To Public Health Policy Makers
by - 31st December 1969
Comments
Past Entries
This Week's
Question
Sign the Petition
Do moms know best? We believe they do, but the government may not..
Your freedom to choose between breast and bottle-feeding could be in jeopardy.
Winchymum
14:25 27/03/2008I saw your post on the NY Times site, and couldn't agree more with your perspective....what other real life factors did these researchers NOT consider that may have made these moms turn to using formula when they did- did they only plan to nurse that long in the first place, were their babies not thriving despite their best breastfeeding efforts, did they have to go back to work at a job that really wasn't conducive to pumping?
I am one of the lucky ones for whom nursing worked out, but lot of my friends faced these and other challenges. The free samples they got had ABSOLUTELY nothing to do with why they used formula, and all they provided me with during the first few days of getting the hang of nursing each of my babies was peace of mind that they were in the cupboard should we need it, and a few extra dollars in the wallet to spend on the hundreds of diapers we went through in those first few weeks...
One of the NY Times respondents mentions using a wet nurse as an alternative BEFORE turning to formula...all I can say is good luck finding one of those in the wee hours of the night the few few days a home with a starving baby wailing waiting for your milk to come in...good luck....
Catie
15:29 28/03/2008After reading the New York Times article and reading the comments from the blog I believe there was a lot of misconception about the information given in the article. As you have pointed out, the author of the New York Times piece failed to include some of the important information that you have outlined above. The article is missleading as it conviently leaves out pieces of information that may weaken its arguement.
I believe that breast feeding is something that can be influenced by many different variables such as a medical condiition, returning to work, or a personal decision a woman makes. While many studies have shown that breast feeding is the best option, it's not always the most realistic. There are other real world obstacles that these studies do not take into account.
Many women make the personal choice to breast feed or not before a child is born, and I hardly think a packet of formula will change thier mind.
The women who insist that breast feeding should be the only option no matter what can cause others who can't breast feed to feel guilty about a choice that they may have no control over. Obviously a mother wants what's best for her child but what's best may be that the mother goes back to work so she can provide for her family. This choice may not allow breast feeding to continue, but that doesn't mean that the mother doesn't have her child's best interest at heart.
In the end, each woman needs to make this choice for herself and will hopefully do more research instead of simply relying on studies that may not be giving the entire story.
carolyn bell
11:34 31/03/2008The choice of formula should be the decision of the mother, father, and the pediatrician. Just as I think advertisements for pills on television are wrong, I think free formula without any discussion by classes at the hospital or discussion with pediatrician is wrong.
Breastfeeding mom
19:30 31/03/2008If cant handle ...why have babies??? this is ridiculous!!!
Carol Weiss
23:54 01/04/2008I have to agree with the last posting about Barb's approach to really listening to people.In her caring way, without being judgmental, she present all the alternatives and let's woman choose what is right for them. She hears the our struggles and brings a sense of calm to the stress we face. I've gone through two pregnancies and two infants with very different needs. Barb was always there to help me find my way with the choices that were right for me, my daughters and my family life. I feel so blessed to have Barb be part of the most important events in my life!
Stacey Kannenberg
06:43 02/04/2008Barb is indeed amazing and I am honored to call her my friend. The world is a better place because of Barb. Her true passion is helping people and she loves bringing medical information to us in a way in which we can understand. She is who I call whenever I need more information and she has helped so many people. She truly deserved to be named Nurse Practitioner of Distinction for California. She is a moderate day Florence Nightingale who thrives on compassion and taking the nursing and medical message to the National spotlight to educate us all.
Dana Hilmer
13:14 02/04/2008Barb is truly deserving of the Nurse Practicioner of Distinction for California honor. She personifies what medical practice should be: she is knowledgable, truly compassionate, and approachable. She has one foot in the practice of being a nurse practitioner and the other in the role of being a national educator and inspiration. Cudos to you Barb!
