> Many women in the US go back to work and put their children in day care.
It
> does them and their children a disservice to perpetuate the idea that you
> can't breastfeed unless you stay with your children 24 hours a day.  All
> over the world, and throughout human prehistory and history, women have
> worked inside and outside the home and had help from others caring for
their
> children and still managed to breastfeed them for years and years.  It
would
> be great if day care centers in a city could be certified as
"breastfeeding
> friendly"

I have heard rumours that there is a daycare here in Québec somewhere
that takes ONLY breastfed babies.  It makes sense...fewer illnesses to
spread about...  ;-)  I have heard this becasue it has caused a big
uproar, as being prejudiced, and unfair...and YET I have also frequently
heard of daycares where they do not let you bring human milk because of
a fear of "contamination" and things like that.  So why the uproar?  :-(

> You don't have to stay with your baby 24 hours a day in order to
breastfeed
> for many years.  This is a pernicious belief that many women have, and it
> leads to comments like "I'm not going to breastfeed because I'll have to
go
> back to work in 6 weeks anyway, so why bother."  Or "I'm only going to
> breastfeed for 6 weeks, because then I have to go back to work."  It is
> quite possible to combine paid work outside the home, and the child in a
day
> care center, with breastfeeding.

I had one aquaintance I met during the first couple of months of my
pregnancy who claimed she did not breastfeed because of this.  She said
"I have to go back to work anyhow".  Back then, there was a 6-month
maternity leave...I guess she didn't think that 6 months was worth it.
I had said "why don't you at LEAST nurse 6 months and then make the
decision if you want to wean, or pump, or just provide AIF for when the
baby is at daycare and nurse only when at home?"...but she said it was
"too much worry".  :-(  Well, maternity leave has recently (I think
since january 2001) been upped to 1 year.  That means most people in
Canada who have regular full-time jobs with reputable companies have 1
year of leave (well, actually, 6 mos MATERNITY and 6 mos "parental"
leave...the parental either mom OR dad can take...).  This same girl is
pregnant again and won't nurse b/c she has to go back to work after a
year...and yet I can't think that she would even have nursed a year
anyhow had that been her decision!

Fio.

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