Lots of interesting stuff from Liz.

In the UK, we don't see a lot of 'pumping to maintain a supply' - we 
see some, and some of the most popular babycare book authors 
recommend regular pumping virtually from birth for this reason, so it 
is in the air....but I don't think we see it often.

Given that Liz references the 12+ hours away from their babies that 
mothers have to begin at 4, 6 or 8 weeks pp, and going back to work 
before 9 mths is increasingly rare in the UK, maybe maternity leave 
is the crucial difference. We don't need health insurance of course 
as we have a National Health Service and well-baby clinics and health 
visitor support are used regularly by virtually all mothers.

We share many of the cultural barriers to breastfeeding with the US, 
but not that one.

I am easily persuaded by Liz that these barriers have an effect on 
mothers' feelings about whether they have sufficient milk....and can 
set them on a treadmill to build up a stash.

I am equally persuaded that forcing mothers back to paid employment 
has a major role in forcing mothers onto that treadmill.

Virginia's fascinating account of her resarch into hand expression 
confirms there is a folk memory of hand expression in the UK and in 
Aus. This chimes with my mother's experiences in UK maternity wards 
of the 1950s. Rigid scheduling, rigid timing, rigid separation had 
the expected effects on her and her contemporaries, and she certainly 
was told to hand express. In fact she got mastitis with a raging 
fever after one of us, and a midwife did the hand expressing to her, 
which was one of her most painful memories.  Isnt it crazy?

Heather Welford Neil
NCT bfc, tutor, UK


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