Maternal Expectations: New Mothers, Nurses, and Breastfeeding

Abstract

By the middle of the 20th century, breastfeeding rates had fallen to less than 20% in some areas of the United States. Despite these grim statistics, many mothers continued to seek information, advice, and the experience of breastfeeding their infants. This article explores the role that nurses played in these women’s struggles to breastfeed in the years between the end of World War II and the 1970s. The role of the nurse in shaping the meaning and experience of breastfeeding in America has been an important, albeit often overlooked, part of the history of infant feeding. In addition to exploring the ways in which hospital policies and structures shaped nurses’ relationships with breastfeeding mothers, this article looks at how different maternal ideologies influenced the nature of these (mostly) same-sex interactions. This article argues that the ideas about, and experiences with, motherhood had important implications for how nurses and mothers approached the practice of breastfeeding in the hospital.