The Conflict (13 page)
Authors: Elisabeth Badinter
42
“Breastfeeding Report CardâUnited States, 2010,” Center for Disease Control,
http://www.cdc.gov/breastfeeding/pdf/2011BreastfeedingReportcard.pdf
.
http://www.cdc.gov/breastfeeding/pdf/2011BreastfeedingReportcard.pdf
.
44
Australian Bureau of Statistics, “Breastfeeding in Australia,” Australian Government, 2001.
45
2002 statistics. Extract from the IPA (L'association Information Pour l'Allaitement), EU Project on Promotion of Breastfeeding in Europe, “Protection, Promotion and Support of Breastfeeding in Europe: Current Situation,” European Commission, Directorate General for Health and Consumers, Public Health, Luxembourg, December 2003.
49
Study by the Austrian Ministry of Health, Family and Youth, published on September 13, 2007, “Kdolsky: neue Studie zum Thema Stillen und dem Ernährungsverhalten von Saüglingen.”
It states that 93.2 percent of mothers breast-feed after birth. After three months, 60 percent breast-feed exclusively and 12 percent partially. At six months, these figures are 10 percent and 55 percent, respectively. When the child is one year old, 16 percent are still partially breast-feeding.
It states that 93.2 percent of mothers breast-feed after birth. After three months, 60 percent breast-feed exclusively and 12 percent partially. At six months, these figures are 10 percent and 55 percent, respectively. When the child is one year old, 16 percent are still partially breast-feeding.
51
Béatrice Blondel and Morgane Kermarrec, “Les Naissances en 2010 et leur évolution depuis 2003,” Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale, Paris, 2010.
52
Maternity leaves here are the most generous in Europe: in Norway, they are six months on full salary and twelve months on 80 percent salary.
53
Blondel and Kermarrec, “Les Naissances en 2010 et leur évolution depuis 2003.”
54
In 2004, it was estimated that they had 238 group leaders throughout France.
55
Allaiter aujourd'hui
and
Dossiers de l'allaitement.
and
Dossiers de l'allaitement.
56
LaNutrition:
http://www.lanutrition.fr/
.
Le Parisien
of March 2, 2009, published the following figures: 65 percent of French women breast-fed on leaving the maternity unit, but two-thirds gave up after one month. Six weeks after giving birth, only 15 percent were still breast-feeding their babies.
http://www.lanutrition.fr/
.
Le Parisien
of March 2, 2009, published the following figures: 65 percent of French women breast-fed on leaving the maternity unit, but two-thirds gave up after one month. Six weeks after giving birth, only 15 percent were still breast-feeding their babies.
57
Internet, Paperblog.
58
Decree of July 30, 1998.
59
Co-ordination française pour l'allaitement maternel (French committee for breastfeeding mothers).
60
Antony-Nebout,
Hôpital Ami des bébés
, p. 45.
Hôpital Ami des bébés
, p. 45.
61
By late 2011, that figure had increased to twelve.
62
Table published by Antony-Nebout,
Hôpital Ami des bébés
, p. 45.
Hôpital Ami des bébés
, p. 45.
63
Baby-Friendly Health Initiative Australian website:
www.bfhi.org.au
.
www.bfhi.org.au
.
64
It published a report on the subject in February 2009, apparently voted in unanimously. One academy member even appeared on the France 2 evening news solemnly revealing the endless benefits of breast-feeding.
65
Debonnet-Gobin,
Allaitement maternel et médecine générale
, p. 15. It is worth adding that in the United States, white women breast-feed more than black women.
Allaitement maternel et médecine générale
, p. 15. It is worth adding that in the United States, white women breast-feed more than black women.
66
It is, for example, striking to find a page (p. 9) in Debonnet-Gobin's thesis devoted to the benefits of breast-feeding for the newborn (a title in bold letters), which gives equal typographical weight to proven facts, suggested ones, and those “under discussion,” as if all three categories were one and the same and could be added together.
67
Debonnet-Gobin,
Allaitement maternel et médecine générale,
p. 65. She adds: “Exclusive breastfeeding continued for six months ⦠favors a reduction in the risk of allergies in at-risk babies (father, mother, brother or sister has allergies) ⦠, and contributes to preventing obesity later in childhood and in adolescence.”
Allaitement maternel et médecine générale,
p. 65. She adds: “Exclusive breastfeeding continued for six months ⦠favors a reduction in the risk of allergies in at-risk babies (father, mother, brother or sister has allergies) ⦠, and contributes to preventing obesity later in childhood and in adolescence.”
