What? Me? Breast Feed?

At the end of the 20th century, during which bottle feeding became the usual way to feed an infant , we know that breast feeding will never be surpassed as the best way to feed a baby. Now that several generations of infants have been bottle fed, Americans have lost the practical knowledge of breast feeding that we used to learn as we learned about other commonplace activities of life.

Some new mothers and fathers expect that breast-feeding skills will come naturally, since breast feeding is a natural process. But human cultural factors and intellectual reasoning can override the instinctual "programming" that we, as mammals, have as part of our DNA. People who haven't been exposed to breast feeding as an every day activity might find difficulties overwhelming, at first.

Unforeseen problems with breast feeding can be surprising, disappointing, or even frightening. New parents worry about nothing else as much as they worry about the welfare of their babies. New mothers can be overwhelmed when they realize that they are the sole provider of nutrition for a delicate newborn. Women who don't have access to the cultural knowledge about overcoming common, minor difficulties in breast feeding end up bottle feeding because it is more familiar to them.

Once we accept that breast feeding is the best way to feed our children, we have to accept that the vast majority of us CAN do it! Being a good provider of milk for our infants is part of our genetic code. Over the course of millions of years and well into this century, babies whose mothers' milk couldn't sustain them simply did not survive. We can all rest assured that we come from a long line of successful breast feeders!