Jennifer
19:25 06/04/2008Women are so smart, and they intuitively know what's right. Government has no place in this area. I think women are smart enough to read about, think about, ask questions about, and then ultimately decide about whether they want to breastfeed or formula feed. Our legislators should be focusing their efforts elsewhere. As should hospitals, and mom "activists" who want to tell every mom what they should do. Folks, focus on supporting REAL issues -- like making sure women who work have access to areas to pump.
karrie
08:38 17/04/2008Maybe has a country we should slow down and give women longer materinty lives. Here in canada we get a year. Taking that stress may give women more time and energy to breastfeed their babies
lisa
07:17 07/05/2008It seems as though the breastfeeding vs. bottle feeding issue gives otherwise polite people opportunity to weigh in even though the decision should be left to the individual. A negative comment on a mother's choice to bottle feed with formula is like telling a smoker on the street that smoking is bad for you and that they should stop.
My daughter was born with an omphalocele. This means that her liver, intestines and bowel were in a membrane outside of her body. She spent the first month of her life in the NICU and underwent 2 surgeries during this time. The first two weeks of her life I spent pumping and freezing breast milk as she was given nutrients through a central line. My daughter lay lifeless in a medically induced coma and the only power I had was to pump and freeze so that she would become nourished upon her awakening. The day came where I was finally able to hold my baby and feed her my milk. She was unable to tolerate it and began losing weight. They would not discharge her until she began gaining. This meant that we had to figure out what formula she could tolerate. Trial and error. Thanks to the samples in the hospital we were able to find the right formula for her, she gained weight, and was discharged 31 days after her birth. My daughter is now 8 years old, thriving, doing fantastic in school, and will always be my miracle baby.
I believe it is the mother's right to decide what is best for her baby. Eliminating samples and creating an atmosphere filled with negativsm because of your decision is not healthy. Life is hard enough without guilting people into submission. State of mind for the parents of a new baby is ultimately the best environment and if formula plays a role in that, so be it.
Agreed. Don't ask me, don't make me feel guilty because you don't know the whole story...
lisa
07:27 07/05/2008I have 3 children and was only successful at breastfeeding 1. My first was very sick and could not tolerate my breastmilk. We then had to feed her "gold in a can" a very expensive formula. Trust me, if I could have breastfed, I would have. My second was born without incident and I was able to breastfeed quite easily. The side effects of having babies made my breasts grow a cup size with each child and despite losing all of the baby weight they remained larger and larger. We decided to stop at 2 kids and so I decided to have a breast reduction because I was a 32E and my back hurt every waking moment. My 3rd blessing came as a surprise but unfortunately the surgery blocked my milk ducts and I was literally starving my daughter.
Bottom line, my kids social and cognitive abilities do not seem to be dependant on the formula used. It's the environment filled with consistency and encouragement that my husband strive for.
melemom
21:43 14/05/2008This is why I sleep with my baby beside me, and why it is nice to be able to breastfeed. If my little one wakes, I just tuck her in beside me and let her nurse while both of us fall back to sleep. It is a lot more work to have to get up and mix up a bottle and warm it. I can easily check on my baby when the baby is close by, and I can comfort her without going far. I definitely agree with the notion that parenting doesn't end at bedtime, it is 24/7. It can be difficult to sleep when baby sleeps, but that seems to be the best solution, even if it means taking a nap in the daytime when baby sleeps instead of getting the dishes done. There are sacrifices in mothering however you handle it, but they are worth it.
Sophie Rebert
17:55 26/08/2008Thank you for this artlicle, Kate!
