ABSTRACT
In most traditional cultures, breastfeeding is part of the close, intimate contact between mother and baby and is done naturally and with confidence. The mother recognizes the baby's body language when she nuzzles up to the breast and is fed. It is not restricted to any feeding time, number or length of intervals, and babies are not weighed too often. Breastfeeding is a physiological, psychological, and sensual experience. When the mother can integrate these dimensions, breastfeeding is fulfilling for her as well as for the baby. The baby's sense of taste becomes stronger during breastfeeding, as the mother's milk changes to meet her baby's changing nutritional needs and provides easily digestible proteins that rarely upset a baby's sensitive tummy, whereas a bottle-fed baby gets used to the same taste of food. The success of breastfeeding or bottle-feeding is partly dependent on the way in which a woman copes with the emotional surge aroused during her transition to motherhood.
