The Semantics of Breastfeeding

Breastfeeding, Breast-feeding or Breast Feeding? Which is it? Does it actually matter?

Some people will have noticed the different ways in which breastfeeding is spelled, and like me may have wondered if there is any significance to these differences. I was so intrigued that I made a few enquiries within the breastfeeding-advocacy community. Here is what I found...

Breast feeding (breast-feeding) and bottle feeding (bottle-feeding) refer to the action of getting milk into the baby by breast or bottle as if there were very little difference between the products of breast milk or formula and no difference in the process of feeding. ‘Breast’ being the adjective is of lesser importance than the noun ‘feeding’.

By making breastfeeding a single word, the process is no longer emphasised and the act of breastfeeding is seen as a whole way of parenting and nurturing one’s child - emotionally as well as physically. It reflects the connection and closeness between mother and baby.

Breastfeeding refers to the symbiotic relationship. A breastfeeding mother makes milk by actively engaging with her baby. Any woman who has breastfed will tell you that the baby does the work, unlike the bottle-fed baby who has a more passive role. The relationship between a mother and her breastfeeding child is essential for the maintenance of an optimal supply of breast milk and cannot be compared to making bottles with powder scooped from a tin. Separating ‘breast’ from ‘feeding’ also isolates and highlights the breast, which for many carries sexual connotations.

When mothers speak about the difference breastfeeding has made to their mothering, they speak of the relationship. This is particularly so for mothers who may not make all of their babies' milk but who nurture at the breast - adoptive mums, mothers who re-lactate or struggle to produce an adequate supply.

The developed world has a bottle-feeding culture that sees the method of feeding one’s baby as a lifestyle choice. This puts us at a tremendous disadvantage when it comes to sustaining breastfeeding for longer than a few weeks. To see breastfeeding as a way of parenting rather than just a method of feeding puts it into a completely different context and makes it as acceptable here as it is in developing countries.

There was a time when breastfeeding was just referred to as ‘feeding the baby’. For now we must be more specific and hope that this term will return to common usage and again carry the concept of nurturing.