title: The new mother's view of herself.
abstract: A woman's attitude to breast-feeding is usually determined more by feeling than by rational thought; it is built on her adolescent views of the development of secondary sexual characteristics and subsequently on the breasts' part in sexual attraction. Early in pregnancy a mother is aware that fixed advice is more often offered than explanatory discussion. When birth is imminent, disinclination to breast-feed may be part of an unrecognized reluctance to submit to the changes which motherhood will bring. After the birth of her first child a mother finds herself enduring the discomforts of heightened moods and only too ready to interpret difficulties as signs of her inadequacy. Yet at the same time she is likely to discover her delight in her baby's repose and her own tranquillity at times of feeding.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001940:Breast / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology; D001942:Breast Feeding; D005260:Female; D006167:Guilt; D006801:Humans; D007224:Infant Care; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007774:Lactation; D008425:Maternal Behavior; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D010121:Oxytocin / Q000378:metabolism; D011247:Pregnancy; D011388:Prolactin / Q000502:physiology; D012649:Self Concept
chemical_list: D010121:Oxytocin; D011388:Prolactin