LACTNET Archives

Lactation Information and Discussion

LACTNET@COMMUNITY.LSOFT.COM

Options: Use Forum View

Use Monospaced Font
Show Text Part by Default
Show All Mail Headers

Message: [<< First] [< Prev] [Next >] [Last >>]
Topic: [<< First] [< Prev] [Next >] [Last >>]
Author: [<< First] [< Prev] [Next >] [Last >>]

Print Reply
Subject:
From:
Susan Stockwell <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Lactation Information and Discussion <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Fri, 15 Feb 2002 12:30:20 +0000
Content-Type:
text/plain
Parts/Attachments:
text/plain (38 lines)
At school we had two children whose families travelled with the fair
(amusement stalls and rides etc).
They didn't start school until they were eight and said that this was
because they had milk from their mother's breasts until then. Only one of
them had had milk in this way because she was the only 'true Romany'.
Has anyone else out there come across this as an aspect of Romany culture? I
should imagine that it would be well hidden given the hostility in non
Romany culture towards breastfeeding a child old enough to walk and talk.
A former work associate remembers a Gipsy woman feeding her child through
the school bars in this way in Wisbech about 20 years ago when her children
were at school.


A midwife I met who had worked in Yorkshire (about my age 39) had worked
with another older midwife who remembered it being normal practise in her
childhood in Darlington for children to be breastfed by their mothers
through the bars of school gates at break times.
At that time children didn't start school until 5 or 6.

Any more information on this area out there?

I really know nothing about Romany culture except that my family was allowed
to watch Flamenco in Spain at a Gipsy party as a very small child purely
because my parents had me and my brother with them, so we met their high
standards of behaviour towards little children, ie not leaving the children
behind to have a good time.

Susan Stockwell UK

_________________________________________________________________
Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp.

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

ATOM RSS1 RSS2