Dear Jessica:

Your proposed volume sounds like a worthy investigation into the assumptions
of culture surrounding motherhood. However, you have also fallen into the
trap of making a common erroneous assumption.  When you say your proposed
volume "debates the pros and cons of breastfeeding," you assume that
breastfeeding can have pros and cons.  This is like saying that gravity can
have pros and cons, when it is clearly more reasonable to discuss ways in
which we can use gravity wisely and ways in which we hurt ourselves by
ignoring gravity.

Another way to look at it would be to imagine discussing the pros and cons
of cancer, or the pros and cons of vegetables.  When I used to teach
nutrition, no one made the mistake of asking me to discuss the pros and cons
of good nutrition, or of malnutrition.  As soon as I specialized in infant
nutrition, which is to say breastfeeding, I was mistakenly asked many times
to discuss the pros and cons of breastfeeding.  

Breastfeeding is simply normal infant feeding.  It is nutrition for infants.
There is no pro and con to nutrition for infants.

You might say that there are pros and cons for formula.  This would be like
saying there are pros and cons for insulin injection.  But the fact is that
in the unusual situation that one would need injections of insulin, one
simply does, and deals with the problems which that would involve.  In the
even more rare situation that one would need an artificial nutrition
substitute, one simply does, and deals with the problems which that would
involve.

Best of luck with your project.  I cannot stress too strongly the importance
of having several IBCLCs check your material on breastfeeding.  You would
not wish to perpetuate stereotypes.  I think you will wish to do some
background research to discover more ideas of how your book can address the
assumptions and misperceptions which our culture attaches to breastfeeding.
It is very certainly a feminist issue.

Yours truly,

Arly Helm, MS, IBCLC

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