Does having a normal birth, followed by a normal breastfeeding relationship make a woman a better mother?? I wouldn't be surprised if, when big numbers are crunched, that that is what statistically comes out of the computer, while also accepting that you can't apply statistics to individuals. Whether we like it or not we are driven by hormones over which we have no control - all of our loving relationships are heavily influenced by the hormones that are floating around us at the time. That's why normal birthing is so important (read Michel Odent, plus heaps of others now), and why breastfeeding is also incredibly important to the ability to mother and form secure attachments. Please don't get personally slighted over that statement - I'm not saying that all is lost for the mother and baby who don't experience normal - but when you're starting from the abnormal, it takes greater effort to get everything back to normal.
Denise Hynd's support for normal birthing to ultimately support breastfeeding is definitely addressing one of the barriers to successful breastfeeding. However, there are still a lot of midwives and doctors who set the mother up for failure of breastfeeding because of mismanagement, despite their wonderful birth experience. Lieve will support me when I mention the very, very poor breastfeeding rates in The Netherlands despite home birthing. It's not a natural follow-on - it's another essential skill that a good midwife must learn about and acquire and then share with her clients.
Yes there are barriers to breastfeeding that are beyond our immediate control, but one of the biggest barriers is the uneducated health professional. We're improving, and because of that I feel that some of the social barriers are being knocked down by confidently breastfeeding mothers - more women breastfeed in public without giving it a second thought; more mothers seek a place to pump at work, or lobby for closer childcare. It's happening, but only because these women start out with self-confidence, and that's where the assumption of breastfeeding as normal, and facilitating normal establishment of breastfeeding by knowledgeable midwives is the key.
Self-confidence in an ability to birth naturally is just as important as self-confidence to feed their baby naturally. Introducing doubt needlessly to either process destroys self-confidence.
Denise
*************************************** Denise Fisher Health e-Learning http://www.health-e-learning.com [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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