My paternal grandmother had her 3 children in the 1930's and 1940's.  She 
said that breastfeeding was not encouraged, but the mother could still choose to. 
 I can't remember her exact wording.  She was told to breastfeed every 4 
hours, but she said her oldest wouldn't tolerate that length of time, so she 
settled on about every 3 hours.  She has been a little shocked by my breastfeeding 
on demand at times, like at the dinner table.  Especially when I met her in 
the grocery store with my second child in the sling and I told her he was 
nursing as she reached over to touch his head. ;-)  She is legally blind, but I 
don't think she would have known even if she could see better.  She also told me 
that her mother breastfed a neighbor's baby, when the baby's mother came over 
saying that she didn't have enough milk.

My maternal grandmother is about the same age, and had her children in the 
1940's.  She also said that breastfeeding wasn't encouraged, but she did not 
buck the system.  She tells my how frustrated she was because my aunt would never 
finish the bottle, or eat much solid food as a baby.

Jennifer Stevens, RN

In a message dated 3/3/2006 7:56:15 AM Eastern Standard Time, 
[log in to unmask] writes:
My mother - 81 - also gave birth in the early 50s (in the UK, though) 
and she and her contemporaries tell me breastfeeding was assumed, and 
it was insisted upon.

Interesting that  Judy's mother says babies were kept with the 
mothers. I think this is crucial.

With my mother, what was also insisted upon was babies in the nursery 
at night and in the day, feeding no more often than four-hourly 
(babies were brought to mothers at designated times - every baby was 
brought at the same time),  formula top ups for any baby that didn't 
settle immediately after the designated so-many-minutes per side and 
who cried between feeds.

They were in hospital for about 2 weeks - plenty of time to totally 
mess someone's breastfeeding experience up with those rules. My 
mother had raging mastitis with 2 of us and stopped breastfeeding 
very quickly. She tried again with number 3, still following the same 
crazy rules, and this time 'ran out of milk'. 4th time (1960s) she 
didn't try at all.

These experiences were absolutely typical for the time - insisting on 
breastfeeding, but with institutional practices that undermined it 
right from the start.

This is what bothers me about campaigns to persuade/encourage/teach 
mothers about the benefits of breastfeeding. Without the structures 
in place to make it work, mothers are still at the mercy of outdated 
knowledge.

We have mothers and babies together all the time in UK maternity 
hospitals, and no one insists on 4 hourly feeds any more, but there 
are plenty of people who should know better telling mothers to 
schedule from the start and to limit time at the breast, and giving 
top ups of formula right from the start for babies who don't conform 
to this regime.

Heather Welford Neil
NCT bfc,  tutor, UK

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