) and thinks, wow! that would be great - to breastfeed and have babies spaced naturally 2 years apart - and then start to worry that she was appreciating the child spacing benefit a little TOO MUCH and that perhaps she should stop breastfeeding so much. I don't understand where all the caution is coming from about breastfeeding SOLELY for the benefit of the baby. Breastfeeding always benefits the baby. But it seems to me that some people of faith could believe that God (or nature) has so intertwined the physical, emotional, psychological and spiritual benefits of breastfeeding that when the mother benefits so does the baby - the benefits are not in conflict. It would be a very unusual situation - I think - in which a mother would breastfeed for a selfish purpose to the detriment of the child (or in this case, in which a mother would breastfeed to the benefit of the child, but has the wrong internal motivation for doing so). Can anyone think what this is about? Are any other groups - faith-based or other - casting doubt on or particularly concerned about the morality of breastfeeding based on the mother's private motivations? This moral objection to breastfeeding seems to have come out of left field to me. And from a faith-based organization that has historically been fairly closely aligned with La Leche League in its approach to breastfeeding. I work closely with many women of traditional faith and values and this kind of doubt about the morality of breastfeeding could combine with modesty concerns and a tendency to elevate the primacy of the marriage relationship over the baby's needs (in an Ezzo-type manner) to have a real chilling effect on breastfeeding in some circles. Thanks. Pamela H. Pilch, JD Lamaze Certified Childbirth Educator CatholicMom.com Breastfeeding Columnist _http://www.catholicmom.com/pilch.htm_ (http://www.catholicmom.com/pilch.htm) ************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com. *********************************************** Archives: http://community.lsoft.com/archives/LACTNET.html Mail all commands to [log in to unmask] To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail To start it again: set lactnet mail (or [log in to unmask]) To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet or ([log in to unmask]) To reach list owners: [log in to unmask]