by Vicky York
Today there is often a generation gap when a mother sees her daughter struggling, often in tears, with breastfeeding and suggests she "just give the baby a bottle" though her daughter has been reading research about the benefits of breastfeeding rather than formula feeding.
As a postpartum doula I frequently witness firsthand this new turn of events for the grandmother/mother relationship. Frequently distant grandmothers without nursing experience are asked by daughters to stay home until their daughters have a handle on the breastfeeding situation. Some grandmothers are present but sit in a corner quietly listening to us talk, learning for the first time themselves how to handle nursing situations.
Too often tearful new moms are alone at home, sometimes self-conscious about their awkward first efforts at nursing. Some are feeling they aren't good mothers because they are having trouble and they perceive that instant success should come naturally, not realizing that the only way women have ever known how to nurse is by watching other females. Babies know instinctually how to suck and seek the nipple, but many details of the art of breastfeeding are learned from other mothers. It's one of the gifts mothers receive from the family elders, the keepers of the heritage.
But grandma has competition. No need for baby to depend on mothers milk. No reason why moms can't skip the learning curve hassles of breastfeeding when she's heard formula is just as good. Thank formula company's marketing tactics, and hospitals' willingness to support formula feeding by giving their patients gifts of free formula. This has produced at least a couple generations of bottle feeders, breaking the cycle of the continuous and precious handing down of breastfeeding knowledge from generation to generation. Some breast feeders think they can also bottle feed just to make sure baby's gets enough, not understanding that this interruption in the emptying of the breasts compromises future milk supply and for many it's extremely difficult to build up that supply later. Every grandma who's "been there, did that" knows this fact. This is not to mention nipple confusion and the irritation that cows milk protein creates in newly initiated intestines.
We are the only species that drinks the milk of another species. It took some fancy marketing and billions of dollars for formula makers to create the illusion that their artificial baby milk was the "next best thing to breastmilk". We have a situation in which bottle-feeding has become a more common sight than breastfeeding and mothers are actually self-conscious when publicly providing sustenance for their infants in the natural way. Little girls today expect dolls to come with bottles. Dads sometimes feel cheated if they can't give their baby a bottle. And Grandma's are cheated of their role as bringers of the art of breastfeeding.
Women of yesteryear didn't know why breastmilk was best; they simply nursed for the same reasons all mammals nurse their young and they learned from others. When a woman sits down and pulls her baby to her breast she carries on a tradition of many generations of mothers before her providing the perfect nourishment to ensure that her offspring survives. We have heard that natural childbirth is empowering; it teaches a woman that she can trust her body to grow a child within her and withstand the rigors of labor to bring that child into the world. Surely realizing her capability of supporting this new life with the milk of her blood and the warmth of her body is another form of empowerment. It may be the first time she imagines her mother feeding her in this way a generation prior. In this way emotional healing often occurs in strained mother/daughter relationships.
Where it was once enough that grandma demonstrated how to feed a baby, new moms are now confused by the contradicting advice of friends, books, and physicians who don't have faith in mothers, babies, or ancient history.
Husbands are stymied as to why their wives are struggling with something they thought came naturally. Fathers 50 years ago left it up to the womenfolk to teach each other while they went off to work, knowing their wives were learning from the pros.
But breastfeeding is making a comeback. Though free food, trinkets and trips given to hospitals and doctors by formula makers has been persuasive the trend is changing as protestors cite a shameful conflict of interest. It may take another couple of generations to repair the damage done and revert back to natural behavior in feeding by getting formula companies to step out from between mother and child and pediatricians to add breastfeeding to their training.
But as it stands now many of today's grandmothers don't have the knowledge or experience to help their daughters because they bottle-fed their own children during a time when it had become popular to give their own babies artificial baby's milk. In the 60's pediatricians, happy to have a calibrated method to see and chart how much babies were drinking, usually recommended either formula, basically a concoction of tropical oils, cows milk and a few vitamins and minerals required by the government. Now the World Health Organization recommends nursing for one year. More of today's mothers nurse than the last generation and with their help their daughters won't miss one of the most unforgettable and empowering experiences mothers enjoy.
Lactation consultants are very often necessary if a new mother is to get any help at all when her baby is placed in her arms for his first feedings. Doctors are usually untrained in lactation and depend on lactation consultants to advise them. Therefore lactation clinics are set up in or near most hospitals and mothers who go home with problems can bring the baby back in to get help, if they are able. Hospitals hire as few lactation consultants as they can get away with and those are often busy doing paperwork, arranging classes and even working on the labor and delivery floor. Many women never see a lactation consultant in the hospital and if they do it may be brief and they may only have time to send struggling mothers home with breastfeeding accessories, such as nipple shields and hope for the best. This situation is regrettable to lactation consultants as much as anyone as they have the training and the heart to do so much more.
