Hi everyone
Soapbox time-
A few months ago we had a discussion on Lactnet about what to
call the process of delivering mother's milk to a baby at the breast.  The
consensus seemed to be that the single word "breastfeeding" was the best
one.  One of the reasons was the issue of differing usage in various
parts of the world.  While I can readily accept the problem of literature
and info for a worldwide audience, after reading people's postings about
deliberate, extended feeding of EBM I am again convinced that here in the
US we should be using the word "nursing".  It is not, IMHO, a euphemism
or holdover from the times when the word breast was not polite.  Nursing
is a word that more adequately describes a process and a relationship.
Breastfeeding can all to often be a direct parallel to bottle feeding.
Nursing can easily lead to attachment parenting, co-sleeping and other
parenting practices that many feel are beneficial to all concerned.

Yesterday was my turn on the NYC LLL phone - in 5 hours I had 10 calls!
Several of the mothers indicated to me that they kept their infants in
bed with them, even though you weren't supposed too.  I was glad to be
able to say that many nursing mothers find this the best solution, even
though it is different from much of what you hear in the general
culture.  Somehow I doubt that feeding expressed milk in a bottle would
lead to meeting the babies' needs in this way.

I will step off the soapbox now - and hopefully not fall too far in the
ice and snow. (ANOTHER storm coming!)


Sarah Friend Barnett, LLLL, IBCLC
Bronx (New York City), New York
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