Thank you, Dr. Chao-Huei, for your post on Taiwan culture. It is so interesting to hear how other people
live, both the similarities and the differences.

        I had a WIC mother who came from mainland China and who spoke little English. (Luckily, I have a
friend who is a peer counsellor and who speaks Mandarin.) The mother was pregnant with her first child. She
was married to a chef in a local Chinese restaurant, where she also worked, her husband being the owner's
brother. Although she was well educated academically, she knew very little about pregnancy, birthing babies
or breastfeeding. Her sister-in-law had sent her children back to her husband's parents in China when they
were 3 months old, and got them back when they were ready for school. She was expected to do the same, so
that she could help her husband to earn enough money to buy their own restaurant.
        However, as she learned more about the value of breastfeeding and mothering, this lady became
determined to keep her baby with her. There was no support from her husband's parents (who were looking
forward to taking care of their grandchild) or from her sister-in-law (who did not understand why a mother
would want to take care of her own children.
        I was in a very delicate position. We did not want to be seen as coming between the mother and her
family, interrupting the family's culture, but on the other hand we did want to support the mother's desire
to care for her own child. Very tricky! As it turned out, the mother insisted that she could not be parted
from her child. She got off to a good start nursing, taking the baby to work with her, and when she and her
husband took another job, she got a pump so that she could express milk while she was away.
        As an aside, while she was pregnant she went to the local elementary school and asked the principal
if she could sit in on the children's lessons so that could learn English. By the time the baby was born, she
was able to communicate her needs and understand the replies.

        A truly remarkable woman!



Norma Ritter, IBCLC, LLLL
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