I am a certified lactation counselor and social worker in a public health/WIC clinic. I am sick and tired of scare tactics used to force feed breastfeeding down mother's throats as opposed to educating these moms.We have lost sight of the bigger picture and tend to throw all new moms in the same box, thinking everyone can and should breastfeed. Negative persuasion and flipping semantics to highlight the risks of formula or "poison" as some of my coworkers choose to refer to formula, vs. touting the benefits of breastfeeding are turning off clients left and right. Our agency has recently begun to train us to use these slimy tactics to convince clients to breastfeed, making us hypocrites, as we tell our clients to pick up their formula WIC coupons right after they've listened to our spiel making them feel guilty and like a lesser mother for risking their babies' lives by formula feeding. I refuse to subscribe to these methods of persuasion and firmly believe that infant feeding is a choice and a choice we all need to respect. Every mother is an individual as is her baby and no two fit into the same mold. Feeding choice is a very personal one and one no mother takes lightly. My job is to promote breastfeeding, which I always do, but to have an effective relationship with my clients, I also must support her, encourage her and ultimately respect HER CHOICE.
DJGaskin
14:36 01/12/2008I am sorry, for many moms (not all) those formula freebies DO influence if they continue breastfeeding or not. Those bags not only influence if you will breastfeed at all, but if you will supplement....ALSO they don't give you a choice at what formula you will use because you are most likely to give the formula you got from the hospital......Most doctors give the ready-to-feed of the formula brand available at the time unless a special formula is required per medical reasons...........So their marketing campaign (Formula Companies) even influence those who DO CHOOSE to formula feed....Now I do work with a different population though. Many of my moms (I am a WIC nutritionist in the south), are uneducated. Now let me say that many are very educated (some are PhD, MS, and even MD candidates) too...but a first time mom is a first time mom and some are well informed (regardless of education level) but many-MANY of my clients are not.....so I am not going to fool myself.
The truth is that women whose babies have latching problems...depending on the information they were given, lets not leave out a situation of battered nerves, fatigue, late night, no sleep, no patience, very worried mom, you are more likely to reach for that free formula sample than try to calm down, step back a second and remember what you learned as far as getting that little one to latch...especially if the baby was latching fine in the hospital.....
Before we had formula women did this for thousands of years....
I think that the issue is not trying to say that women are not mentally capable to choose not to formula feed for themselves, its the fact that they are not given the chance to try harder to get breastfeeding to work-despite their best intentions....The campaign to stop those goodie bags are really trying to get hospitals to stop sending mixed messages....One woman posted in her story that her only solution to curing her baby's jaundice was to formula feed per a nurse's suggestion....well many women who breastfeed usually go ahead and breastfeed a little more, and sit out in the sun a few times a day if the weather permits...
The campaign is really trying to take the formula companies out of YOUR decision-making process. Many people don't even realize this.
ALSO-if formula was truly seen as the sub-par food that it is (but it is better than Karo/Evaporated milk combos)...more moms would TRY HARDER to get breastfeeding continued.....Employers would be breaking their backs at making sure their employers are able to pump or take the needed breaks to breastfeed-but thats not the world we live in....Now babies in the NICU, preemies etc, are a slight exception, but I have seen a baby with a nasal cannula at 28 weeks latch beautifully on his mother's breast....We as women in discussion with better informed medical doctors should be making the sole decision on how, when, why breastfeed or formula feed, with formula feeding as a very last resort. Not these formula companies forcing THEIR brand and their BELIEF OF WHAT formula to give YOUR BABY....We need to take charge and I am sorry, too many women are leaving it up to the most popular brand of this or that or to a pediatrician who hasn't had one semester of infant nutrition (or nutrition at all), or who couldn't tell you how many calories are in breastmilk for every ounce, much less how to identify a baby's latch as being poor to good upon seeing that baby nurse.....I just needed to tell the truth from the breastfeeding/formula feeding trenches......
Jane
14:50 04/12/2008Why don't we have policies in affect like other countries being able to stay home for the first year (PAID!!!!!)????
Erica
08:05 21/12/2008That is sad that that "lactation consultant" was rude. But for the women who have had breast reductions who are reading this site, there are many women who have had breast reductions who CAN breastfeed, partially if not fully. Doctors are becoming more aware of the need to perform these surgeries to allow for future breastfeeding if possible. I just don't want it to be assumed that women who have had this surgery are by default unable to breastfeed. If this site were interested in truly informing mothers rather than selling formula, they would have mentioned that too.