Third world. I am always surprised to hear of a woman nursing twins. It is a rare victory and one which takes complete family support. When women live in a world where nursing is viewed every day, it is a natural continuation of the feminine role, but in our society it is almost always the more educated class of women who use their equipment for the intended purpose. Our consumer machine has imprinted less educated women that breasts are decoration only.

On New Year's Eve my son invited many couples here for the annual open house. I was rocking a nine week old baby/guest in the rock-squeak chair in front of the fire in the kitchen, and a six month pregnant woman was asked, "Are you going to nurse?" She answered quite honestly that she was uncomfortable thinking about a baby 'doing that'. Her husband stepped up and announced that he really wanted her to at least try. The whole group, not only highly educated and liberal, but also friends for more than fifteen years completely jumped her.

"Are you nuts? What do you do in the middle of the night with a fussy baby? Get up and warm a bottle?"

"You want your kids to have allergies like you do?"

"Get over the body hang up and do what's right."

I don't think that she knew how much support for her there was in the room. Her social group encouraged her. I was pleased to tears.

I think that choosing to artificially feed the infant of one's own body with the milk from an animal is a very primal act of rejection not only of the infant but of the feminine role and the maturity and the responsibility which is part of mothering. There are serious and predicatable outcomes of messing with mother nature. The mother-child bond is a chemical reality and when prolactin, (nursing/mothering hormone) is maintained until the normal age for weaning (three to four years of age, give or take a few months) the needs of the infant have been fully met and the child can emerge from intimate contact with mother ready for the world. When prolactin is withdrawn before the baby is a year old, the mother-child bond looks and is different. Of course there are long term consequences. The needs of mothers and fathers have changed in the last two hundred years with two cars and payments and $,$,$, but the needs of infants are exactly the same as they have been for thousands of years.

I worked with La Leche League, a nursing mother's group. It was much more confrontational and radical than N.O.W. and achieved much more that truly benefited families. When I got involved with the group in 1972 after my first son was born, I didn't know any other woman who was nursing her baby. Hospitals documented that only 12% of mothers and babies left the hospital still nursing. Now the percentage is closer to 60. And, I know many women who work all day but are still nursing their two year old + child in the evening and through the night and not telling.

The world would completely change if mothers routinely took their young children to work. (And if your first thought is about males getting 'affected', know that consumer advertising has distorted you at this primal level. This scene is green grass common! to every male who has lived on earth.) The real reason why a teacher couldn't have her infant with her in the classroom is social prejudice founded in consumerism . Would an infant disturb the learning process significantly? I don't think so. Would the teacher be less apt to teach? Or the student less able to learn? There would be differences, but I think there would be human reality instead of seeing life through the shadowed money mirror. I guess I'll have to open my own school. I have ranted about this in the female faculty lounge while postpartum women were off in their cubicle pumping breastmilk, and you know? many of the young teachers beg me to start my school and hire them. They would love to change the world or at least not feel forced to leave their own children in day care while they teach other people's children.

The whole nursing rant is in response to the term third world. I don't know how to combat consumerism and foster the fourth world beyond the boundary of my home, yard and friend circle. Do you like that? The Fourth World, the 4thworld, Forthworld, where human rights, dignity, education and opportunity (need I add the rights of women and children) are enmeshed with economic comfort rather than ensnared in the clutches of advertisers and money vultures.

And when you open this school, you will surely call me to teach clay...right?

Nursing is the most amazing experience! - suzandgriffin

(correlates: AsimovOnPrecocity, AlteredStates, JudyFemininePolitics, ...)