[LMB] Breastfeeding in the Vorkosiverse/Chalionverse

[Agnes Charrel-Berthillier]

Suzette Petty wrote:
> From: Rachel Ganz rachel at compromise.fsnet.co.uk
> 
>> But the ultimate argument, to quote a friend of mine, "is the great
>>  benefit about breast-feeding is that it gives you a hand free for 
>> the book".

> Absolutely my favorite part of breastfeeding!

Yes! And paperbacks are easiest on the wrist of that single hand, which
is why my ARCs of the Chalion books have seen a lot more use than the
hardcover editions (I am not sure I have even cracked open my copy of HH).

And speaking of HH... I was still nursing my first son when I read the
ARC. Was I the only one to find Hallana arriving on scene mere days
after the birth of her child *without* her baby completely unbelievable?

I mean, yes, bringing the baby would have been dangerous, wet nurses
were probably available, and she might even have been able to ignore the
whole bonding process, but she was way too... flippant about the whole
thing.

Also, she wasn't leaking all over the landscape nearly enough.

Probably the first time in an LMB book when I had a Doylist moment
DURING A FIRST READING (I gulp new books and usually nothing can jerk me
out of a good story).

And, sherwooding on this subject (now that it is on topic):

Michael R N Dolbear wrote:
>> From: Becca Price
> 
>> I'm assuming that, by the time of uterine replicators, they'd have 
>> better ways for a mother to bring in milk.
> 
> In a previous uterine replicator thread-which-wandered vat breast 
> milk was suggested (compare the blood in DI).
> 
> 2B| From: alayne at twobikes.ottawa.on.ca 2B| Date: 30 April 2003
> 
> 2B|> Bring this back on-topic, I think it should be really obvious 
> that giant vats of breast-milk are a serious infection hazard. Just
> remember the problems we've had with the blood supply. Even if the
> material is exclusively from artificial (non-living) sources, how can
> you avoid contamination on a large scale.

Well, currently we don't, right? Mass recalls after bacterial or 
chemical contamination of formula occur once or twice a year. And there 
was that case a few years ago when several babies died of vitamin 
deficiency (in Israel?) because the company making their formula had 
forgotten to add them to a whole production batch.

> At least formula has the liquid added and heated only when necessary.

Not true. Formula is currently marketed in both powdered and ready to 
drink forms, and has been for at least 5 years. The ready to drink 
version is much, much pricier, but it is also the one that people who 
can afford it use, because it is (I am told) so much more convenient.

And, for people who can afford much more than the bare necessities, I 
have seen questions on parenting mailing lists from mothers planning 
trip to destinations where they were unsure of being able to get the 
right brand in the right amounts trying to figure how to ship several 
weeks worth of ready to drink cans (and diapers, and baby food) overseas 
on short notice.

> LE|> Vat breast milk can be cooled, possibly pasteurised, and 
> re-heated or produced only in quantities needed for immediate use 
> depending on circumstances and risk analysis.

Pasteurization kills the antibodies that make breastmilk so valuable, 
destroys most of the enzymes that make is more digestible and alters 
some of the proteins (one of the reasons why pumping moms are told not 
to microwave their milk). The vitamin content would also be modified, 
meaning that the vat milk would have to be supplemented pretty much the 
same way formula is these days.

What the Vorkosiverse should be able to do (beyond kickstarting the milk 
supply of any woman who wants to breastfeed, whether or not she 
body-birthed) would be to have personalized mini-vats producing milk 
from cells cloned from the mother herself. Personalized milk supply, 
available on demand at home.

For the baby on the go, a mini portable version with integrated delivery 
system will provide just enough milk for that outing.

Somebody else can figure a way to get the vat cells to produce the right 
antibodies at the right time (how to prime the system, how to make sure 
it evolves to adapt to whatever the baby is exposed to).

I certainly have wished for a way to disconnect my breasts from my 
person several times in the past 4 years. Even with the one handed 
reading factored in.


Agnes