The Milky Way

In recent years, documentaries about breastfeeding have proliferated (most recently, see Breastmilk, reviewed in VL-1/15). Director Jon Fitzgerald here takes a more comprehensive approach, examining the practice of breastfeeding in art and literature, including the Greek myth that ascribes the Milky Way to the goddess Hera. In the 20th century, as pasteurization emerged and baby formula became commonplace, breastfeeding subsided—a development that increased corporate profits while also helping to allow women to work during World War II. Afterward, breastfeeding developed a low-class reputation, with doctors discouraging the practice as formula makers applied pressure. To Dr. Jay Gordon, "the heart of pediatrics should be nutrition," and yet most American mothers opt out, or they combine breast milk with formula containing unhealthy ingredients such as high fructose corn syrup. Jennifer Davidson, a lactation consultant, believes that today's mothers harbor more misconceptions about breastfeeding than in times past, although the tide may be turning. Celebrities, like Carrie-Anne Moss and Minnie Driver (both appear here), have spoken out in favor of breastfeeding in public (Bill Maher and Whoopi Goldberg, seen in archival clips, feel otherwise). In order to understand why European mothers have fewer qualms, Davidson and a colleague travel to Germany and Sweden, where they find doctors encouraging parents to find their own rhythms rather than following rigid guidelines. By providing 18 months of maternity leave, Sweden makes it even easier for mothers to choose breastfeeding over formula, and Fitzgerald makes a convincing case that the U.S. would be wise to follow suit. Recommended. Aud: C, P. (K. Fennessy)