Hello, Lactnet. I posted this last Wednesday, but it never appeared - maybe
as a new (and enthusiastic) Lactnetter I erred technically, or
something....anyway, here's an edited version, plus one or two points
inspired by subsequent digests.
1. discharge packs. Years ago, here in the UK,formula was included in what
we call'the Bounty bag' because the main company that handed out the bags
had that name. The pack's babycare book also had formula ads.The freebie
formula stopped being common practice oh,I'd say about 20 years ago and
more recently,the ads stopped. Why? Mainly because enough people thought it
was such a bad idea they **jumped up and down and complained and threatened
to refuse co-operation with the bag reps**.Ha!
ii. Working and breastfeeding - your Congressional people  looking at
legislation might look at the Pregnant Workers Directive, which is European
Union legislation which includes protection for the breastfeeding mother.I
had a client who used it to allow her to decline her manager's instructions
to change workplace, because it would have meant extra travelling time, and
she would not have been able to return home at lunchtime to feed her (10
months old) baby.Problem is, hardly anyone knows about these protective
measures. The charity Maternity Action has an information campaign which
hopes to spread the news.
3.In the UK we call pacifiers 'dummies' and when you hear a mum say 'he's
using me as a dummy' it's even more sad, as dummy also means 'idiot'....
4. Postnatal depression - check out Dunnewold and Crenshaw's article on
this in Breastfeeding Abstracts May 96 which overviews existing literature
inc. stuff on hormones. I had to look at this topic for my forthcoming book
on PND (out in the summer...available all good bookshops etc etc) and
although there is no definitive research on this, I speculated that
depressed mothers have difficulty in tuning into their babies' needs, whcih
makes happy breastfeeding more elusive...and that unhappy breastfeeding can
certainly contribute to PND. Yet I am sure we have all met depressed mums
whose breastfeeeding was felt by them to be a vital link with their baby,
the one thing they felt they were doing right.
Heather Welford Neil
NCT bfc
Newcastle upon Tyne, UK

Heather