Page 145 - Push Back

If a woman interferes with the natural bond between mother and baby, whether her child be a
daughter or a son, the consequences later on in life can be immense. Breastfeeding is about much
more than passing nutrients to the child. There is a familial bond being formed. An image of the
woman/mother is formed in the mind of the child as one who is nurturing, life-giving, and
protective. Gender roles are being developed as the mother establishes a pattern of femininity in
the eyes of her nursing children. The following insightful statements are found on an Internet
website.

In the Book of Ruth, a Jewish woman, Naomi, experiences the loss of her two adult sons, both of
whom die childless. One of her daughters-in-law, the Moabite Ruth, remarries a relative of her
late husband and has a son named Obed. Because Naomi has left no biological descendants,
however, she adopts Obed as her own; the neighbours even declare, “There is a son born to
Naomi.” To cement the mother-child bond, Naomi [takes] the child and [lays] it in her bosom
and [becomes] nurse unto it.

Now one might wonder how Naomi could nurse a baby when she had presumably borne her last
child decades earlier. This occurred through a process called relactation, whereby a woman’s
breast can be stimulated by a child’s sucking to produce milk again years after giving birth. In
some poor countries today grandmothers may nurse a grandchild if the baby’s mother dies. Even
in the modern United States , feminist sociologist Pauline Bart – who is Jewish herself – writes
of having milk reappear in her breasts after suckling her granddaughter.
[Source: http://cynicsunlimited.com/2007/08/06/breastfeeding-in-the-bible/]

The idea of various women in a family sharing the duty of nursing a child may appear abnormal
to people in western cultures, but this merely reveals how far society has deviated from that
which God views as normal and healthy behavior. What is abnormal is going down to your local
Walmart and purchasing a case of infant formula whose major ingredients are likely to be corn
syrup solids, some derivative of highly processed cow’s milk, and a variety of vegetable oils.
Another common ingredient is cupric (copper) sulfate. The government lists cupric sulfate as a
hazardous material. It is used as a pesticide. The Material Safety Data Sheet for this chemical
says, “Do not ingest” also warning that it is a carcinogen (causes cancer). Yet this chemical is
included in the list of ingredients for most of the mass produced infant formulas. For more
information on the deleterious effects of infant formula, and the benefits of breastfeeding, see the