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by Dr
Sarah Buckley
21
march 2002 You can contact Sarah at: sarahjbuckley(at)uqconnect.net To email Sarah, change (at) to @
The
Federation of Commercial TV Stations has performed a welcome back-flip on its
rating of an Australian Breastfeeding Association (ABA) Community Service
Announcement , which shows a mother breastfeeding her baby.(CM 20/3) Its initial
assessment and PG rating, with the implication that the sight of ‘too much
breast’ might disturb a young child, has now been modified to a G rating, but
this process has exposed some deep-seated attitudes towards women’s breasts
and the act of breastfeeding, that, to my mind, verge on ‘mammophobia’.
Perhaps
the ruling agency was unaware that we are a mammalian species- that is, we are
defined by our mammaries (breasts) and their ability to nourish and nurture our
young. Further, with the average age of breastfeeding worldwide estimated at 4.2
years, they initially assumed that children who are young enough to breastfeed
are not old enough to see woman’s breast performing its natural, mammalian
function on TV.
As
a GP, writer and mother of four children, all long-term breastfeeders, I feel
sad that these attitudes are still so strong in our culture. Scantily clad
women’s bodies in sexually provocative poses can be on public display, but we
remain uncomfortable about showing our breasts in public to feed our babies.
This attitude is very specific to western cultures-even in Muslim countries
fully veiled women have no embarrassment about exposing a breast to feed a
hungry baby in a public place. It is exactly this misplaced discomfort which the
ABA are wanting to counter with this 30 second ad, due to be released this week.
This
is, I believe, a major public health issue. As Baumslag and Michels note, in
their book Milk, Money and Madness
(1995, Bergin and Garvey) “When
women start feeling self-conscious
about exposure of their breasts, they start thinking about other ways to feed
their infants.” And so the formula companies find a niche to appropriate,
moving in with their huge budgets and forceful marketing practices. In
Australia, around 12% of babies are formula-fed from birth, but by 6 months,
more than 50% of babies are being raised in non-human milk.
This
lack of breastfeeding is producing a huge burden of disease in our community.
Babies who are not breastfed have higher rates of hospitalisation and death in
their first year, even in developed countries. They also are more likely to
suffer from SIDS, diahorreal and respiratory illnesses, bacterial meningitis,
ear infections, allergies, asthma, urinary infections, inguinal hernias,
childhood lymphomas (cancers), juvenile diabetes, coeliac disease, juvenile
rheumatoid arthritis, reflux, dental cavities and malocclusion, and to have
poorer speech development, slower social development, lower IQ and lower school
grades than their breastfed peers.
As
they grow into adulthood, non-breastfed individuals are also at increased risk
of inflammatory bowel disease (Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis),
multiple sclerosis and cardiovascular disease. Adults who have never been
breastfed are 6 times more likely to be obese than those who were breastfed for
more than 12 months, and non-breastfed females are 33% more likely to develop
breast cancer. Cancers of the ovary and endometrium (uterus) are also more
common in non-breastfed females.
Breastfeeding
offers major health benefits to us as mothers. For example, we reduce our own
risk of breast cancer by 25% for every 6 months that we breastfeed, and we have
a lower chance of osteoporosis- thinning bones- in older age. Breastfeeding also
gives us the benefits that come with a delay in the return of our fertile cycles
such as less chance of conception and better iron levels because of delayed
menstruation.
As
well as all of the above health benefits, breastfeeding offers other intrinsic
rewards to mothers and babies. For all mammals, these include the effects of the
breastfeeding hormones oxytocin, the hormone of love; endorphins, hormones of
pleasure; and prolactin, the mothering hormone. These hormones, which we release
each time we breastfeed, keep us calm, relaxed, and lovingly focussed on our
babies, and our babies also receive love and pleasure via the oxytocin and
endorphins in our breastmilk.
The
act of breastfeeding also gives our babies holding, touch, skin-to-skin contact,
visual, oral and tactile stimulation, and deep-seated security - some writers
have described breastmilk as liquid love. Erasmus Darwin- Charles’
grandfather- credits a baby’s suckling pleasure (and mechanism) for the origin
of our human smile.
In
short, breastfeeding is the one of the most effective preventative health
measures that exists, and offers the best that nature can give for mothers and
for babies.
If
breastfeeding was a commercial intervention, backed by big business, its
benefits would be loudly proclaimed, and our breasts would extolled for their
beautiful and miraculous functions. Television would be replete with images of
mothers breastfeeding their babies at all times of the day, and we would all
smile–adults and children alike- when we saw a woman breastfeeding her baby in
public.
Breastfeeding
is supported in our culture, but not as well as it could be. Community attitudes
need to shift, and the ad produced for the ABA is a wonderful start. I look
forward to the time when we appreciate, as do our Muslim sisters, that
breastfeeding is the right of every baby, and that the benefits and pleasures of
the breastfeeding relationship provide, naturally, our nourishment for a
lifetime.
AuthorSarah J Buckley is a GP/family MD, an internationally published writer on pregnancy birth and mothering, and mother of 4 children, all born gently at home. Sarah is the author of the book Gentle Birth, Gentle Mothering. See her website for more details, www.sarahjbuckley.com
Disclaimer The information contained on this website is of a general nature and is designed for educational purposes only. The information is not meant to replace the recommendations or advise of your midwife or doctor. Please consult your midwife or doctor regarding your health care.
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