Not long ago, a mother I d never seen before entered my office

with her five-month-old son. As she came in, she said, "Doctor,

~hould I wean my baby?."

I thought to myself, What an odd way to greet a new doctor.

Why do you ask?" "I have to go back to work," she said, as if it

were a threat, When I asked her when, she said, " In the next few

months." Relieved, I said brightly, "Certainly not, then! Just get

him used to a bottle in the middle of the day. Plan to breast-

feed him before and after work. You ll find it s so great to come

home at the end of the day and be able to put him right to

breast, You feel cemented to each other all over again."

At this, she sat down in my easy chair, clutching her baby

closer, and began to cry. I was horrified. I thought I must have

said the wrong thing to this woman I hardly l~new. Brushing the

tears away, she explained her feelings. "I hoped you d say that.

I haven t been able to hear it from anyone else, I m a lawyer in

town. Suddenly, I don t want to go back to work at all. I was