4) Breastfeeding helps the mother become a “gift of self” to her baby.
Breastfeeding helps a mother learn to put her baby first and to give of her time for the needs of her baby. This learning process occurs in an easy and natural way. God knows that mothers are very busy and can very easily ignore their babies. His plan keeps bringing the baby back to the mother for food and comfort at the breast and in her arms.
5) Breastfeeding has some similarities to the marital act.
John Paul II has written in Love and Responsibility that in the sexual relationship between the spouses or in the marital act two orders meet: the order of nature which has as its object reproduction and the personal order which finds its expression in the love of persons. Breastfeeding likewise has two orders that meet: the order of nature which has its object the completion of the reproductive cycle and the personal order which finds its expression of love between mother and child.
Both acts, the marital and breastfeeding, involve a communion of persons. Both should involve the service of life and should involve loving fidelity.
By following the natural order, we mean that the mother uses her own God-given equipment—her breasts to nourish and comfort her baby, her arms, back or chest to carry the baby, and her lap and arms to hold the baby. The mother remains physically close to her baby, follows the baby’s cues with regard to his hunger, his tiredness, his alertness, and his need to be comforted. This natural type of mothering is called ecological breastfeeding.
6) Breastfeeding has some similarities to pregnancy.
In 2 Maccabees (Ch. 7, verse 27), a mother tells her youngest son “I carried you nine months in the womb and nursed you for three years, and have reared you and brought you up to his point in your life, and have taken care of you.” The care of this mother began in pregnancy and continued at the breast. During pregnancy and breastfeeding, mother and baby are one biological unit. The only difference is that after childbirth the baby has switched positions.
Next week: More on how breastfeeding is similar to pregnancy.
Sheila Kippley
The Seven Standards of Ecological Breastfeeding