There is news this morning that the Panda couple at the National Zoo appear to be future parents...at long last. These huge animals will have a baby that weighs about 4 ounces and is the size is a little larger than a golf ball. The zoo keepers said that after the birth, they were going to leave the first-time mom and baby alone and let nature take its course rather than try to guide the nursing process.
This started me thinking about 'nature taking it's course.' If I was living in the wild, had never had a baby, had never seen a mother and baby and gave birth to my first child, would I naturally know how to nurse? Society intellectualizes the process of nursing. We don't like to think of ourselves as biological animals and we certainly like to think of breasts as sexual organs and not feeding organs.
We hide the nursing process, by making mothers go into dark corners or cover their bodies as much as possible when they nurse in public. My daughter purchased two "hooter hiders" so she can live a somewhat normal life and feed her baby boy when among friends or in public.
Having lived for years on a tropical island where natives went topless and where nursing was the same as eating, I grew very comfortable with this biological function of ours. There were stories where years ago missionaries came to the islands to convert the 'heathen' natives and one of the processes was to cover the top of the women with blouses and shirts since boobies had something to do with sin. The story goes that this lasted a short while as the women (those nursing) soon cut holes in the shirts at exactly the most useful place so they could feed their babies easily.
Today I am off to my grandson's baptism...a process that comforts some in the family and which has a little bit of an unsettling effect on others.
It's funny, I mentioned in a fairly recent post that I'm rather uncomfy around nursing moms, especially when they're quite open about it. Perhaps had I spent a few years on an island with natives, I might feel differently.
ReplyDeleteNice post!
(I commented on your previous post as well, but if your Blogger is behaving the way mine is, you aren't getting email notification for comments... just thought I'd mention it)
Interestingly enough, Blogger IS behaving for me these days. Got both posts and glad you stopped by! Still laughing about that crawfish!
ReplyDeleteIn Japan we rare see mothers feeding their babies in public, which used to be quite common several decades ago though.
ReplyDeleteI don't know why, but recently in Japan , we often face unfortunate incidents that mothers do or try to kill their children. In a civilized society, are we losing maternal instinct? We Japanese also have a problem of declining birthrate. Where are we heading?
I think the increase in mothers depression after childbirth has to do with our environment, mixed hormones in the environment and a new mother's crashing hormones. But then what do I know?
ReplyDelete