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In Reply.—I appreciate the opportunity to respond to Palmier's letter. I have not yet had to face the extraordinary challenge of mothering twins or of mothering a physically handicapped child as Palmier has. Certainly, for an ill or premature or handicapped baby a breast pump and Lact-Aid Nursing Trainer System (Lact-Aid International Inc, Athens, Tenn) may be invaluable aids that permit the possibility of establishing a nursing relationship. Fortunately, most babies are healthy, and such equipment may then intrude on rather than enhance the nursing relationship.
Providing breast milk to an infant in day care may serve as a "break-even" situation vis à vis the infectious hazards of full-time infant day care. However, breast milk in a bottle from a substitute care giver is still not nursing and does not bridge the seemingly endless daily separation in a way that the baby can understand. Pumping is arduous and exhausting, but I