Lactnetters, >Deanne wrote (on the choice of whether mothers accept an epidural, or not), >"The same is true of breastfeeding...if, after careful explanation and >education, a mother chooses to bottle feed with ABM .. One cannot stand >over a mother and insist that she breastfeed ... {snip} >My complaint is when a mother has chosen to >breastfeed and either she, herself, or the nurses, or her doctor, or a >family member sabotage that decision with poor advice and information." When these mothers make this "choice", have they actually been told of the hazards of formula feeding, or simply that breastfeeding is "better" (as ground coffee is better than instant, or butter is better than margarine)? I have spoken to many, many women who have "chosen" to bottlefeed, some of whom felt educated and informed at that choice, but invariably I find out that they are just not that informed at all in reality. The reasons they give for their "choice" is often almost laughable, if it weren't so serious ("I heard breastfeeding hurts", "My boyfriend didn't like it", "I want to be able to go out occasionally", "I like wearing Wonderbras"). Others will tell you they chose to bottlefeed, but later on, you discover a story of breastfeeding sabotage and total undermining of the mother's confidence ("The doctor told me my milk was too thin", "My baby had colic because she was allergic to my milk"). They are telling you it was a choice to try and make themselves feel better about it, IMHO. I have had the pleasure of meeting a couple of women in my life who breastfed because they were told they had to. One had a premie baby fairly recently in a UK hospital and the doctor told her that she had two choices: breastfeed, and her baby was in with a chance; formula feed and her baby probably wouldn't make it (that was the truth in this particular case). Another woman was told to breastfeed after a couple of weeks of the baby on various formulas, none of which he could tolerate. He got seriously ill and they told her he needed donor breastmilk. She felt wrong about this idea, and asked if there was any way should could breastfeed him herself, after all. They didn't know, but suggested she try. Fortunately, she succeeded, despite the total lack of skilled support (I met her on holiday, and don't have specific details sadly - these days, I'd be getting her name, address, the hospital, her Ped etc. and asking permission to write up her story! :-^) I don't think the majority of women would resent being strongly encouraged, if not pushed, to breastfeed by HCPs, anymore than they resent being told to provide adequate car restraints or not smoke in pregnancy. They might not take any notice, ofcourse. Then again... -- Anna H. mailto: [log in to unmask] http://www.ratbag.demon.co.uk/anna/ *********************************************** The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html