Doctors are feeling pressure to come up with answers about a subject they know little about unless they are females who successfully nursed their own, and therefore too often resort to taking the more legally accountable route of recommending prescribed amounts of formula. Midwives need to be more informed than ever about breastfeeding if they want their clients to avoid suggestions of formula supplementation from all sides as soon as they encounter a potential problem.
Mothers in larger cities now often pay for postpartum doula services to fill a void in their own ability to solve specific challenges with the techniques of breastfeeding. While doulas and lactation consultants can save the day, this really should be a time when mother and daughter come together in a new relationship with one another, forming a bond through the "handing down of knowledge" from mother to mother.
While sitting next to a new mom explaining some of the amazing facts about breastmilk to keep her inspired, many a grandmother has leaned over my shoulder and expressed regret that she used formula by the influence of her pediatrician, formula company ads, the availability of free formula samples, and her peers. Older women today often confess feeling great regret at having "failed" at breastfeeding because they "just didn't make enough milk" or "the baby didn't like their milk" and so on. We now know that if their own mothers and their peers had breastfed they would have received information about early and frequent nursing, supply and demand, and the proper latch that pediatricians today don't have the time or training to teach mothers. It's grandma's place. Grandma's who had the will but not the help can feel psychological pain and sometimes embarrassment over missing out on this experience. And the ones who did successfully nurse all their children exclaim that fact with pure pride. Having to give up is no small thing and those mothers never forget it. With a little initial support they would have seen their babies not only thrive on their milk but love nursing to the point of outright rejecting formula. They could have bypassed bisphenol-A laden bottles with their latex nipples and pacifiers and probably gone straight from the breast to a cup, with guidance all the way by their own mamas. Guidance any grandmother who nursed can give to the great appreciation of an apprehensive daughter. Grandmothers also know that breastfeeding ensures that mothers stay close to their infants physically and emotionally and that this in itself takes care of so many issues.
Native Americans and other ethnic groups must particularly feel the sting of having modern American industrial society replace older customs and traditions. They're missing yet another route of handing down knowledge and skills from generation to generation that can keep them tied as a culture or a tribe. Where the natural inclination used to be to call grandma because of her nursing experience now parents go to the market for formulas, bottles, nipples, bottle-washing brushes and sterilizing accessories. And if they breastfeed, hiring help can be expensive.
At a time when some grandmothers may begin to feel that their worth in society and to the family is waning, their daughters and sons produce an opportunity for them to impart their knowledge, skills and experience in mothering and providing for babies. According to each culture grandmother knows which foods to feed her daughter, which herbal teas are best for breastfeeding initiation, how to ensure plenty of milk, etc. Valuable information and handed down wisdom that has no place in a bottle-feeding society. However-much mothers and daughters may differ in ideas about parenting a deeper bond is created between them, as a daughter trusts her mother's ideas and knowledge at a time when she feels vulnerable and unsure. After a few weeks of reassurance from mom there is a sense that all is well in the family when the new young mother feels pride in being the only one who can give her baby his birthright straight from her bosom. The largely unrecognized effect of aggressive marketing ploys of formula makers, and resultant prevalence of bottle-feeding is the loss of the natural family tradition of grandma being able to pass on her art of breastfeeding, truly mothering the mother as no one else could.
Vicky York, IBCLC, CPD is an independent lactation consultant and has worked with nearly 600 families in the Oregon as a postpartum doula. She has taught postpartum doula training workshops, newborn care classes, breastfeeding classes and grandma classes and is a published author of postpartum related articles. Vicky York, IBCLC, CPDPostpartum Care ServicesPortland, Oregon
http://mypeoplepc.com/members/vmyork/www.ikarma.com/user/vmyork
(Note: The World Health Organization suggests breastfeeding for 2 years.
"... infants should receive complementary foods with continued breastfeeding up to 2 years of age or beyond."
http://www.who.int/nutrition/topics/exclusive_breastfeeding/en/index.html
Also, there's available free breastfeeding help available through a woman's local La Leche League Group... www.llli.org
Showing posts with label formula. Show all posts
Showing posts with label formula. Show all posts
Monday, November 2, 2009
Friday, October 2, 2009
An open letter to the attendees of the Nestle Family blogger event
http://www.phdinparenting.com/2009/09/29/an-open-letter-to-the-attendees-of-the-\
nestle-family-blogger-event/
Some interesting quotes from the blog (let us know your thoughts, too!):
"Let me be clear. This is not about what you chose to feed your babies. If you
formula fed, whether by choice or by necessity, that is none of my business.
