Two threads on language and a lot of passion!  I was without internet
access most of Monday, went to the archives and just read the last day
or so's posts.

Thank you to all the military mothers who have shared your experiences
and shown why the title of Robyn's book is indeed accurate.  Thank
you, too, for letting me start my day fortified by your determination,
which you have articulated so well.  Thanks especially to Virginia and
to Linda, who unleashed this flood.  If you have felt stung in any way
by the subsequent posts in the respective threads, slap something
soothing on the stings (have any expressed breastmilk lying around??)
and accept this listmother's gratitude for starting a really
illuminating discussion.  Don't think there are ANY posts in either
thread I haven't learned something from.

I am going to sidestep entirely the discussion with all its
implications, about what we call the way children get our milk,
mentioning it here so it is clear I acknowledge it as a discussion but
am not participating in it in this post.

It occurs to me that Virginia's post about the book and session title,
which I am sure she is regretting since she posted with insufficient
information, was not based on any wish to cheapen or downgrade
anyone's experience.  She is probably at least as impressed as any of
us who have grown accustomed to living in places with universal
maternity leave, that mothers' commitment to their children is so
powerful.  She may not have been able to imagine that military mothers
in the US could possibly breastfeed, given the obstacles in their way,
and mistakenly assumed that the only way their children could have
their milk is if they express it first.

It occurred to me, too, in reading these posts, that breastfeeding
mothers on active duty in the military are an extreme variant of women
who want to breastfeed and have paid employment outside their homes in
the US.  After living in Norway for most of my adult life, I don't
think I miss the obstacles posed in the US.  Lack of legislated, REAL
maternity leave; no protection from direct marketing of breastmilk
substitutes; or societal attitudes toward breasts that make
breastfeeding outside the privacy of your home into a game of chance
as to whether you will be harrassed, to name the first that come to
mind. But I will grant there is something useful about being conscious
of what you are doing for your children, and in the long run, for your
society, by breastfeeding them.

For the record, we really desperately need a campaign here in Norway
about how to breastfeed in 'hospital whites'.  Hospital employees here
wear white, because workclothes are supplied by our employer and we
can't wear our own clothes. (Cheaper for us and a great equalizer,
nobody looks good in them!)  Mothers in Norway have had the legal
right to breastfeeding breaks of up to one hour per shift for several
decades.  In the public sector we have negotiated contractual rights
to up to TWO hours per shift, with pay.  Works fine for teachers and
office workers and other public employees who work days but it is
currently impossible to practice if you work evenings, nights or
weekends in the health services (or police for that matter), because
there is not enough staffing to cover your break and patient care
can't be compromised.  At present the right to breastfeeding breaks
for health workers is a right that exists only on paper and in the
fantasy world of speechifying by our politicians, especially when
abroad.

Several of the active duty mothers who posted made a beautiful point I
haven't seen made before so succinctly, and I want to repeat it here:
pumping is not mainly so your child can have your milk when you are
apart - it is so you can breastfeed when you are together.

The discussion about how we describe the role of sales reps from
formula companies is important too.  Liz Brooks sums it up really well
in her most recent post about it.  I think Susan Lawrence is right,
too, when she asks us to consider the reason the formula salesperson
is so available that you may be having numerous conversations with
them.  Would a practice give the same time and space to a
pharmaceutical salesperson?   These are questions I would ask any
prospective health care practitioner I was considering using, and if
their answers made me doubt their understanding of the roles of these
marketing workers, I'd seek care elsewhere.

Thanks to all of you who have posted - pedantic or not, nit-picky or
not - there is passion in all the posts and the discussion is
worthwhile.
Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!  Love this list when it works this way.

Rachel Myr
Kristiansand, Norway

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