ABSTRACT
The rediscovery of breastfeeding in western countries was begun in the late 1940s and early 1950s by a few physicians who were exploring the role of women, of parents, and of child rearing away from the laboratory and the science of nutrition. Breastfeeding has nutritional, medical, sociologic, anthropologic, political, and cultural significance. Breastfeeding is more than just good nutrition. Breastfeeding is the natural completion of the reproductive cycle that has resulted in the birth of a normal infant who requires further nourishment and nurturing. The effect of breastfeeding on the mother has had little attention as well, partly because it is difficult to "study" breastfeeding. Biologically, breastfeeding suppresses ovulation and extends the period of interpregnancy infertility making some degree of child spacing a natural phenomenon, further demonstrating the balance between breastfeeding and the reproductive cycle. The most appropriate patterns of breastfeeding and feeding management are not known according to Woolridge but are probably a function of culturally acceptable norms.
