On 27/01/2007, at 12:37, Jenna Klabunde wrote:

> 	I believe that women today are very conscious that breastfeeding is
> beneficial.  Some women, however, remain unknowledgeable about basic
> breastfeeding facts and options to breastfeed if they have to go  
> back to
> work.  How can we get this information to mothers and encourage  
> them to
> breastfeed even if they go back to work?

I'm a very firm believer in mother-to-mother support systems. If a  
woman feels as though (or perhaps is) the only woman in her  
workplace, the only woman in her circle of friends who has ever  
regularly expressed milk, she will feel alone and unsupported.  
Support and information go hand in hand; I don't think that a  
brochure and/or professional advice alone carry sufficient impetus  
for many women to continue with the difficult job of expressing in  
the absence of an encouraging, informed, emotionally supportive peer  
group.

If a woman lacks an expressing peer group in  her workplace or circle  
of friends, there are a number of internet groups that serve the  
purpose, for those women with internet access. This is my chosen  
method of breastfeeding support provision at this point in my life. I  
can't tell you the number of women who have burst into tears of  
relief at finding their pumping peer group and realising there is a  
whole world of women out there who share her experiences.

This isn't the only thing that needs doing of course; there are  
systematic barriers to expressing in the workplace for many women,  
both practical and interpersonal, and these need to be broken down  
with the dual processes of societal attitude change and legislative  
protection.

Lara Hopkins

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