Sharing my response to a private email (with all identifying marks of the
sender removed):
>I am a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist and Social Worker I am writing
>an article for _________ Magazine about breastfeeding.
>My question to you is this: are you still as optimistic as you have
>previously written about? (Oct 1995)
Hi! Yes, despite lots of good reasons to be pessimistic, I do see and hear
of more and more women being successful at breastfeeding, and more and more
women nursing longer and longer. There are more states now with legislation
that protects the rights of women to breastfeed in public than there were in
1995, and we have Carolyn Maloney, a member of Congress from New York,
constantly working on federal-level legislation to protect the rights of
breastfeeding women, including at work (time and a place to pump, etc.).
There is a steady stream of research documenting that formula is harmful to
children and to their mothers -- such as the recent studies about IQ
differences (breastfed kids have higher IQs, formula-fed kids have lower
IQs) and how breastfeeding reduces the risk of breast cancer. La Leche
League International is now, what, 40-something years old, which means that
their a bunch of leaders' kids who are now young adults, and having their
own kids, and influencing their peers in colleges and high schools around
the country. Social change takes LOTS of time, and it is easy to get
discouraged and burned out. But, in the long run, I do think we have made
significant progress even since 1995.
Kathy Dettwyler
_________________________________________________________________
MSN Photos is the easiest way to share and print your photos:
http://photos.msn.com/support/worldwide.aspx
***********************************************
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
|
