Why would she be suprised, starting out like this. If she wanted civil banter it might have read like:i have never read such awful scaremongering nonsense.
I whole-heartedly disagree with Wai's position on...etc etc.
In China, it is a very commonplace ancient practice. The problem that I have with it is that if women are an underclass, nursing mothers were even more of an underclass. Usually, women would only sell their milk for money if they had to, and in Chinese classical literature, you would find a lot of jealousy and competition between the real mother and the nursing mother, even though the nursing mother definitely belongs to the servant class, and the class oppression really bothered me. What I don't like about it is that the nursing mother is definitely perceived as a "device" (I really don't want to say a c*w), a necessary evil.This is very unfortunate! But it's admirable that your parents attempted to do this for you. Perhaps with this kind of experience, you might have some ideas for improving/regulating this type of service.I was however put to a nursing mother, who actually deprived milk from me, even though it cost my parents a king's ransom, so I ended up having extreme malnutrition and no sunlight. They only discovered this months afterwards...
Thanks! I agree. My mom worked and pumped breast milk for my little brother, though only for a year. She would pump ahead of time and store it in the freezer. Is this damaging, RRM?I really liked your thoughtful post.
About the connection between women's right to work and WHO's recommendation for 2 years of breastfeeding is that with the current state of affairs, lots of women cannot do both, so it will ipso facto discriminate against working mothers. Something has to be done about either extending the length of the maternity leave, or allowing women to work at home or bring infants to work...
Sounds wonderful! Thanks for sharing about the nursing mother practice.I think a system based on exchange is much more humane and egalitarian: one mother provides the milk, the other mother will return in daycare or cooking for the two? Just a proposition...
Most people know breast milk is better, but they don't know how much better. In places like some parts of Mexico, the people are so malnourished that companies are jumping in to "save" them, providing vitamin-fortified crackers and formula milk at a "reduced" price, and urging them to do the right thing and buy! Mexico also has the highest per capita consumption of Coca-Cola in the world...I've seen Central Americans pour it into bottles for toddlers...hmmm.I may be just naive, but isn't it common knowledge that breast milk is more adapted to human infants? That's what I knew all along. I just don't think that proselytizing or condemning the mothers is going to do the trick; I would personally try the supporting and encouraging route, because I see how hard it is to be a mother.
Wow! Give her a hug for us, eh?She was not aware of pumping practices, but she actually biked home to breastfeed me twice a day.
No, not necessarily. I have my ideas, but I'd have to do much more research before I can conclude anything. I do think we underestimate the powers of advertising, especially in places with such poor public education.Dadasarah, do you think the fact that the consumption of formula milk and Coca-Cola (or McDonald's) is so correlated is in itself an indication that they tend to target a more poverty-stricken population? About those mal-nourished Mexican mothers, the question goes deeper than the availability of formula milk. I'm actually worried about the living condition of both the children AND the mothers in this case.
Well, Wai prescribes one and half years MINIMUM!Oscar wrote:Well 4 months is pretty good!
I wonder if there is something like a minimum amount of time, after which the actual need becomes less important. Or if it's just the longer the better.
Wai's article is about what is best for the baby. Not about what is easy.Chin-Chin wrote:Wai's article makes it sound like women are cows and they should provide the best milk...
So, you feel you are qualified to speak for all mothers?You can just sense that a mother who has gone through the mysterious life-giving experience would never write like that.