Sir, – I have been reading with interest the comments generated by Jacky Jones's article "Breast is best but not for Irish babies" (Health + Family, August 25th). These comments have failed to acknowledge the rights of the other person in the breastfeeding relationship, namely the baby.
Babies are born to biologically expect their own species-specific milk via their mother’s breasts to ensure that they grow and thrive optimally. Giving the milk of a lower species, regardless of how well the manufacturers tell us this – mainly cow’s milk – is adapted, cannot remotely replicate the goodness of human breast milk. The act of breastfeeding, which cannot be devolved to anyone other than the mother, fosters optimal nurturing too.
Having lost the experience of breastfeeding in Ireland over several generations it is not appropriate to in any way blame women for not breastfeeding, rather we should all value breastfeeding and give families in Ireland the breastfeeding support and information they need across all sectors of society, and not just leave it to the health services.
All parents want what is best for their babies and we need to provide whatever supports are necessary to once again make breastfeeding the normal, natural and best way to nourish and nurture babies in Ireland. – Yours, etc,
MAUREEN FALLON
Former National
Breastfeeding Coordinator,
Donnybrook, Dublin 4.
Sir, – I write as a mother of three small children all of whom were breastfed (including my 19-week-old daughter whom I am still breastfeeding).
I was very fortunate to be able to breastfeed but each child presented its own challenges and I did it my way in a manner that was convenient and made me happy.
Having said all of that, I am fed up with the barrage of judgment and negativity that accompanies so much of what we do as mothers. Is it too much to ask that we each be left alone to make whatever choice we feel is right and appropriate for our own individual circumstances? When did it become okay for people to comment upon something as personal as how a mother chooses to feed her child?
Why don’t we look out for each other with compassion and understanding and friendship in this extraordinary journey that is motherhood? Who knows what might happen as a result? – Yours, etc,
CAROLINE MEENAN,
Sandymount,
Dublin 4.