Yesterday, I went to sit down in the waiting room outside of my 8  
year-old's gymnastic class. As I walked in, there was a lively  
discussion going on among 4 of the women about breastfeeding. These  
are women with kids about my son's age--no babies or toddlers, so  
their own experiences would have been between 6-10 years ago. They  
were literally singing the praises of AIM--three of them had  
attempted to bf, one had "not even bothered" (her words). She is a  
psychotherapist and is often speaking quite animatedly about  
developmental issues.

Anyway, one of the moms said that she "tried" for two days and that  
"they say that it isn't even the best thing for some babies, that it  
really depends on the baby and mother. My pediatrician even told me  
to stop breastfeeding, that it isn't for everyone and it wasn't for  
me He told me that bottlefeeding is just as good". Each mother agreed  
that her physician had supported her AF, the tenor being that the  
docs were actually supportive of AF, not just of the mothers  
themselves. Not one said that any medical person had ever encouraged  
her to bf (which I realize does not mean that it didn't happen).

One of the other moms said she had tried for 4 weeks and finally quit  
(she did nurse her last one for 8 months, but she clearly stated that  
is was for her benefit, not the baby). The largest part of her  
conversation was about how careful she was with the AIM when she  
first used it--afraid of mixing it incorrectly, but by the third one  
was using the cheapest powdered she could buy, b/c it really didn't  
matter (this was the bf baby). She was basically laughing at her own  
foolishness for being so concerned about feeding her baby. There was  
a lot of discussion about how much these women "trust" the product-- 
yes they used that word. The therapist made the comment that "the  
kids all turned out fine". The theme seemed to be that worrying about  
breastfeeding and even how to mix the AIM is all silliness, a waste  
of time. One woman even stated that AIM is actually "better" for some  
babies (meaning the product, not just the method).

The fourth woman talked about how much trouble she went to to get a  
pump for her preemie baby when he came home from the hospital. Again  
the whole tone was about how foolish she had been to go to such  
extremes. The consensus was that women are "made to think that  
breastfeeding is so important" and pushed to try it when it really  
isn't important at all. The implication I got was that this came from  
their childbirth classes and things they had read, but it may alsp  
have come from hospital nurses supportive of bf'ing.

BTW, these are upper middle class white women, who certainly have the  
resources to pay for AIM or to hire breastfeeding help. None of them  
mentioned ever seeing an LC. This is a culture where breastfeeding is  
outright disparaged and AF is seen as more than normal--it is highly  
valued.

I am not sure exactly what conclusions I would draw, but it made me  
very sad and it was clear to me that the combination of incessant  
marketing (disguised as education), medicalized birth practices and a  
lack of physician advocacy (or physician ambivalence or even outright  
distaste for breastfeeding) are a potent mix for disaster in this  
culture.
Jennifer Tow, IBCLC, CT, USA

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