Katherine wrote:
>It seems to me that women need to see other women breastfeed. It is
such a private, secretive activity in much of the United States. I
think we need to deliver the message that breastfeeding is something
you do in public.
The more women see other women do it, the more accepted it becomes.
Many of the women I teach, sophisticated urbanites, have never
witnessed anyone breastfeeding a baby. They are often moved by scenes
in childbirth videos of women breastfeeding, but will then relate
stories of their friends unsuccessful attempts to breastfeed, and
enter the whole process with a completely defeatist attitude. They
need to be bombarded with positive images, that this can be done, it
is not an impossibility, it is normal and life goes on around it.<

I was one of those who had never seen a baby breastfeed until I became
pregnant and started to attend LLL meetings. I knew that mothers DID
breastfeed, but I had no idea of how it was done, or how often,
because it was something that was never done in public. I was 3 yrs
old when my sister was born. I remember my mother going into another
room to feed her behind closed doors. Even after I was married and
pregnant, I honestly thought that all babies miraculously weaned
themselves from the breast at 6 months because they no longer needed
to nurse but DID need bottles of cow's milk until they were about a
year old.

Going to LLL meetings was a revelation. Of course I got a lot of
information from hearing the Leaders' presentations and the mothers
sharing their experiences, but the most important thing, for me, was
observing how the mothers tended their babies. It was here that I
learned how breastfeeding is not just a way of feeding babies, but
that it is also an all-purpose mothering tool. When my own baby was
born I still had the old tapes running in my head, telling me that
*good* mothers fed their at regular intervals, but it soon became
quite obvious that my baby had no idea how to read a clock. It was the
LLL mothers who modelled that good mothering was a matter of listening
to my baby, and that most of his needs could be met at the breast.

This is why I believe that the last step of the Baby Friendly
programme, Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding, is so important.
" Foster the establishment of breastfeeding support groups and refer
mothers to them on discharge from the hospital or clinic. "
Mothers are in the hospital for a very short time. If we want them to
continue nursing when they are home with their babies, we need to
provide role models with whom they can relate, as well as continuing
education and encouragement.


norma

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