ABSTRACT
In this chapter I draw upon notions of labouring bodies to theorise women’s perceptions of their role as breast-milk producers and deliverers and the demanding nature of this role. I utilise the industrial metaphor ‘supplying’ to illustrate the ways in which women conceptualised and negotiated this role with all of its inherent uncertainties. I then discuss the ways in which women experienced breastfeeding as physically and emotionally ‘demanding’ in terms of their temporal and bodily boundaries. I highlight the ways in which women, with their central preoccupation with supplying and demanding, sought ways in which to cope with and control the unpredictability of their bodily experiences of breastfeeding and the activities of their babies.
