I see the Walrond incident as a American cultural (read economic) rejection of
breastfeeding. I wonder what are the commercial influences behind the slant of
the coverage of this situation. Why is the question about the risks of
breastfeeding? Instead, why is there no mention of the risks of "not doing
breastfeeding right?"  In the interview, Dr. Lawrence mentions that there are
problems with formula feeding much more frequently than with breastfeeding but
the health system is clever enough to cover the former very well. When the latter
occurs, let's blame the mother: the blame must be assigned somewhere, and maybe
blaming the mother will scare other mothers away from breastfeeding in the
process.

I take issue to the claim that mothers are under pressure to breastfeed. Mothers,
regardless of their level of education and intelligence, will opt for what they
feel they can do for the better of their baby and their own. Infant care is such
an integral part of daily activities that mothers will choose what is easiest (or
shall we say, what is least difficult?) for them to get the job done. They are
not looking for something special or complicated, but for something that will
give a balance to their hectic life. For some, this will mean breastfeeding, for
others, it will be bottle feeding, realizing to the extent of their knowledge and
abilities at the time, the pros and the cons of their decision.

I liken Walrond's and other mothers' experience of the death of their baby
following "breastfeeding" (sorry, I do not believe that breastfeeding kills
babies, hence the quotation marks) to that of someone being expected to pass a
test after having attended one lecture on an unfamiliar topic. The test here is
baby's survival and well-being. The lecture is a class on infant care in general,
and on breastfeeding in praticular, regardless of the competence of the teacher
and the completeness and accuracy of the information (which also weigh in the
test results). It is not difficult to understand why breastfeeding would be
unfamiliar to the mother. While most mothers will pass the test (with varying
degrees of success), it is inevitable that some will fail. And boy, is the system
going to nail those ones!

Why blame the mother when she has attempted to breastfeeding and failed? Easy.
First, how seriously are women's concerns taken in this society? A Black woman?
An uneducated woman? A financially disadvantaged woman? A woman who cannot see
that her baby is undernourished? A woman who has failed the test? Blame the
mother. Second, this society operates on money. I cannot help but see two sides
of a rusted coin: one concerns the money necessary to provide an adequate defense
for this mother. The other is the money to prosecute her, a task which bears a
lot more social consequences as formula feeding will come out victorious in the
end. I wonder from where the money would come for that one! Third, breastfeeding
deprives too many factions (pharmaceutical, medical, dairy industries) from their
share of this nation's wealth: blaming the mother is one easy blow on
breastfeeding. Fourth, we are emotional and impulsive, animals. The immediate
response at the sight of a photograph of an emaciated baby will be to blame the
mother for not seeing the progression of her baby's condition. Despite all
rational examination, this "first impression" is probably not going to change.
Fitfth, we think there is only one solution to any one problem and we limit, by
law if need be, options to those who own the problem. Although the article does
not make it clear as to whether abortion services were available to her, Walton
contemplated this avenue. Was it not pretentious on her part to feel that she was
not ready for motherhood? Does she not have any respect for life? Whose life?
What about hers? Blame the mother for having failed in a test she was not ready
to take in the first place.

The death of a "breastfed" baby does not happen in a vacuum. The Salon article
list factors that contributed to the demise of this baby. How long must we
tolerate this inertia? Meanwhile, how safe and smug society feels to have a
scapegoat!

As you can see, this Salon article has triggered a sensitive button in me. I feel
that women have been handed the short end of the stick for too long, and
sometimes I have to vent it out. Thank you for "listening."

Nicole Bernshaw
Salt Lake City,  Utah

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