>
>
>Date:    Thu, 31 Mar 2016 18:33:17 +0100
>From:    Pamela Morrison <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Me and Jamie Oliver
>
>Thanks to everyone, Eithne and Heather and others, for putting forward the
>case for accepting the mother where she is, and the need for her to feel
>psychologically safe.
>
>This is all nice, and reassuring, and accepting and very politically
>correct.


Pamela - I feel uncomfortable when these concerns are described in that way.

Accepting the mother where she is, supporting her to feel 
psychologically safe, is a vital part of breastfeeding advocacy. I 
don't think it has anything to do with political correctness, in the 
rather disparaging sense you mean it, anyway (political correctness, 
in any case, is often just good manners!).

>
>It also reflects the western view of maternal autonomy (individual rights,
>vs public health).

There is certainly a tension between individual rights and public 
health, though I don't see it as an especially western concern. 
Individual freedom and where it sits in relation to the 
family/community/nation state/ethnic group/the world   is part of a 
philosophical and sometimes ethical discussion - the same one which 
challenged the ancient Greeks, theologians of all religious stripes, 
the thinkers of the 18th century Enlightenment (and from there, the 
leaders of the American revolution)....  among loads of others, and 
it has relevance to many of the major political issues of our own day 
:)

There is an added aspect to this  - infant feeding is *gendered*, and 
becomes part of women's reproductive and sexual landscape. This is 
not just biology . Infant feeding is *socially mediated* and has been 
ever since we humans started living in groups. In many instances, the 
dominant power made it impossible for mothers to breastfeed their 
children. They were constrained by their social class, their race, 
the power that patriarchal society had to impact on and in some cases 
to *dicate* their feeding and nurturing.  We should be aware of this 
history, and we should avoid perpetuating it.

>
>But in this discourse, I don't hear one word about the health consequences
>for the baby nor of our ethical obligation to promote the highest
>attainable standard of health for the end-user of the mother's infant
>feeding decision. >

If you don't hear it, then you cannot be listening properly.  There 
are different ways to promote breastfeeding - and working on 
pressurising individual mothers, guilting mothers, criticising 
mothers,  is not effective....in fact, it works *against* 
breastfeeding.  It's *counter productive* .

>But if a mother can breastfeed, but
>chooses not to, there seems to be the same compulsion to support her
>choice, just because the idea of freedom of choice seems to be somehow
>sacrosanct.

Well.....unless you are going to make it legally compulsory for 
mothers to breastfeed, with sanctions against those who don't or 
won't, or won't do it long enough, then that  'freedom of choice'  is 
something we all have to accept!

Encouraging and recommeding breastfeeding is fine. But my point is, 
some breastfeeding advocates, individually or collectvely through 
campaigns/posters/training etc, are not using the right language, the 
right tone, and the necessary open-mindedness to avoid the hatred of 
breastfeeding advocacy that we see more and more in the nedia and 
especially the internet. Some women are hurting. Some women are 
angry. Some women are turning this against all breastfeeding 
advocacy, and we are all being tarred with the same brush as nazis, 
fascists, lunatics, unkind, uncaring, obsessive....you know the sort 
of thing!

This is horribly divisive. It plays right into the hands of the 
formula manufacturers who base entire marketing strategies on it - 
they say  'yeah - you're right! These people who support 
breastfeeding really do think you are terrible mothers - they really, 
really do! Buy our brand and join the 'sisterhood of motherhood' and 
feel good!'

I want to support individual mothers in their mothering. I believe 
when breastfeeding goes well, it  enhances mothering, as well as 
being collectively and individually powerful in health terms.

If a woman is not breastfeeding *for whatever reason*, that reason is 
almost always socially and culturally constrained and no one should 
judge her.

  If she feels unjudged, and supported in her mothering,  she will be 
a better, stronger mother whatever her feeding decisions....and more 
likely to make a socially and culturally freer decision next time. 
Non-breastfeeding  women believe breastfeeding advocates are judging 
them - and we have to work out how to create a dialogue that avoids 
this.

Heather Welford Neil, UK

-- 

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