Wow. Interesting. Breasts are not erogenous zones? This is news to me. Seems to me that a lot of women who enjoy -- and feel sexual about -- having their breasts fondled, licked, and sucked by adults of either sexes haven't got this news flash. They're /both/. One doesn't take precedence over the other. Like the penis and vagina have more than one function. It depends on the situation you're using them for.
Obviously, a woman doesn't have an orgasm (that I know of, having never breastfed) while breastfeeding, but I would imagine most women who breastfeed aren't exactly repulsed by the sensation of their baby breastfeeding. Pleasant hormones to make a woman want to feed her kid, or somesuch.
Actually, the vagina doesn't serve any other function besides sexual/reproductive (which are essentially the same.) And the vaginal canal itself isn't all that sexually sensitive. Being the birth canal, it's thankfully short on nerve endings, with the clitoris (which is not even
next to the vaginal opening) serving as the supreme sexual organ in females. Aside from the opening, and the g-spot (which isn't sensitive at all in many females), the vagina itself provides very little sexual pleasure for women.
As for breasts... yes they are an erogenous zone, and that serves as a function too. Breast stimulation directly affects the uterus, because after giving birth, women are meant to begin nursing right away, this causes uterine contractions which help the uterus get back to its normal size. Nipple stimulation can also aid in childbirth by doing the same thing, which is why often women in the late stages of pregnancy try to avoid excess nipple stimulation, as it can bring on early labour.
But you're not too far from the mark. Women
have reportedly experienced orgasms from breastfeeding. However, that is a rare occasion, and for the most part, while light nipple stimulation can feel incredibly good, anything heavy or rough can get very painful, very fast. I'm not a mother and have never breastfed, but I've had to tell boyfriends to back off before when stimulation went quickly from pleasurable to painful. And believe me, babies are much greedier than men. Think about the amount of
suction a baby must apply to get the milk.
And oh yes, I did see the nursing blouses. Very pretty. But it wasn't really answering my point -- which was that I don't get the anti-blanket on baby's head when breastfeeding argument, when I've seen babies with blankets over their faces at many, many other times, indoors or out. It doesn't make sense. If you're going to insist on a blanket shrouding a baby's head at any other time, then the baby should be all right with a blanket on his head at that time. Not that I personally agree with blanketing a kid's head, and can even see where it's probably nicer to be able to see your baby's face while feeding him or her. Discretion, though, IS a good thing. Like those shirts. Or finding a way to do it so your boob isn't waving around (which, obviously, 99 percent of breastfeeding mothers DO do) for others to see.
For one, it can be very uncomfortable for the baby in hot weather, especially as babies lack the ability to sweat. And as anitram has pointed out, older babies won't put up with it. Both mother and baby like to see each other and maintain eye contact during feedings, and once babies become aware of the world around them, they hate having it closed off from them.
I was told that the mere mention of babies can make a pregnant/recently given birth mother lactate.
Not so sure about that, but there does seem to be a very strong physiological connection between a mother, her milk, and her baby. If a woman hears her baby crying, she'll begin lactating, and can even start to do so before the baby even starts crying. It's quite interesting.