Just last week in looking at the State of the World’s Mothers report, we highlighted the fact that the United States is ranked last among developed nations in breastfeeding-friendly culture.
Discussion about our attitudes toward breastfeeding got a little bit louder this past week with Time Magazine’s cover story on attachment parenting. The cover stirred up a lot of strong debate, much of it centered on the cover image itself and the larger philosophies of attachment parenting. Some coverage, however, chose to take advantage of the opportunity to look more closely into issues surrounding breastfeeding in the United States.
- Lauran Neergaard’s story for the Associated Press, recentered the focus on important health benefits that breastfeeding can have for both babies and mothers.
- In a blog for Huffington Post, Janet Walsh, Deputy women’s rights director of Human Rights Watch, chose to address many of the issues of policy that influence women’s decisions about breastfeeding.
As a child psychologist and a mom, one of the things that is so misleading about attachment parenting is the name. It is only called attachment parenting because of the theory it was based upon. It is not called this because it is the only form of parenting which allows parents to develop a secure attachment relationship with their children. There are numerous ways to develop a secure attachment relationship with our kids. I explore more of this myth here for anyone who is interested:
http://www.themommypsychologist.com/2012/04/15/what-does-the-mommy-psychologist-have-to-say-about-attachment-parenting/