Breastfeeding

This might seem like an odd topic to select for its own blog post, but there is a good reason why I've chosen it.

In the UK, there is an ongoing debate about the acceptability of breastfeeding in public. Plenty of restaurants and pubs have been vilified in the press for refusing to let mothers breastfeed in the open areas, however discreetly. It seems to be an odd thing to quibble about - I've never really understood what the objections should be - done well, people barely notice. Banning it is effectively telling mothers they can't leave the house for 6 months without the hassle of expressing.

In Zambia, the view is much more liberal. There is no concern about breastfeeding, in fact I don't think there's anywhere or anytime when it's deemed unacceptable. And before any of you generate the naive notion that these ladies are doing the dance of the seven veils with a Chitenge, let me put you right. They aren't.

Most Zambian women, particularly the poor, do not wear bras. This and, we presume, multiple pregnancies from a young age combined with breastfeeding each child for more than 6 months (more on this later), mean that the women are able to articulate their breasts in a way that most British women would wince at. For example, it's perfectly possible, when wearing a polo shirt, to breastfeed your child without removing your top - just pull whichever one you want out through the slit at the neck and move the child in the Chitenge.

One evening I walked past a lady who had been doing this, but when the child had finished and she'd put them back on her back, she forgot to return the breast to the inside of her top. I didn't know what to do. I don't have the Nyanja to say 'Excuse me, Miss, but your boob appears to be hanging out' and I didn't know how she'd take it. I chose to walk on, hoping that someone else would mention it before long.

In fact, they are so comfortable with breastfeeding that they happily sort the child out whilst having a conversation with someone, even a stranger like me, without batting an eyelid at exposing the entire breast. I suppose this isn't that surprising in some respects, women on the wards are often half naked from the waist up, without seeming worried.

I don't know when they stop breastfeeding - I've seen quite large children still suckling. In OPD on one of my tours with new students, I saw a child of about 3 run across the floor to his mother, reach into her t shirt and grab her. She bent down happily to accommodate him as he stood on the floor in front of her. I was reminded slightly of Little Britain.

And it's not as if you get a respite after your last child. Grandmothers are frequently called upon to help out with the next generation. The Physiology of this is confusing to all of us. The Medics claim to have seen a grandmother produce milk on demand...

So what can we conclude. Part of the difference between the views is that in Zambia breasts aren't seen as sexual organs particularly. The men are much more interested in what a woman is like from navel to knee. Hence there is no embarrassment about public displays of breasts.

In the UK, this is not the case and therefore breastfeeding will always be emotive, as if the baby is interloping where it shouldn't be. This is also why there is a stigma around breastfeeding a child for too long - I imagine this will never change.

However, I think there is a happy middle ground that could be reached where new mothers wouldn't feel embarrassed or ashamed to feed their newborns in the natural way pretty much wherever they felt like it. As long as they didn't give any innocent bystanders an eyeful!