>Let us not lose sight of the fact that our primary
>focus is not breastfeeding, but breastfeeding as an essential component of
>optimal health.
For me, the health issues are just the packaging that seems to sell the
best to the most people. But what am I *really* hoping for? That this
mother and baby won't lose one of the best relationships they'll ever
experience, before it even gets started. That this baby will have the
relationship with his mother that he deserves, and from which all his other
relationships will grow. That this mother will have a chance to enjoy to
the fullest one of the best parts of being female. That the world will be
that much closer to sanity because of how these two people have learned to
interact and love. That this basic human function won't be short-circuited
by pain, cheapened by misunderstanding, trivialized by ignorance.
When a client of mine nurses for a year, of course I praise her. It's no
small thing in this country. But I also feel a little sorry for her and
for her child. In my mind, she didn't quite "get it," or they'd have
nursed a whole lot longer. She understood the health part, but it never
quite clicked that nursing is what mothers and young children do together,
that it's far more than just food or health, that it was never meant to end
so early. Sure, even a day of breastfeeding is better than none, and I'll
work hard to get them that day, if that's all there's to be. But I'm
looking toward the day when we see nursing for a year as the *beginning* of
a good nursing relationship, not the end.
If I can encourage a woman to nurse for at least a few months, maybe her
neighbor will be more encouraged to nurse longer. And her children longer
still, until we begin to accept nursing into the toddler and preschool
years and beyond as not only acceptable but normal and enviable. *Then*
I'll feel as if we've done our job.
If there were no health differences between breastfed babies and their
unlucky peers, would I still be a lactation consultant? You bet! It would
change some of what I talk about; it wouldn't change my primary focus.
Diane Wiessinger, MS, IBCLC Ithaca, NY
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