It is difficult to think of many things more natural than breastfeeding, yet by 1970 only about 25 per cent of Canadian mothers were initiating the practice.
That was largely due to attitudes about science that proliferated in the 1940s and 1950s coupled with aggressive marketing of alternative mass-produced formulas.
Prior to the Industrial Revolution, the only real alternative to a mother鈥檚 own breast milk was wet-nursing by another lactating woman. Of course, that was only widely available to upper class women and infants of mothers who could not physically produce milk had very poor prospects for survival.
With the rising numbers of women entering the workforce in the late 1800s and early 1900s combined with advancements in nutrition science, both the demand and supply of supplementary infant nutrition steadily rose.
鈥淕rowing up in the 1950-60s, I don鈥檛 think I ever saw a mother breastfeeding and our generation didn鈥檛 even know that the human breast was designed to feed a baby,鈥� wrote registered nurse Susan Miller for Island Parent Magazine in 2011. 鈥淭he female breast had become sexualized in society and 鈥渘ice girls鈥� were careful not to expose any part of their breasts when going out. By 1960, almost every woman gave birth in a hospital, and physicians and nurses were giving infant feeding advice around formula feeding. Other hospital practices at the time both directly and indirectly affected women鈥檚 breastfeeding success.鈥�
While that has been steadily changing since the 1970s, at least behind closed doors, the stigma of public breastfeeding has remained, which according to proponents, is a shame because it limits new mothers鈥� full participation in society.
Heidi Russel, a lactation consultant for the Yorkton Regional Health Centre (YRHC) says that is changing now as well
鈥淒efinitely it is coming back,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 was born in the 1970s and my mother told me that breastfeeding was around, but it wasn鈥檛 really promoted. Formula feeding was kind of seen as the thing to do. I think breastfeeding is coming back into our culture because there鈥檚 just so much evidence-based research saying that human milk is made for human babies and that鈥檚 what our human babies should be consuming.
鈥淚t鈥檚 bringing back that natural part of motherhood and childhood and supporting it because if you鈥檙e coming from a generation that didn鈥檛 see a lot of breastfeeding maybe you don鈥檛 understand it, maybe you鈥檙e uncomfortable with the idea of it, but in the last five years that I鈥檝e been working in this position, I鈥檝e seen a change happening, people are getting out there, they鈥檙e being more comfortable.鈥�
Locally, part of that is because of the efforts of the Baby-Friendly Initiative (BFI) Working Group and events such as the Quintessence Breastfeeding Challenge that took place October 3 at Gallagher Centre.
鈥淲e picked this Saturday along with the Quintessence challenge, which is a global challenge that happens across the globe, and it鈥檚 really just supporting and promoting breastfeeding, having moms come together in a public area and latching on at 11 o-clock in the morning,鈥� Russel explained.
We have businesses signing on and getting a tool kit, which educates their employees and they get a decal that they can put in their window or their door so that breastfeeding families can identify that that business welcomes breastfeeding within their business.
The working group鈥檚 latest project is 鈥淏aby Friendly Business,鈥� which dovetails with the聽 World Breastfeeding Week (October 1 - 7) theme of 鈥淢aking it work.鈥�
鈥淲e have businesses signing on and getting a tool kit, which educates their employees and they get a decal that they can put in their window or their door so that breastfeeding families can identify that that business welcomes breastfeeding within their business,鈥� Russel said.
On Saturday BFI welcomed Gallagher Centre to the fold as general manager Paul Keys unveiled a semi-private breastfeeding area complete with a comfy leather armchair donated by Ruff鈥檚 Furniture.
In Canada, a woman鈥檚 right to breastfeed in public is protected by the Charter of Rights and Freedoms as interpreted by the Supreme Court. The British Columbia Human Rights Commission has codified female workers鈥� right to breastfeed in its Policies and Procedures Manual.
