Ali Feeney wrote: **Yes - but I was both frustrated and saddened by the way
the journalist
presented the situation:
<< Still weak from Symphony's birth, she was forced to breastfeed Sincere.
"I had to, I couldn't give him anything else."  >>
What a sad culture we live in.**

Too true, and the reality is that breastfeeding, even breastmilk feeding, is
perceived as a substitute.  I don't need to remind you all that products
originally developed as substitutes (as second-rate replacements for the
mammalian norm, human milk) have long been developed as the only thing that
will pass an infant's lips till solids are begun. I've seen *other* news
reports over the years where a mother in an emergency has "had to BF", or
been forced by circumstances to BF, regarding this as a temporary measure
till commercial products and clean water are again available.

In the recent case cited, even if philosophically it is incorrect, the
mother's breastfeeding of this baby as a "substitute" to her intention is
still a plus.  It just means there is a l-o-n-g way to go in educating the
community and changing attitudes!  (Now, that's a topic in itself, that we
could discuss for weeks - long-term change of community attitudes, through
social marketing of Bf as the norm - and how to make Bf successful.)

One factor that has been round for decades is consumerism and beliefs that
one has to pay money for something for it to be of value, or to show that
one values the recipient.  Breastmilk is free, and to some that may, at
least unconsciously, mean "worthless".   Artificial baby milks cost valuable
money, and so have a monetary value put on them.  Look how the more
expensive ones sell!  (I got the impression I was regarded as a cheapskate
for "persisting" with my desire to breastfeed my first baby as a very young
Mum back in 1965, including relactating.  Not spending money on my baby.)

Economists who include the monetary value of human milk in GNP and other
measures of a country's production need every encouragement.  "Breastmilk as
valuable" needs to be aconcept introduced at every level from grassroots up,
though.  Kindergarten, school, and university curricula, social marketing,
etc, etc.  For a start, photos of breastfeeding need to include "ordinary"
mothers doing so without getting undressed, as worries about not being able
to Bf discreetly are often a barrier to BF as mothers think they can't Bf
away from home.

Issues of privacy, by the way, may prove a barrier in hurricane/flooding
evacuees, with so little private space and large number of people, including
men, huddled together in the shelters.  Providing privacy and safety may
even prove more important than getting various items to the mothers.  For
me, breastfeeding discreetly in public all over Queensland in the late-1960s
and early-1970s was never a problem (except once, only, when a nurse took
exception).  However, I realise that in some cultures such as the US this is
not the case - and here we are talking about vulnerable, traumatised women
who could be preyed upon.

Sorry, this is very long.

Virginia
in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

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