Is it worth breastfeeding if you must sacrifice your ability to earn? Does the value of bonding with your child through breastfeeding trump any potential earnings loss? And, where do single parents fit in?

i think it would depend on the cost benefit for the entire family. if the mother taking off work is causing excessive hardship, then maybe sacrifices have to be made. there is nothing wrong with bottle feeding. the same applies to single parents. you have to think about how this affects the entire family's long term well being, not just one member. even if bottle fed, the child will still get nourishment, can still be perfectly healthy and the mother can still bond. i wonder how many people who breastfeed now were bottle fed as babies and if they feel like they were cheated somehow. when i had my first child, non of the women in my family had ever breastfed. they thought i was weird didnt understand why i would do such a crazy thing. i got a lot of rolling eyes and strange looks...

This raises questions for me. Are mothers who are already more likely to choose to take extended time off to raise their children also more likely to continue breastfeeding, as this seems to suggest? Or does it also create loss of future earning for mothers who return to work, but, for example, use a breast pump during the work day? If that's the case, is there then some sort of bias against them that contributes to their earnings loss? I'd be interested in learning more.

The answer to this is to fight for more progressive workplace laws to support breastfeeding mothers, not encourage mothers to use formula instead.

I totally agree with you, Karen. 100%.

In My case, formula feeding cost me, loss in pay due to the numerous times I would miss work due to my formula fed infant being ill and day care providers unable to accept her when sick. after a year of consistent leaves I was laid off. it cost me my job, my perfect credit record, and most of all the good health of my child. on the other hand with my breastfed child wich I only took an additional month off work (4 months total) I have only missed 2 housr of work in 2 1/2 years due to illness for him. And that one month loss of earning is well worth the bonding and most off all the over all health of my 2 year breast fed child.

The NY Times article points you to a blog called Motherlode. At one point, the writer (a new mother) says she didn't expect nursing at work to be so difficult, "I worked for a large corporation in a relatively new building at a magazine by women, for women, about female empowerment." It's interesting commentary on workplace issues. Just wondering, what anyone thinks some steps workplaces should take to be more flexible, and does anyone know of any model employers in this regard?