That said, the marketing and advertising of formula has been linked to the
deaths of millions of babies every year... In developing countries, the
difference between being breastfed and being bottle fed truly is life or death."
My main qualm:
"Advertising formula and providing free samples to women in developing countries
could be likened to advertising free c-sections with a dirty knife and untrained
medical staff."
Here's the rest of the blog...
An open letter to the attendees of the Nestle Family blogger event
by phdinparenting on September 29, 2009
Dear bloggers,
I learned about the Nestle Family blogger event with dismay when a friend e-mailed me about it. I was happy to hear that she had declined their invitation and hoped that many of the other mommy bloggers that I hold in high regard would follow suit. When I later saw the list of people who were attending, I was distressed to see women who I respect and women who are breastfeeding advocates had accepted the invitation. I wanted to believe that they must just not be aware of Nestle’s unethical business practices and that once they found out that they would, of course, decline the invitation and boycott the event. That was not the case. Some of you heard the concerns and said that you didn’t care. Some of you heard the concerns and said you would go anyways because you felt a dialogue with Nestle would be more productive. You are all skilled communicators. But having followed the Nestle fiasco for a long time, I know how ineffective dialogue has been in the past and I know that their public relations people will tell you a good story and try to take you for a ride.
That said, you are going. I can’t change that now. Many of you were tweeting this morning about packing your bags and heading off to the airport. So, in a last ditch effort to help you make a difference, I am writing you a letter outlining the things I would like you to know.
How formula marketing kills
Let me be clear. This is not about what you chose to feed your babies. If you formula fed, whether by choice or by necessity, that is none of my business. That said, the marketing and advertising of formula has been linked to the deaths of millions of babies every year. According to the World Health Organization:
The protection, promotion and support of breastfeeding rank among the most effective interventions to improve child survival. It is estimated that high coverage of optimal breastfeeding practices could avert 13% of the 10.6 million deaths of children under five years occurring globally every year. Exclusive breastfeeding in the first six months of life is particularly beneficial, and infants who are not breastfed in the first month of life may be as much as 25 times more likely to die than infants who are exclusively breastfed.
In developing countries, the difference between being breastfed and being bottle fed truly is life or death. When women choose to formula feed in developing countries, their babies are at significant risk. They do not have the financial means to keep buying formula, so they water it down and give their babies less than they really need. There is often a lack of clean water, so formula gets mixed with dirty water, which can lead to infections, disease and death. In the developed world, formula feeding isn’t as likely to kill a child, but not breastfeeding does come with a whole host of health risks for both the baby and the mother. It can lead to deaths as well as increased health problems and increased health costs (whether you have a public system or a private insurance system, you do pay for other people’s health care to some extent). Around 1.4 million lives could be saved every year with improved breastfeeding .
Advertising formula and providing free samples to women in developing countries could be likened to advertising free c-sections with a dirty knife and untrained medical staff. Infant formula and c-sections can both be life saving under specific circumstances. But marketing them to the general public as an equal, better, or even close to as good alternative is dangerous, especially in countries where they do not have the means to use it safely.
The International Code of Marketing of Breast Milk Substitutes
In order to reduce the negative effect of formula marketing and save lives, the World Health Organization developed the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes (World Health Organization), which restricts marketing and related practices of the following products:
breast-milk substitutes, including infant formula, other milk products, foods and beverages, including bottle-fed complementary foods
feeding bottles
teats, like bottle nipples and pacifiers
Governments in more than 60 countries have adopted the Code and made it law. Some countries have gone a step further by making formula available only by prescription or requiring warnings on labels. In the absence of legislation, the Code encourages manufacturers and distributors to comply with its provisions. Some do so voluntarily. Some pretend that they do, but instead blatantly lie (Nestle), do not fully disclose ownership (Lanisoh), or make other choices that compromise their compliance. Others just don’t care at all about compliance and care only about profits.
How Nestle lies, cheats and deceives
What is Nestle’s role in this problem? According to INFACT Canada, Nestle controls 40% of the worldwide market for baby food and is active in 80 countries. It is the biggest player in this market. Other companies are unethical too, but the size and reach of Nestle makes its violations of the Code especially problematic and especially risky for moms and babies. Nestle has been characterized by experts in the field as the worst of the baby food companies in terms of its breaches of international standards.
