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Subject:
From:
Jeffrey Fouche <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Lactation Information and Discussion <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Thu, 28 Dec 1995 22:34:19 -0500
Content-Type:
text/plain
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Here is the response I got from the book's author.  Comments
anyone?

>Date:  28 Dec 95 13:32:18 EST
>From:  Bill Adler <[log in to unmask]>
>To:    "'Jeffrey Fouche'" <[log in to unmask]>
>
>To:  Jeffrey Fouche
>From:  Peggy Robin
>Subject:  *Bottlefeeding Without Guilt*
>
>I always appreciate hearing from breastfeeding advocates who do
not resort
> to
>name-calling or guilt-slinging, and so I thank you for a
generally
> thoughtful
>letter.  If you read the entire book, you will see that the focus
is on
> mothers
>who started out intent on breastfeeding.  Most of them diligently
followed
> the
>advice of La Leche League, breastfeeding manuals, and/or
certified
> lactation
>consultants.  Many of them (just like me) had successfully
breastfed a
> first
>child.  However, the problems of breastfeeding can sometimes be
very diffic
>ult
>to work out; many breastfeeding advocates (who themselves had an
easy time
>breastfeeding, or who had problems that they solved with the help
of
> standard
>techniques) seem to have a hard time believing that the mothers
who have tu
>rned
>to bottlefeeding have "tried hard enough."
>
>You compare formula use to smoking, but the two things are quite
> dissimilar.
>There is no circumstance in which cigarette smoke is beneficial.
When
>breastmilk is not available as a form of infant nutrition,
formula is not o
>nly
>beneficial, but essential.  Eighty-five percent of Americans born
in the
> 1950's
>were brought up on formula and only formula.  That generation
constitutes
> a mass
>experiment in formula use which should be pretty reassuring to
the mother
> today
>who finds herself unable to breastfeed.  Chances are high that
many, if not
>most, of bottlefeeding's most strident critics were themselves
fed formula
>as
>infants.
>
>I did not write the book to discourage any mother from
breastfeeding.  I
> wrote
>it for those who had already experienced breastfeeding
difficulties and
> were
>feeling guilty about having "failed" at mothering their babies.
Indeed,
> it is
>my hope and belief that my book may be of help to the mother of a
bottlefed
>first child, who wants to breastfeed any subsequent children.  By
> identifying
>and discussing some of the more intractable problems that may
arise, a
> mother
>may be able to seek more effective help, right from the start,
the next
> time
>around.  She may also be less panicked over the matter, having
already
> seen her
>bottlefed first child thriving, and thus more able to relax
during
> breastfeeding
>attempts (which usually aids in let-down).
>
>Having been both a breastfeeding mother (first child) and a
bottlefeeding
> mother
>(second), I would definitely say I experienced more negative
reactions
> from the
>society around me when I was bottlefeeding.  Some breastfeeding
advocates
> think
>this is a positive thing.  I say it's never a good thing to have
strangers
>upbraiding mothers in public about how they feed their babies,
and that
> applies
>equally to critics of public breastfeeding and critics of toddler
nursing.
>
>Sincerely,
>Peggy Robin
>
~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*
Jeffrey S. Fouche, RN, BSN
Breastfeeding Educator
[log in to unmask]
Web Page:  http://members.gnn.com/jsfouche/breastfeeding.html
Higher intelligence begins with breastfeeding!
*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~

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