Dear Barb Your thoughtful discussion of he b'feeding issue is well-said and accords with what other LCs say I think. I am not one to argue for simplistic and individualistic interpretations of women's 'choice', eg to have elective caesars or to bottle feed, because all 'choices' are socially shaped. But I think it is very inappropriate and self-defeating to get on the moral high horse and neglect the obstacles that women currently face in what Pam Carter's called the 'working conditions' of breastfeeding. It is not necessary to attack a journalist personally nor is it 'women-centred' to accuse people of making choices we disagree with when we do not know what their personal story or situation is. Fiona Giles' Fresh Milk or Virginia Schmied's work show very well the variety of experiences and dilemmas women face, including cultural attitudes to the body and pressures from partners, mothers etc. Surely we should be focusing on the structural constraints such as poor birthing and postnatal care, lack of maternity leave and childcare etc that influence decision-making! Many women are simply stuck in a lousy system and deserve understanding and respect rather than condemnation. As that wonderful wise woman Sheila Kitzinger wrote in the Preface to my book Our Bodies Our Babies, 'If individual women are to find a voice, wherever they are coming from, their individual choices are valid. Those of us who find ourselves representing the birth (and breastfeeding) movement need to listen and learn. Only then can we understand.' As she goes on to points out , some women seek epidurals because they have suffered sexual or other abuse, and who are we to judge? Also, pertinent to Justine's recent comment, are they then to be denied midwifery care? Surely not! For myself, I think we need some humility here and, as Barb recognises, understand diversity of needs and circumstances. As Sheila K also comments, we face a tension between on the one hand 'helping individual women, enabling them to have the a positive experience, whatever kind of birth it is. On the other, we are working to change the system... to respect the normal physiology of birth and lactation. ' I don't think being 'Nipple Nazis', as people say, is very productive. Maybe we can share around the guilt of not yet making the world a fit place for mothers! In struggle Kerreen <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
________________________________ From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] on behalf of Denise Fisher Sent: Wed 18/05/2005 5:32 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [ozmidwifery] FW: Breastfeeding Hi Carina You've brought up some points that are good food for thought. It was a tragedy the day that milk banks were closed in Australia due to the scare with HIV, despite pasteurisation easily killing HIV (I wonder why sperm banks weren't also closed??). I note that a new bank is opening in WA and perhaps one in Melbourne. I wish them success. The incidence of physiological inability to breastfeed is somewhere in the order of 1 - 2 per 100 women. I don't believe with an incidence at this level that it warrants we guard everything we say to every woman. And then there's that really fascinating topic of 'guilt'. Can you induce guilt in someone? - maybe, if they really are guilty. However I don't feel guilty about something I have no control over. For example if I had no uterus I wouldn't feel guilty that I'm not adding to Australia's population, no matter how much Mr Howard exhorts me to. If I had no breasts or my breasts were not functional I would not feel guilty that I'm not breastfeeding regardless of how many people told me it was best. My opinion is that some health professionals don't know how to support women to breastfeed adequately and in covering their own feelings of guilt about this they 'pretend' that it's the mother they are trying not to make feel guilty. To give you lots of different opinions on guilt and breastfeeding do a google search using those terms. Have fun Denise At 03:23 PM 18/05/2005 +0930, you wrote: Some food for thought, What about the women who simply cannot breastfeed and cannot produce enough milk???? The wet nurse is still in existence in many tribal cultures where formulary has no influence. It's very easy to be passionate about something and sing it's praises when you have experienced success, but what about those women who don't succeed despite months of trying and perseverance. I, like all many midwives of course believe that breast is best and should be promoted as optimum nutrition for a baby but sometimes I believe that in trying to get this message across we need to be careful not to make other women lose their 'confidence ands fall into the motherhood guilt trap'. Carina *************************************** Denise Fisher, MMP, BN, IBCLC Health e-Learning http://www.health-e-learning.com <http://www.health-e-learning.com/> [EMAIL PROTECTED] ****************************************
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