When it comes to cultural beliefs, it can be a challenge.  What one
believes can strongly affect not only outward behavior, but apparantly
phisiological function as well when it is strongly ingrained.  I
remember several years ago hearing a very knowledgable peer counseling
mom, who I think was Vietnamese, relate an experience of her own.  She
had been educated about  not only the reasons to breastfeed, but how the
breasts function.  She was able to identify the cultural beliefs that
she had grown up with that did not have a phisiologic basis.  One of
these was the idea that if a pregnant mom entered the home of a new
mother, she would "steal" the new mother's milk.  This mom was able to
verbalize that she realized there was no basis for this belief, but that
nevertheless, when she had contact with a pregnant mom when her own baby
was very young, the next day she "had no milk".  If the effect of these
beliefs can occur even when the person is well informed, how much more
so for one who only has her learned cultural beliefs to go on!
It might be helpful not to argue whether her milk was or wasn't bad, but
to say, in effect, "Here's how to make it good again".
Winnie Mading

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