ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the author focuses on the lactating body, the bodywork required from women to construct and maintain it in the long term, and their partners’ involvement in the process. Home birth parents are generally strongly committed to breastfeeding, resulting in a breastfeeding project established before birth. This project details breastfeeding modalities and duration, inspired by the WHO recommendations: breastfeeding exclusively and on demand during the first six months of life, then continuing to breastfeed in combination with other semi-solid and liquid intake until the end of the first year of life or beyond. Effective breastfeeding initiation, a solid foundation key for its continuation past the first months, is therefore a crucial aspect of postpartum. In the first part of this chapter, the author discusses home breastfeeding initiation in the early postpartum, which involves mothers and midwives co-constructing the lactating maternal body. Breastfeeding requires the combined efforts of mothers and babies, whose bodies and behaviours are disciplined by parents and midwives to breastfeed successfully. The author describes how partners support mothers to manage their lactation. In the second half of this chapter, the author elaborates on the means and strategies parents adopt to maintain breastfeeding and achieve their project.
