Viv Groskop's article declares that breastfeeding is "oppressing women", that the pressure to breastfeed is "becoming counterproductive" and even that "some see breastfeeding promotion as part of the problem" (Let the breastfeeding rebellion begin, 18 July). As a breastfeeding mother, author and counsellor, I instantly feel my hackles rise.
Groskop quotes mothers who feel like they have failed, for whom breastfeeding has become a painful subject, and who felt ashamed of bottle-feeding their babies. But this guilt isn't necessarily rooted in peer pressure. In fact all her sources, including the Association of Breastfeeding Mothers, are unanimous in asserting that women who fail to breastfeed shouldn't be made to feel guilty. So in what sense is "breastfeeding promotion ... part of the problem"? Is Groskop seriously suggesting that women shouldn't be made aware of the health benefits of breastfeeding?
She scathingly quotes Gabrielle Palmer's assertion that breast milk is "the most ecological food product in the world" and adds: "So now not only is breastfeeding nutritionally correct, it's also environmentally ethical." Well, yes, it's a fact. But it's not a stick to beat mothers with.
I endured medical complications in the early months of breastfeeding. I overcame them, not because I'm Supermum, but because I had the support of my mother, my friends, and expert advice from a lactation consultant. That kind of encouragement just isn't there for most women.
I'd like to write about the joys of breastfeeding, the humour, the fact that it gives you the same hormone rush as an orgasm. But that's not part of popular discourse, because it's not the experience of those mothers who work, and who wean early. Instead we have articles about painful complications and failing milk supply, and that's how a culture of failed breastfeeding perpetuates itself.
Breastfeeding failure occurs at a very vulnerable period in a new mother's life. Instead of directing the anger inward, why don't we harness it so that fewer mothers fail? Thrush, the condition that defeated one mother in Groskop's article, is treatable, but the most effective drug, Fluconazole, isn't licensed for use by breastfeeding women. Why not?
Groskop quotes sociologist Ellie Lee in her closing paragraph: "There is no one who would not concede that breast milk is good for babies. But the body that provides the milk is connected to a whole set of social relationships." That could be a starting point for a more informed dialogue. Let us untangle the web of contradictions that mothers find themselves ensnared in: the sexualisation of breasts; the pressures of full-time work; a culture of babycare hellbent on minimising the "demands" of the baby; the advertising budgets of the formula milk companies. Breastfeeding never stood a chance against that lot.
I have seen how hard breastfeeding can be. I do believe that formula milk should be available for women who need it, preferably provided by a doctor rather than a supermarket. But I am also a feminist, and when I see breastfeeding held up as a tool for women's oppression, it just shows how much women's liberation has yet to achieve.
Kate Evans is author of The Food of Love: Your Formula for Successful Breastfeeding
