La Leche League's Folk Group
Approach to Mothering
A founding prinipale for La Leche League, is to bring mother and baby back together, through complete breastfeeding.
Since the early 1900's, American society has changed rapidly, changing the ways mothers learn to mother. Mothers and babies have become separated by objects (cribs, pacifiers, bottles, infant chairs). Many mothers depend on childcare while they pursue an occupation.
Mothers looking to practice natural-mothering had very few women, including family members, to look to for support.
Traditional family structures, where multiple generations lived amongst each other has been replaced by nuclear family households, single-parent households and reconstituted households..
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La Leche League offers the connections to people who will help guide towards natural mothering,
Group members revive traditional mothering aspects of its cultur
promote and teach a type of natural mothering based on a shared philosophy, values, traditions, and ideals.
It would be hard in todays modern society for women to learn natural-mothg\ering without the knowledge, support, and encouragement of other more experienced people who act as models
(Weiner)1994
Citation
Weiner, Lynn Y. 1994. “Reconstructing Motherhood: The La Leche League in Postwar America.” Journal of American History 80 (4): 1357–81. https://doi.org/10.2307/2080604.