Betsy writes:

"It seeme to me if the mother perserveres through whatever the 
problems=20=
might be that she encounters with her infant's ability to latch and=20
successfully, and she is successful, the outcome is the same as it 
would=20=
be for another mother/baby couplet who do not happen to encounter any=20
problems. Both mothers end up with a successfully nursing baby, both 
of=20=
whom are receiving breastmilk as an exclusive diet."

So I guess I am asking why it matters whether or not breastfeeding=20
is "medicalized" as long as the outcome is an exclusively nursing baby."

How can we believe that these are the same? If our definition of 
success is that both mothers are breastfeeding exclusively and we don't 
think that the "getting there" matters, then we are really missing the 
point. For one thing, mothers are less likely to "get there", the more 
they have to contend with, so we are going to lose a lot of moms along 
the way to "receiving breastmilk as an exclusive diet.". Certainly, 
many more moms who have to struggle either wean very early or do not 
breastfeed exclusively (from the beginning!)

Why should mothers and babies have to overcome the pain and trauma of a 
struggle to breastfeed, when instead they should be able to settle in 
for a beautiful babymoon? How can we believe that missing this time 
together doesn't matter? Mothers and babies generally do not happen to 
encounter problems--for the most part, problems are caused by the 
medicalization of birth and the cultural ideas that diminish the needs 
of mothers, and babies in particular. As I see it, the belief that the 
(medically-defined) "outcome" is the parameter for success is one of 
those very ideas that diminshes what the post-partum period deserves to 
be.
Jennifer Tow, IBCLC, CT, USA

             ***********************************************

To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail
To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest)
To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet
All commands go to [log in to unmask]

The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(R)
mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html