I have been involved with bf support for almost 20 years and while the
initiation and maintenace rate of bf is virtually the same, at any rate
over the past 15 years in the UK,  I have seen two major changes:

1. There is more 'combined feeding' - ie mixed breast and bottle, which is
a change reflected in our stats over the past five years or so, and which
is probably directly related to women returning to work earlier

2. Health professionals - midwives, health visitors, especially, less so
doctors - are keener to declare their support for bf, and are keener to get
it established in hospital.

But change 2 is a truly double-edged sword. This keeness is shown in a very
hands-on (literally), interventionist way and it still comes with a
bucket-load of misinformation, myth and our old friend, conflicting advice.
The net result is women still have disappointing bf experiences, and worse,
they feel terrible about it as 'everyone in hospital was so helpful'  and
they think it's their fault!

This is where Elaine and Hannah are so right - we need to make sure the bf
experience is part of women's empowerment and joyful mothering.  This of
course (as everyone on this list knows!) means striving to understand bf
fully, in all its phsyiological, emotional and psychological aspects - it's
far far more than just a way of getting a great natural product into
babies' stomachs. I think a full appreciation of this among the people who
have most contact with bf mothers, and the people who make the laws,  is
decades away.

Heather Welford Neil

NCT bfc Newcastle upon Tyne UK