Breastfeeding+in+France

by Ashley Haymond =Introduction= toc Cultural values undeniably influence perceptions about breastfeeding. In France, those values include the sexualization of the female body, ideas about women’s role vis-a-vis motherhood, and the importance of individualism.

=Breastfeeding Rates= France is an outlier in Europe.The government recommends new mothers breastfeed for 4-6 months. According to Bonet (2013), in 2010 nearly 70% of mothers initiated breastfeeding, but by 3-4 months after birth, only 15% of new mothers did any sort of breastfeeding. This included everything from exclusive to supplemental feeding.

These rates are low compared to the rest of Europe. Bonet (2013) found that France sinks below Scandinavia, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom in rates of exclusive breastfeeding after 3-4 months. In fact, France’s total breastfeeding rate of 15% is lower than the United Kingdom’s exclusive breastfeeding rate. Bonet’s (2013) findings are presented in the chart below.



This difference reflects a conflict between individualism and collectivism. France has a traditional of women’s employment outside the home. This necessitated the outsourcing of breastfeeding. Despite France’s modern-day liberal maternity policies, breastfeeding rates remain low. Negative attitudes about breastfeeding abound, and women are encouraged to reclaim their //vie de femme// soon after birth//.//

=Wet Nursing= During the 18th century, upper-class women worked, usually in silk manufacturing or the food trades. They worked alongside their husbands and were essential to the family income (Sussman, 1975). However, their babies still needed to be fed. Before pasteurization was invented, cow’s milk was considered dangerous (Sussman, 1975). Their only option was to send their babies to rural wet nurses. Nursing the infants of the French upper classes was not high-paying work; some women took on more babies than they could handle. In some households, hygiene was poor; infant mortality was high (Lastinger, 1996; Sussman, 1975).

Around the French Revolution, calls emerged for the end of wet nursing. In Lastinger’s (1996) history, [|Rousseau]argued for strengthening the French family by encouraging biological mothers to feed babies with their own milk. Physicians decried the high mortality of wet-nursed infants. However, other agendas may have been behind this call for domesticity. Women were becoming an active political force. Upper-class women frequented salons, discussing politics and philosophy on par with men. Lower-class women worked on the ground in the revolution (Lastinger, 1996). Popular pressure to reduce wet nursing did have an effect, but it was not the one intended. Sussman (1975) detailed the changes. After the revolution, upper-class families brought wet nurses into their homes. As cities expanded, working-class and lower-middle-class women sought employment in factories. In turn, their infants went out of their homes and into wet nurses’ care. As time went on, the wet-nursing business was regulated by laws and policies, especially in the cities. The practice did not end until the invention of baby formula around World War I.



=Vie de Femme= Without wet nurses, most of these women would not have been able to work and earn additional income for their households. Taking that into account, calls for breastfeeding could limit women’s economic power (Lastinger, 1996). In the present day, others continue to push back against breastfeeding for the same reason (Badinter, 2012).

There is distaste for breastfeeding in French popular culture, which this [|article]from //The Guardian// lampoons. The author relates a story of a gynecologist telling her pregnant patient that her breasts are for her husband, not her baby. Women are encouraged to quickly gain back their “woman’s life” or //vie de femme// (Gibbons, 2011). Badinter (2012) argues that mothering is an action not an identity. It is part of a woman’s role but should not become her whole life. Breastfeeding chains women to motherhood and threatens to step back political and economic gains.

//Vie de femme// is a consideration in the decision to breastfeed. Out of 50 factors presented to new mothers, Chabrol, et. al found that only three were influential in the decision to breastfeed or abstain. The only factor influential in beginning breastfeeding was its physiological advantage to the mother. French women took up the practice believing they would get their pre-pregnancy body back sooner. Two factors influenced women’s decision not to breastfeed. First, they felt a moral obligation to do so, and the pressure led to a fear of failure. Faced with low self-efficacy, they felt it was better not to start than try and fail. Second, new mothers feared dependency. In other words, they feared the role of motherhood would subsume them, pushing the //vie de femme// out of reach.

=Labor Policies= Do policies targeted at families affect breastfeeding? Even though France has one of Europe’s more liberal maternity leave policies, it has one of Europe’s lowest breastfeeding rates. Bonet (2013) described French policy. Almost 47% of women with children under age 3 work outside the home. France allows 16 weeks of parental leave for the first two children; for any more, a mother gets 26 weeks. In addition, Bonet (2013) found that the sooner a mother planned to return to work, the less she breastfed four months after birth. Many women felt breastfeeding was not compatible with work outside the home.



=Conclusion= According to Koltko-Rivera (2004), worldview consists of existential, proscriptive and prescriptive beliefs. In France, the proscriptive beliefs of collectivism and individualism clash. The government supports a form of collectivism: breastfeeding is good for babies and mothers. It encourages breastfeeding for 4 to 6 months and provides education and support (Bonet, 2013). However, individualism runs strong. French women have worked outside the home since at least the 18th century (Lastinger, 1996; Sussman, 1975). The concept of //vie de femme // permeates cultural life (Gibbons, 2011), and many women expect motherhood to be part, but not all, of their identity (Badinter, 2012). Given the low rate of breastfeeding, individualism prevails over collectivist public health arguments.

=References= Badinter, E. (2012). //The conflict: How overzealous motherhood undermines the status of women.// (A. Hunter Trans.). New York, NY: Picador.

Bonet, M., Marchand, L., Kaminski, M., Fohran, A., Betoko, A., Charles, M., & Blondel, B. (2013). Breastfeeding duration, social and occupational characteristics of mothers in the French 'EDEN mother-child' cohort. //Maternal & Child Health Journal, 17//(4), 714-722. doi:10.1007/s10995-012-1053-4

Chabrol, H., Walburg, V., Teissedre, F., Armitage, J., & Santrisse, K. (2004). Influence of mother's perceptions on the choice to breastfeed or bottle-feed: Perceptions and feeding choice. //Journal of Reproductive & Infant Psychology, 22//(3), 189-198. doi:10.1080/026468304 10001723779

Gibbons, F. (2011, April 1). In France, breast is definitely not best. //The Guardian.// Retrieved from: [|http][|://][|www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/apr/01/france-breast-breastfed-baby-death]

Koltko-Rivera, M. (2004). The psychology of worldviews. //Review of General Psychology//, 8(1), 3-58. doi:10.1037/1089-2680.8.1.3

Lastinger, V. (1996). Re-defining motherhood: Breast-feeding and the French enlightenment. //Women's Studies, 25//(6), 603.

Martin, C. (2010). The reframing of family policies in France: Processes and actors. //Journal of European Social Policy, 20//(5), 410-421. doi:10.1177/0958928710380479

Sussman, G. (1975). The wet-nursing business in nineteenth-century France. //French Historical Studies, 9//(2), 304.

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