> Sounds to me like she's meeting the needs of the youngest, most vulnerable
> member of the family quite competently. Maybe that's all she can do. Maybe
> that's all she chooses to do. That's a LOT, either way.
>
> IMHO, Instead of a bunch of rules on how to mother, she probably needs some
> immediate concrete practical help, like someone who can cook, clean, and
> watch the other children.
>
>
Absolutely. I worked in a program doing exactly that, but I was also
struck by the attitude of the professionals supervising us that
breastfeeding was tiring, routines were liberating, work outside the
home was freedom, etc. All of these probably reflected the values of the
supervisors, but not mine, and I was told not to "pressure the mothers
into breastfeeding." (It was scary that they were evaluating my work,
but obviously missing bits of it, because I am hopeless at pressuring
people to do anything from cleaning their rooms to not biting :-) My
challenge was figuring out whether it reflected the values of the women
with whom I was working, who were not yet empowered to define their own
needs, let alone find ways of having them met.
Jo-Anne

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