Facing falling rates of women who even attempt to nurse their newborns, local officials in Liverpool, England, are launching an educational program to introduce students, some as young as five years old, to the idea of breastfeeding. Early lessons would use diagrams and include the material in "general discussions about growing up," while students in high school would be visited by actual nursing mothers. Boys will be part of the curriculum because school officials acknowlege that male opposition is a factor in women's rejection of breastfeeding.
Two things shock me about this idea. One, that it's possible to go forward with this kind of endeavor in England, while in the US you'd face rampant objections from all sides. And two, that a breastfeeding rate of "just one third" is considered particularly low. The current US rate is something like 70% upon leaving the hospital, but less than a third at three months. It's too bad our culture wouldn't allow such a program here; we could use it.
More by this author:
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