Back to the Breast Quotes

“What I do articulate throughout Back to the Breast is that the ideology of natural motherhood shaped the path of breast-feeding’s return to popularity in every way. The marriage of breastfeeding to the ideology of natural motherhood was an important component in the early back-to-the-breast movement and this fact has continued to have meaningful implications for breastfeeding practice up through today. While it has competed with other ideological constructions in shaping ideas and practices surrounding breastfeeding over much of the last century, natural motherhood has fundamentally influenced how Americans today have come to think about breastfeeding. In the chapters that follow, I focus on the persistence in the belief by countless Americans over the past century that breastfeeding holds value and meaning that transcends nutritional adequacy and infant survival. I trace the efforts, science, struggles, triumphs, and failures of the people and ideas behind the back-to-the-breast movement over much of the last century so that we might better imagine a society in which all mothers receive the support they need to make their experiences as mothers personally rewarding and fulfilling.”
― Jessica Martucci, Back to the Breast: Natural Motherhood and Breastfeeding in America