Nursing Mothers

[daniellet]

triciafrancess:

Hi, Danielle,

You didn’t say where that quote comes from, but the author seems to be under the mistaken impression that breastfeeding is uncommon.

No, the author is not mistaken about breastfeeding being uncommon. Initiation of breastfeeding starts out very high (about 70%) , but by 12 months, which is the AAP’s minimum suggested length of breastfeeding, the rate has fallen to 17.2%. Formula feeding by far is the norm in our society. I believe one of the reasons breastfeeding rates fall so dramatically is because it is pretty darn inconvenient to breastfeed if you always have to go hide.

triciafrancess:

Somehow every generation seems to think they’re the first to embrace breastfeeding, but when my children were babies (they are in the 20s) there was a HUGE amount of pressure to breastfeed our babies – I think my generation might have been the one to invent breast pumps

Sometime in my mother’s generation, there was an uptick in breastfeeding, but it fell again sharply in the '80s. It is now on the upturn again, but there is strong opposition to implementing the conditions which would truly increase breastfeeding rates to where breastfeeding actually is the norm.

triciafrancess:

Your quote kind of proves the opposition’s point. Ours is not an “open breastfeeding society,” even though breastfeeding has been common long enough for that to have happened – if it ever were going to happen. It is not the norm in American culture for mothers to breastfeed openly in public wherever they happen to be. The norm is for the mother to find as isolated a spot as possible for nursing and to be very discreet.

Just because something is the norm doesn’t make it right. I think most of the Catholic parents trying to raise Godly children in this society would agree that norms are often not right these days.

 

[triciafrancess]

daniellet:

Just because something is the norm doesn’t make it right. I think most of the Catholic parents trying to raise Godly children in this society would agree that norms are often not right these days.

Danielle, I agree completely that norms aren’t always right, but I don’t think this is a moral issue. It’s not morally wrong to nurse in public, but it’s not morally wrong to refrain from nursing in public, either. It’s really the mother’s judgment call, but she shouldn’t be surprised if she’s criticized.

Tricia Frances