68
Geoff Der is a statistician at the Medical Research Council's Social and Public Health Sciences unit in Glasgow. See the results of this study on the Internet, BMJ:
www.bmj.com
, October 2006.
www.bmj.com
, October 2006.
69
Ibid.
70
The Medical Academy's report (March 2009), although fairly cautious, continues to promote the role of breast-feeding in a child's intellectual development (p. 4) and settles for citing a 2001 study of 208 newborns, and, with no further commentary, adds: “G. Der casts doubts on the effects of mother's milk on intellectual development” (p. 5). It should be noted that in his 2007 study of Belorussian mothers and infants, Mark Kramer affirmed that breast-feeding is more beneficial than bottle-feeding for cognitive development. Who to believe?
71
Blum,
At the Breast
, pp. 45â50.
At the Breast
, pp. 45â50.
72
Elisabeth W. Tavárez, “La Leche League International: Class, Guilt, and Modern Motherhood,”
Proceedings of the New York State Communication Association
(2007): 3.
Proceedings of the New York State Communication Association
(2007): 3.
73
Expression borrowed from Marie Darrieussecq,
Le bébé
(Paris: POL, 2002), p. 23.
Le bébé
(Paris: POL, 2002), p. 23.
74
Wall, “Moral Constructions of Motherhood in Breast-feeding Discourse,” pp. 603â4.
75
See in particular Lyliane Nemet-Pier,
Mon enfant me dévore
(Paris: Albin Michel, 2003), which challenges the myth of family harmony, and Marie-Dominique Amy, who works with autistic children. In
Construire et soigner la relation mère-enfant
(Paris: Dunod, 2008), pp. 36â37, she writes: “I completely condemn a lack of respect for a mother's choices regarding feeding. In maternity wards, mothers can be told the advantages and disadvantages of breast- and bottle-feeding. But to insist that women who do not want to should breast-feed is absurd. It could contribute to a very distorted early relationship and be very stressful for the mother. Shame on us for contributing to the burden of guilt ⦔
Mon enfant me dévore
(Paris: Albin Michel, 2003), which challenges the myth of family harmony, and Marie-Dominique Amy, who works with autistic children. In
Construire et soigner la relation mère-enfant
(Paris: Dunod, 2008), pp. 36â37, she writes: “I completely condemn a lack of respect for a mother's choices regarding feeding. In maternity wards, mothers can be told the advantages and disadvantages of breast- and bottle-feeding. But to insist that women who do not want to should breast-feed is absurd. It could contribute to a very distorted early relationship and be very stressful for the mother. Shame on us for contributing to the burden of guilt ⦔
4. THE BABY'S DOMINION
1
From the end of the 1970s right up to the latest edition in 2008,
J'élève mon enfant
lays out both feeding choices with their respective advantages. Even though we can deduce the author has a preference for breast-feeding, bottle-feeding is in no way stigmatized.
J'élève mon enfant
lays out both feeding choices with their respective advantages. Even though we can deduce the author has a preference for breast-feeding, bottle-feeding is in no way stigmatized.
2
The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding
, 2nd ed. (Franklin Park, IL: La Leche League International, 1963).
, 2nd ed. (Franklin Park, IL: La Leche League International, 1963).
3
Some of these fathers said they felt swindled if and when they divorced and their wives would not even hear of giving them custody of the child(ren), or of joint custody when it was introduced in 2002.
4
Marie Thirion,
L'allaitement: de la naissance au sevrage
(Paris: Albin Michel, 1994). Edwige Antier,
Attendre mon enfant aujourd'hui
(Paris: Robert Laffont, 2007).
L'allaitement: de la naissance au sevrage
(Paris: Albin Michel, 1994). Edwige Antier,
Attendre mon enfant aujourd'hui
(Paris: Robert Laffont, 2007).
5
Edwige Antier,
Ãloge des mères
(Paris: Robert Laffont, 2001), p. 119, my italics.
Ãloge des mères
(Paris: Robert Laffont, 2001), p. 119, my italics.
6
Edwige Antier,
Vive l'éducation!
(Paris: Robert Laffont, 2003), pp. 44â45.
Vive l'éducation!
(Paris: Robert Laffont, 2003), pp. 44â45.
7
Edwige Antier,
Confidences de parents
(Paris: Robert Laffont, 2002), p. 55.
Confidences de parents
(Paris: Robert Laffont, 2002), p. 55.
8
Ibid., pp. 52 and 60.
9
Denmark and Norway are equally generous. In Denmark, parental leave is for one year, and some fathers can take up to ten and a half weeks of paid leave. Norway offers almost three years of parental leave to couples, forty-four weeks of which are reimbursed at 100 percent salary.
