ABSTRACT
Kris is an educated woman in her mid-thirties with two sons-a nine-year-old Xander, and seven-month-old Aidan:1
I think most doctors are not supportive of breast-feeding. It depends on what kind of obstetrician you have, whether or not you’re going to have a positive experience with breast-feeding . . . It really made a difference for me with Xander, a big difference. And when I had Aidan, my doctor was very supportive, and I had the same kind of delivery with Xander that I had with Aidan, I had an emergency Cesarean . . . The doctor afterwards put me to sleep for 24 hours and then told the nurses to bottle feed him. So Xander got bottle-fed right away. The difference was, I-I had, um, local anesthetic, and I was not put to sleep after I had Aidan, and the doctor was very encouraging that I start breast-feeding right away. They sent in a lactation consultant as soon as possible to help me learn how to breast-feed around my Cesarean. The doctor really set the tone for how the staff treated me, and how the staff handled whether or not I was going to breast-feed or bottle-feed. Even though I was very clear both times, I wanted to breast-feed. So I think some doctors just aren’t-either they’re not convinced that it’s so important or, you know they just aren’t interested in finding out the importance for the relationship that breastfeeding can engender between the mother and child.
