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Coal Miner's Wife, Breastfeeding at Home in 1938
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Coal miner's wife and child. Pursglove, West Virginia. 1938 SeptHere's the funny thing about these photos: During this time, it was the poor mothers who stayed fast to the natural art of breastfeeding, whereas metropolitan mothers and those who had better access to doctors who pushed formula opted to feed their babies artificially.
Now in 2008, poor, rural mothers statistically do not want to have anything to do with breastfeeding and mothers who are better off economically breastfeed in higher numbers -- what a flip-flop.
I have spent more than a year trying to put an historic perspective on the legacy that black mothers have with breastfeeding, but it is now dawning on me that poor white women and particularly those who still live in rural areas have a storied history of breastfeeding that has largely been lost as well.
Labels: breastfeeding history
posted by Jennifer James @ 8:38 AM,
1 Comments:
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At June 19, 2008 11:25 PM,
Raven O'Joy said...
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I find this to be the case as a social worker in the Philadelphia metro area...my clients out right refused to breastfeed. Many because formula was free and "easy"....BF is not even an option for my clients even when i stress the importance of breast feeding. However in my circle BF is expected and encouraged on so many levels.....I enjoy your articles and happy to have found your blog!
