BREAST OR BOTTLE?

Abstract

Breastmilk has been hailed by doctors as the only food or fluid human infants need to consume for the first four to six months of life. Breastfeeding carries numerous benefits for both mother and child, and under certain conditions, especially in Third World countries, breastmilk can even save babies' life. Breastmilk has been called 'every baby's birthright'. Despite this, breastfeeding has been on a steady decline since milk substitutes became available in the 1930s. Today, many people in developed countries have come to regard breastfeeding as a vestige of our past, as inconvenient, unfashionable and backward. This project is concerned with investigating the salient factors which determine the Singapore mother's choice between breastfeeding and bottlefeeding. This study aims to gain a better understanding of why and haw negative attitudes towards lactation arise. The breast-bottle issue is complex and multi-faceted. It is not just a question of nutrition but of bonding between mother and child. A sociological understanding of breastfeeding requires consideration of the society in which it is located. Attitudes towards breastfeeding are also affected by the economic, structural and political conditions. Social meanings of the family, ethnic practices, notions of motherhood, female sexuality and the body, also need to be considered, to discover how these factors interface with infant feeding practices.