Sorry I'm a little late on replying on this Heather - I've been offline
for a few days as my phone line went down, taking my internet connection
with it (and my car broke down too, but that's just me whinging...).
As I've said to some of your classmates over the past few week or so -
you may want to widen out your research past all the excellent medical
based references you've no doubt been getting. Lactation matters are
often discussed as a medical area, without always taking on board the
_wider_ cultural and media issues. For instance, is you turn what
you've presented here on its head... the question you might be looking
at is "How much formula advertising and promotion do these groups see?"
and "For how long has this group been subjected to formula advertising
and promotion?"
In the West, (a general term I usually hate, but one which suffice for
now) there has been a long history of formula promotion. Part of that
history has been about consistently presenting formula as 'more hygenic'
and 'more scientific' than human milk. The large costs of the product
has also been traditionally part of its appeal, especially in working
class cultures. The fact that's it's expensive, means it's both 'good'
and and also'aspirational'. In many Western working class cultures,
buying formula was a sign of wealth - and breastfeeding a sign of
poverty. Rather than looking at the 'education' of those Western
cultures in terms of the breastfeeding, perhaps looking at how often
they've seen formula upheld as a wonderful product, may reveal more
answers. Especially when you can track immigrant groups who've not been
so exposed to formula marketeering, and who traditionally breastfeed:
breastfeeding rates drop as they are exposed to more and more
marketeering. After all, they are now doing what the educated well off
people do: it's part of the aspirational advertising. So it may be less
of a question about cultural differences and breastfeeding, and more a
question of media influence on those cultures, and breastfeeding.
It's always easy to forget the billions of dollars spent every year on
formula marketeering, and instead try and puzzle out why the health
education appears to have different uptakes. Understanding is usually
to be found on the formula marketeering side. A good starting place on
this would be "The Politics of Breastfeeding" by Gabrielle Palmer.
There is also much up to date information on the impact of formula
marketeering on breastfeedings rates on the Baby Milk Action site:
http://www.babymilkaction.org/index.html and you'll find a highly
effective piece of journalism on the effects of such marketeering on
cultures that had been breastfeeding before the ad execs came to town
on http://www.guardian.co.uk/medicine/story/0,,2079757,00.html
Morgan Gallagher
Heather Young wrote:
> I question then, how can this be the case? What makes these minority
> cultures such advocates for breastfeeding? Are there certain cultural
> differences regarding breastfeeding that I should be aware of as I enter the
> nursing field? I know that when women of certain cultures are postpartum,
> they have certain hot/cold preferences. Do different cultures have specific
> views, practices when it comes to breastfeeding?
> Thank you in advance for your feedback.
> Heather Young, SNITCC
>
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