Hi All,

The views expressed so far re: this subject are all valid and do not 
warrant rebuttal.

 From what I've seen, Pam is right:  *some* mothers do present themselves 
as self-centered/selfish and appear to choose to bottlefeed, despite all 
reason/instinct otherwise, because they believe it's the easier/convenient/ 
way to feed. Then, like Mary points out, there are many moms who are 
bottlefeeding with the selfless, caring attitude of any of the 
"top"  breastfeeders among us.  :-)

Certainly, the HCPs and media/advertising/corporations are a huge factor in 
answering Mary's WHY "an otherwise intelligent, clear thinking woman 
chooses to feed her infant in a way that poses real health risks to herself 
and her baby."

But I see that the answer to this WHY is really much deeper and much more 
fundamental.  Many women (and men for that matter) have strayed far from 
their true nature: they don't listen to what their instincts tell them; 
they ignore their gut feelings; they don't follow their heart; they place 
far too much reliance on what they think rather than what they feel; they 
don't listen to their bodies' messages; and they don't trust their bodies.

In short, moms aren't breastfeeding because they can't access their natural 
wisdom that would naturally guide them in that direction.  When a mom is in 
touch with and trusts her body and its needs/desires, no amount of HCP 
misinformation or formula advertising or people's stares will make an iota 
of difference: breastfeeding she will do.

The whole penchant for medicalized births is part of this same problem.

Sure, this situation of disconnect has arisen, in part, because of our 
(U.S.) culture of capitalism/media/consumerism, but, again, the real 
problem is much deeper.  And a solution, I believe, is a more fundamental 
action than just changing advertising and HCP's messages.

To a great degree, I see that to get moms to breastfeed, one first has to 
help mom trust her body's wisdom.

~Dianne Oliver, LLLL, IBCLC
Simi
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Holistic Lactation
805-582-2058
www.holisticlactation.com

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