Unloading on mothers.

Perhaps Leigh Felesky and Mira Kirshner should have titled their article (Summer 2005 Herizons) "The Mother UNLOAD" because it appears to me that they were interested in trying to assuage their own parenting guilt by blaming the "breast-feeding imperative."

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How sad that they have fallen into the trap of holding those who try to empower women to breast-feed and to practice attachment parenting responsible for inducing blame and guilt. How easy to sit back and criticize hospitals, public health and lactation consultants for not making the system better for women. Perhaps the most telling sentence in the article is the one stating that no one mentioned that breast-feeding an infant might take several hours a day. If this is a surprise, I wish them luck because it doesn't get easier. Parenting is challenging and having children in our lives is time-consuming.

My job as a breast-feeding advocate and educator is to give parents accurate information to make informed choices. I don't make people feel guilty; that feeling comes from within themselves.

The authors make it seem that you cannot be a feminist and still breast-feed and attachment parent. That is absolutely not true.

If they feel so strongly that women are being failed by the system, and I agree that they are, then put some energy into trying to change the system. Put pressure on governments to invest more money to help women successfully breast-feed.

Carolin Kaemmer

MERRICKVILLE, ONTARIO