Breastfeeding In The Nineties

In the "fast-track" environment of the nineties, motherhood has increasingly become a scheduled event rather than a natural progression of married and family life. Motherhood is often delegated as a secondary priority, taking a back seat to education, career development and mortgages. The second income is too often necessary to improve the quality of life for today's young families and in the majority of cases, maternity leave sets a strict timetable for mother-child bonding.

Ironically, at the same time, there is an increased awareness of health issues and natural childbirth, and the growing preference for family birthing rooms, midwives, home birthing and breast-feeding. These indicate that the hectic pace of the nineties has not diminished the desire to provide our children with the best possible start in life. Sadly, breast-feeding -- the most natural and beneficial of these measures -- is rapidly becoming one of the most difficult to achieve, notwithstanding the stern directives from the courts and the Human Rights Commissions on the subject -- namely that breasts may now be bared in public (Ontario Court of Appeal) and that breast-feeding at work is a "fundamental" right (BC Human Rights Commission).

The Problem

Current government policies regarding cutbacks in hospital funding have resulted in new mothers being released from the hospital almost immediately following birth. This is particularly traumatic for first-time mothers. They find themselves thrust into the role of motherhood exhausted, sometimes in pain, nervous and with little preparation for the task at hand. Gone are the days when nurses had the time to prepare "Mom" for the changes in her life and to teach her the essential skills. The art of breast-feeding is often one of the first casualties of this new regime.

Moreover, in our mobile society, mothers, grandmothers, aunts -- experienced mothers -- are not too often nearby to lend a hand to share encouragement and their breast-feeding expertise.

Once mother and child find themselves at home and prepare to breast-feed, this simple and natural process frequently becomes a struggle of wills. While it is true that babies are born with the instinct to suck, often they are reluctant to latch on to the breast immediately. The mom's first thoughts are that the baby doesn't like her, that she can't do it. The longer this struggle goes on, the less likely it is that the baby will successfully begin to feed. There has been an increase in the number of infants returned to emergency wards suffering from dehydration because both mother and child have not been able to manage the situation.

In many cases, it becomes easier to reach for one of the easily accessible bottles and formulas on the market -- a sample pack is often conveniently sent along with the mother on her release from hospital.

Many new mothers know too that they will be returning to work following their maternity leave and the child will have to be on the bottle anyway, so they give up altogether because breast-feeding at work is not a common practice, even though it is now a "human right" for women.

Moreover, even though exposure of a woman's breast is now an equality right under the Charter and does not constitute indecency or public nudity, many women are still not comfortable with breastfeeding in public.

The late Dr. Benjamin Spock, well-known elder statesman of paediatricians, in his book, Baby and Child Care, states at p. 119:

Why is it that throughout most of the world, a mother's milk takes care of the baby for many months and that it's only in bottle feeding countries like ours that the breast milk supply seems to fail so early in a majority of cases?

Helping Mothers to Breastfeed

Although many hospitals in Canada do have breast-feeding specialists available for new mothers, many mothers do not have transportation to reach the hospital during the day when the specialists are available. Also, during the early weeks with a new baby, new mothers are usually too exhausted, even if they do have transportation, to take advantage of these specialists' assistance. Those few public health boards which do have specialists available to go to the mother's home, only do so for a fee, which many new mothers cannot afford.

It is absolutely essential, therefore, that first-time mothers be given support and encouragement in their homes during the first few weeks after birth, without financial cost to them. First-time mothers, especially, should be visited during the first week after delivery by a breast-feeding specialist in order to check on the mother and child. If the mother is having difficulty breast-feeding, then that specialist should continue to visit the mother on a daily basis, if necessary, until the baby is properly feeding. Public health nurses, however, are already over-extended in their duties and it would be difficult for them to carry out this important responsibility themselves. Therefore, mature women who have successfully breast-fed their own children should be employed by public health boards to provide this essential service in the home. Far too many young mothers become discouraged and give up breast-feeding when all they need is time, and assistance from an experienced and sympathetic woman.

Such a program will be an example of money well spent -- better for mother, baby and the community.

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