The matter of need is somewhat open for interpretation, as are many things. When I think of need as a modern woman, I think of - If for whatever reason, a mother cannot breastfeed her baby. Whether it is because she has died she is too sick to breastfeed, she has been separated from her baby or she has no milk to provide for her baby. Need to woman centuries ago could have been defined as - She needs to get back to conceiving babies and the act of breastfeeding acts as one form of contraception. Customs are for her to get breeding again as soon as she could. The need also arose from what was expected of her in society, which was to delegate all physical work to others to demonstrate her own and her family's high status.