Ask a roomful of people what ‘weaning’ means and each…

“The BFHI was designed to protect and promote exclusive breastfeeding, but its provisions always included the acceptance of medically indicated replacement feeding. When this…

— Gabrielle Palmer

“Babies who do not sleep ‘through the night’ alone in a cot, as soon as possible after birth, are seen as a ‘problem’.”

— Gabrielle Palmer

“a midwife’s role was to work with nature, whereas a doctor was trained to seek out its defects and remedy them.”

— Gabrielle Palmer

“a product presented as ‘closest to mother’s milk’ might actually include potatoes, fungi and beans, depending on the price of course.”

— Gabrielle Palmer

“It is difficult to insist on breastfeeding because nurses and physicians are eager to have the infant show the greatest possible gain.”12”

— Gabrielle Palmer

“In some countries, pumping has become the default method of expression, and hand expression has become an afterthought. It would be safer if it…

— Gabrielle Palmer

“The parts of the brain which influence social and emotional relationships do not develop automatically but in response to the way a baby is…

— Gabrielle Palmer

“Breastfeeding mothers, sleeping by their babies in three-sided cribs with the open side joined to the adult bed, respond quite differently from mothers whose…

— Gabrielle Palmer

“In the same way, breastfeeding is seen as a woman’s topic. Though women are often told whether or not they should do it, it…

— Gabrielle Palmer

“It seems likely that if you are told that your vagina is so ill-designed that it must be cut open to perform a normal…

— Gabrielle Palmer

“Love facilitates a massive burst of connections in this part of the brain between six and 12 months. Neglect at this time can greatly…

— Gabrielle Palmer

“It is now known that babies’ brains develop according to how much they are loved.”

— Gabrielle Palmer

“Breastmilk is designed for rapid digestion and frequent feeding.”

— Gabrielle Palmer

“Breastmilk substitutes can be useful, life-saving products, just as artificial insulin can save the lives of diabetics, but no honest doctor could advocate the…

— Gabrielle Palmer

“An exclusively breastfed child can die, just as an artificially fed child can survive, because of a range of risk factors, but this does…

— Gabrielle Palmer