NPR: Breast-feeding...then Justice

Breast-feeding...then Justice

So, breast-feeding... Are you still with me?

As one of our guests (Faye Wattleton) pointed out, it seems we've been talking about this in this country since formula existed; maybe even BEFORE formula existed. When the rich employed wet nurses, were there magazine articles telling them that they weren't good mothers if they employed wet nurses? In truth, there is no doubt that breast-feeding is best for babies...and most mothers.

For the baby, breast milk offers complete nutrition, it passes on immunities, it keeps them close to Mom. And for Mom, it's calming, it helps you lose weight (Can I just tell you? I lost something close to 60 pounds of baby weight in no time...breast-feeding twins. Yes, I wear the crown), it makes you feel close to baby.

But, there are always going to be mothers who can't breast-feed or who don't want to, for whatever reason -- they can't produce enough milk, they develop a serious illness. What then? Has the push to encourage breast-feeding become another guilt trip aimed at women to make them feel they can't measure up? Or, as another guest (Kim Gandy) suggested, has the push to encourage breast-feeding failed to pressure society to make it easier?

That was our first conversation of the day. Then we left the subject of babies and breasts to talk about prisoners and jobs...

There are more than two million people in prison in the U.S. Most of them do get out, at least some day. But what happens when they do? So far this week, we've been looking at research presented at the National Institute for Justice Conference, which met in D.C. a week or so ago. We trolled through a few of the presentations to bring you some of the most interesting research we could find. Truly, we're just scratching the surface. There were literally dozens of fascinating questions discussed at the conference: how to cut down on recidivism, what's up with girls and violence, what's the best way to intervene with gangs?...

Today's topic: how do former prisoners fare in the job market? And what happens when you factor in race? YOU might not be shocked at the findings, but I can tell you this: the researcher was.

If you have a story to tell, a story about finding a job after being incarcerated, we???d like to hear about it.

Or, if you have had an experience, as an employer, hiring (or merely considering) persons with criminal records, we'd like to hear it.

As for me, I do have stories about trying to continue breast-feeding after going back to work as a network news correspondent. But in all honesty, they are still too painful to recount. I'll just leave it at that.

But if you want to tell me your stories, I'm here to listen...

Michel Martin

6:58 PM ET | 08- 7-2007 | permalink

Comments (Send a comment)

Thank you for covering this topic and raising awareness with your listeners on the politics of breastfeeding. I was a little taken aback by your choice of guests for this segment, I thought their views were going to be very pro-womanist and feminist anticipating that they would claim that breastfeeding is a burden to a woman's modern-day independence, but their views provided me with a very good perspective, one that I don't hear often in the world of breastfeeding. I am a breastfeeding coordinator for a State agency in the West working within the WIC (women, infants and children) program, and I am constantly burdened, wondering why more women don't breastfeed, and trying to implement programs to encourage more women to do so. In WIC the paradox is that federal regulations require that there is a breastfeeding element in its operations, but this element is overshadowed by the free formula it gives out due to its large formula rebate system. In essence, moms enrolled in WIC don't get the breastfeeding education and support they need, but I hardly believe that the free formula is the sole cause for these women making the decision not to breastfeed. I am agree with your guests when they say that it is a policy issue, more so than anything. When I was a PeaceCorps volunteer in southern Africa, I would see women breatfeeding in public all the time; on the bus, in a store, squatting on the side of a street, everywhere. In the country that I was in, Bostwana, government policy allowed for women working in the public sector, an extra hour out of the day to go home and breastfeed their child. This was usually done in the form of an extended lunch period. This was a policy that worked for this country and its people. Here in the US we need more maternal, child-friendly policies that promote and support the act of breastfeeding. Everyone knows how good it is for both mom and baby, but we haven't gotten past this part. We need to stop talking about how good breastfeeding is, and talk more about the consequences of not breatfeeding and continuing to feed our children sub-standard, synthetic substitues to human milk. To me, the evidence on the 'why-tos' of breastfeeding are evident, but we ignore it, just like with tobacco, we knew, and still know it is bad for our health, but we ignored the fact until we started seeing the repercussions of cigarette smoke blantently. Through policy, and social conditioning, cigarette smoking is no-longer considered to be such a wise choice, and it is in this way that we need to approach breastfeeding. Breastfeeding is the most low-rated public health issue of our time, and it is time to move forward to promote and protect it, for the good of our children and the good of our society.

Sent by Key James | 1:11 PM ET | 08-09-2007

My twin served three years in a state prison for a drug-related offense. After he got out, he went right back to the (legal) field he was working in before he went on what he calls his "sabbatical." I don't think he had much trouble at all - maybe he spared me the difficult stories? - but then he always was very good at what he did (working sales and finance at a car dealership). Recently, he started a travel business.

The biggest impact his incarceration seems to have had was on his marriage. It imploded soon after his release. I think his wife had to become a different person in order to handle her responsibilities to their family in his absense and they couldn't adjust when he came home. At least that's my take on it; he might have a different opinion.

Sent by Stanley | 3:55 PM ET | 08-10-2007

Key --

Fascinated by your take on breastfeeding but can't figure out why you'd assume the guests would have dumped on the practice -- quite the opposite.

Thanks for taking the time to hear them out. It's funny how hard it can be to talk about something so natural and important...shows you how fraught we are about things so many other cultures take for granted.

I wonder why?

Sent by Michel Martin, Host | 7:03 AM ET | 08-21-2007

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