Rachel,

Animal studies into mothering behaviors induced by prolactin and  
oxytocin...

The death rate from all causes during the first year of life  
breastfeeding vs not breastfeeding- not all the difference is due to  
reduction in infection...

Abandonment rates of breastfeeders versus non breastfeeders ie  
kangaroo care...

Perhaps you would find it interesting to look specifically at Sara  
Beck Fein's work comparing breastfeeders, partial breastfeeders, and  
exclusive formula feeders and their rates of using a microwave to  
oven to warm EBM and ABM...there was a dose dependent response  
between the amount of breastfeeding and the mother's perception of  
the relative risk involved...that is the more a mother was  
breastfeeeding the more likely she was to prioritize infant safety  
above parental convenience...esophageal burns are a significant cause  
of injuries in infants...

Similar observations have been made on car seat usage although most  
people attribute this difference to the chicken rather than the  
egg...that is most people believe *better* mothers chose to  
breastfeed and that is why they are more likely to exhibit other  
beneficial behaviors, but Sara Beck Fein's work argues against this  
overly simplistic interpretation because in her study both exclusive  
and partial breastfeeders initiated breastfeeding (those both would  
fall into the *better* at the outset category) but the amount of  
breastfeeding affected their feelings and opinions and actions...

I am not seeking to antagonize any and every woman who has mothered  
her children without lactation, some of the women dearest in the  
world to me did not breastfeed. Let me turn the question around...if  
asserting that one of the benefits of breastfeeding is neurochemical  
"normalcy" for motherhood is antagonism, then why isn't asserting  
lactation as "normalcy" for infant feeding likewise antagonistic?

The problem you are having is that you view a discussion of the  
physical benefits to the baby as out of the realm of morality,  
whereas you view a discussion of the physical benefits to the mother  
in terms of mothering behaviors as in the realm of morality which for  
some reason poses a stumbling block for you.

Since I view both aspects of breastfeeding through the lens of what  
is justice for the child and good for the mother herself, and the  
relationship between them, I don't see either set of arguments as  
antagonistic, in fact I see them as charitable because I don't want  
to see any mother-baby pair deprived of the breastfeeding  
relationship out of ignorance of the full ramifications of choosing  
not to breastfeed...

One of the most powerful arguments that lactation makes every woman  
the best mother she can be is the candid admissions of mothers who  
bottlefed early children but went on to nurse later children- these  
happen in LLL meetings all the time...they are very sad that they  
missed out on the special feelings of bondedness they feel while  
breastfeeeding and they discuss how breastfeeding changes everything  
from where the baby's sleeps to how much mother-baby separation there  
is, to how they feel about the separation...as breastfeeding mothers  
they are much more likely to experience mother-baby separation as  
stressful whereas when they were bottlefeeding they experienced  
mother-baby separation as a welcome respite...

I have no doubt that there is a small subset of mothers who are not  
better/happier mothers in the lactation state...so when I said "every  
mother" I wasn't as precise as I should have been...but I believe  
there is a neurochemical origin for this...low dopamine levels can  
cause feelings of depression and lactation further depresses dopamine  
levels...for the mother who has low dopamine prior to lactation  
perhaps lactation increases her risk of postpartum depression even  
though this is not true for most mothers- who are likely to receive a  
protective effect against postpartum depression by lactation...

Saying that lactation helps most every mother be the best mother she  
can be, is not at all like saying every mother who ever bottlefed was  
a *bad* mother...that would be like saying every man afflicted with  
impotence was a bad husband...even though both acts are the central  
acts which uniquely bond the couples they are not the only acts that  
bond the couples...what I am saying is that the acts are the best  
acts for bonding because they have a neurochemical effect on the  
participants that are uniquely able to illicit other caretaking  
behaviors...

I have found that discussions of breastfeeding do not antagonize  
women who bottlefed in an era when the superiority of breastfeeding  
was not widely known. These women do not feel guilt over not  
breastfeeding although they may express sadness or anger. The only  
people who seem antagonized are today's apologists for bottlefeeding,  
and I am not going to circumscribe the discussion of breastfeeding  
around their feelings because they don't want any discussion of the  
superiority breastfeeding at all...

If you look into the history of wet nursing you will discover that  
opponents of wet nursing opposed it on the grounds that mothers who  
did not nurse their infants were more likely to be indifferent toward  
their children than women who did nurse their own infants. This was  
not to say every mother who nursed was a perfect mother and every  
mother who used a wet nurse was a bad mother, it was just that there  
was more risk of detachment.

If one takes the position that it antagonistic to discuss the  
differences in mothering behaviors between breastfeeders and non- 
breastfeeders than one wouldn't even consider conducting a well  
designed study to illucidate the differences...but we can't be afraid  
of the truth running counter to our philosphy- we have to be willing  
to incorporate new information and adapt our philosophy to it...

If furhter studies prove there is no difference in mothering  
behaviors between populations of breastfeeders and non-breastfeeders  
there will still be plenty of reasons to promote breastfeeding, but  
how likely is that?

Jen O'Quinn IBCLC

Rachel Myr wrote:

Jennifer, you cite an assertion that the neurochemistry of lactation  
makes

every mother a better mother than she otherwise would be.  Do you  
have any

references for that?

To me, this sounds like an easy way to antagonize any woman who has  
mothered

her children without experiencing the neurochemical changes induced by

lactation.  I do feel that I was transformed as a person when I became a

mother, but I have no way of knowing how I would have been as a mother

without breastfeeding, because breastfeeding worked well for us and I  
was

excellently supported before and throughout that period with my own

children, so I have no basis for comparison.



Both privately and in my work I have come across mothers who  
breastfed but

did so rigidly, half-heartedly, out of a sense of duty rather than

enjoyment, and seemed very distant even with their babies at the  
breast, and

I find it hard to believe that their children came out ahead compared  
to the

children I know who were artificially fed by mothers who respected  
and loved

them enough to walk over hot coals for them, and who would likely  
have done

just that if it could have helped them bring in a full milk supply or

recover from the serious illnesses that made it truly impossible for  
them to

breastfeed.  Maybe some of the aforementioned breastfeeding mothers  
would

have been even more distant if they didn't breastfeed, but I don't know

that.



So I would be reluctant to use such an approach in trying to convince

someone to breastfeed.  I'd be interested to see what the research  
says, but

I can't picture how I would incorporate it into my own messages to  
mothers -

at least not to mothers who aren't breastfeeding.



Rachel Myr

Kristiansand, Norway



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