10
Anita Haataja, “Fathers' Use of Paternity and Parental Leave
in Nordic Countries,” Kelafpa, Online working papers 2 (2009): 8, 16.
in Nordic Countries,” Kelafpa, Online working papers 2 (2009): 8, 16.
11
Claude-Suzanne Didierjean-Jouveau,
Partager le sommeil de son enfant
(Saint-Julien-en-Genevois, France: Ãditions Jouvence, 2005), p. 49.
Partager le sommeil de son enfant
(Saint-Julien-en-Genevois, France: Ãditions Jouvence, 2005), p. 49.
12
Ibid., preface by Edwige Antier, pp. 8 and 9.
13
Ibid., pp. 46â47.
14
Ibid., pp. 47â48.
15
Elle
, August, 13, 2009, interviews with Marcel Rufo and Claude Halmos on co-sleeping.
, August, 13, 2009, interviews with Marcel Rufo and Claude Halmos on co-sleeping.
16
Antier,
Confidences de parents
, pp. 51, 52â53.
Confidences de parents
, pp. 51, 52â53.
17
Ãliette Abécassis,
Un heureux événement
(Paris: Albin Michel, 2005), pp. 78â79.
Un heureux événement
(Paris: Albin Michel, 2005), pp. 78â79.
18
Ibid., pp. 79â80.
19
According to a study by psychologists at the University of Denver (USA) covering 218 households, an overwhelming majority of young parents noticed a deterioration in their relationship with their partner after the birth of their first baby.
20
Moi d'abord
(Me First), the title of Katherine Pancol's book (Paris: Seuil, 1979).
(Me First), the title of Katherine Pancol's book (Paris: Seuil, 1979).
21
Elisabeth Badinter,
Mother Love: Myth and RealityâMotherhood in Modern History
(New York: Macmillan, 1981), pp. 335â60. See also Les Chimères,
Maternité esclave
, vols. 10â18 (Paris: Union General d'Edition, 1975).
Mother Love: Myth and RealityâMotherhood in Modern History
(New York: Macmillan, 1981), pp. 335â60. See also Les Chimères,
Maternité esclave
, vols. 10â18 (Paris: Union General d'Edition, 1975).
22
Lyliane Nemet-Pier,
Mon enfant me dévore
(Paris: Albin Michel, 2003).
Mon enfant me dévore
(Paris: Albin Michel, 2003).
23
The APE remunerated (at half the minimum wage) the parent who stopped work in order to look after a child up to the age of three. In 98 percent of cases the parent was the mother.
24
Liza Belkin, “The Opt-Out Revolution,”
New York Times Magazine
, October 26, 2003. See also “Quand superwoman rentre à la maison,”
Elle
, October 20, 2008.
New York Times Magazine
, October 26, 2003. See also “Quand superwoman rentre à la maison,”
Elle
, October 20, 2008.
25
In total, 22 percent of mothers with university degrees; 33 percent of those with MBAs worked part-time; and 26 percent approaching top management did not want to be promoted. The article also indicated that 57 percent of mothers who graduated from Stanford in 1981 stayed at home for at least a year.
26
They can reduce their work time by two hours per day (their salary is then paid pro rata).
27
Many breast-fed children do not go into child care before they are one year old.
28
Courrier cadres
, no. 28 (March 2009). In “Emploi des mères et garde des jeunes enfants en Europe,”
OFCE Review
(July 2004), Hélène Périvier points out that Swedish women do continue to work (albeit with long maternity leaves), but they reduce their average working hours (in their working life) by seventeen hours a week.
, no. 28 (March 2009). In “Emploi des mères et garde des jeunes enfants en Europe,”
OFCE Review
(July 2004), Hélène Périvier points out that Swedish women do continue to work (albeit with long maternity leaves), but they reduce their average working hours (in their working life) by seventeen hours a week.
29
Catherine Hakim,
Key Issues in Women's Work: Female Diversity and the Polarisation of Women's Employment
(London: Glass House Press, 2004).
Key Issues in Women's Work: Female Diversity and the Polarisation of Women's Employment
(London: Glass House Press, 2004).
30
Mckinsey & Company,
Women Matter 2010
,
http://www.Mckinsey.com/locations/swiss/news_publications/pdf/women_matter_2010_4.pdf
.
Women Matter 2010
,
http://www.Mckinsey.com/locations/swiss/news_publications/pdf/women_matter_2010_4.pdf
.
32
Australian Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs website:
www.fahcsia.gov.au
.
www.fahcsia.gov.au
.
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