Some illustrations of Nestle’s unethical practices include:
Nestle has an Infant Formula Marketing Policy that it says complies with the International Code of Marketing of Breast Milk Substitutes, but its scope is much narrower, covering only infant formula (instead of all breast milk substitutes) and covering only developing countries (instead of all countries). Read more here and check out a detailed chart comparing the two here.
Nestle invests in public relations initiatives to divert criticism, instead of making changes to bring its practices in line. Read more.
Monitoring of the baby food industry by NGOs has found many areas where Nestle’s advertising and promotion practices violate the Code. Look here for 13 pages of illustrated and annotated examples of violations.
Nestle systematically violates its own policies as brought to light by a senior Nestle employee in Pakistan who resigned and then wrote a scathing, detailed and well-documented whistleblower report on all of the violations that were both allowed, encouraged and ordered by his superiors. He is pursuing legal action against the company. His family has been threatened.
It is important to note that Nestle will try to tell you that all of this is in the past. That has been their approach all along. According to Baby Milk Action’s report on Nestle’s PR machine, “Nestle’s strategy is to admit to malpractice only years in the past, even though it denied it at the time“.
Beyond the marketing issue, there are other business practices related to its infant formula that have come into question. For example, apparently Nestle is purchasing 1 million litres of milk per year from Grace Mugabe, the wife of the President Robert Mugabe, despite sanctions due to human rights violations by his government and despite the fact that these farms were seized from farmers by Grace Mugabe. As per its usual practice, Nestle came up with some weak excuses for why this was not a problem.
There is so much to say. I feel like there is no way I can do it justice in a few short paragraphs.
What I would like Nestle to do
I think there is an opportunity for Nestle, as a leader in the food industry, to take a leadership role on this issue. At a minimum it should start abiding by the law in all countries where it operates and not just the letter of the law, but the spirit of the law. But ideally, in order to rectify some of the damage that its past practices have caused, it should go above and beyond what the law requires. Nestle should:
Commit to abiding by the International Code of Marketing of Breast Milk Substitutes in all countries worldwide for all products covered by the Code
Ensure that all of its packaging includes information on:
The risks of formula
Where people can go for breastfeeding help from trained lactation professionals (not Nestle staff)
Provide funding for lactation programs in developing countries and in low income neighbourhoods in the United States as part of its corporate social responsibility program
I think a complete about face is required here. Nestle should shift from trying to circumvent the law and the Code to proactively trying to encourage the safest nutrition for infants.
What I would like you to do
At a minimum, while you are there, I hope you’ll listen with a critical ear and not take everything at face value. Nestle’s public relations machine is well oiled and they will find a way to “address” your concerns without really doing so. I would like you to tell Nestle in no uncertain terms that you do not support its unethical business practices. I would like you to tell them that you will not be using your blog, your twitter presence, or any other platform you are on to help market their products. I would like you to tell Nestle that you are going to boycott its products and ask your friends and family to do so too. Above all, I would like you to ask yourself how you feel about supporting a company that puts profits ahead of the lives and health of babies.
I’ll be watching your blogs with interest and a critical eye following this event.
Safe travels,
Annie
nestle-family-blogger-event/
Some interesting quotes from the blog (let us know your thoughts, too!):
"Let me be clear. This is not about what you chose to feed your babies. If you
formula fed, whether by choice or by necessity, that is none of my business.
That said, the marketing and advertising of formula has been linked to the
deaths of millions of babies every year... In developing countries, the
difference between being breastfed and being bottle fed truly is life or death."
My main qualm:
"Advertising formula and providing free samples to women in developing countries
could be likened to advertising free c-sections with a dirty knife and untrained
medical staff."
Here's the rest of the blog...
An open letter to the attendees of the Nestle Family blogger event
by phdinparenting on September 29, 2009
Dear bloggers,
I learned about the Nestle Family blogger event with dismay when a friend e-mailed me about it. I was happy to hear that she had declined their invitation and hoped that many of the other mommy bloggers that I hold in high regard would follow suit. When I later saw the list of people who were attending, I was distressed to see women who I respect and women who are breastfeeding advocates had accepted the invitation. I wanted to believe that they must just not be aware of Nestle’s unethical business practices and that once they found out that they would, of course, decline the invitation and boycott the event. That was not the case. Some of you heard the concerns and said that you didn’t care. Some of you heard the concerns and said you would go anyways because you felt a dialogue with Nestle would be more productive. You are all skilled communicators. But having followed the Nestle fiasco for a long time, I know how ineffective dialogue has been in the past and I know that their public relations people will tell you a good story and try to take you for a ride.
That said, you are going. I can’t change that now. Many of you were tweeting this morning about packing your bags and heading off to the airport. So, in a last ditch effort to help you make a difference, I am writing you a letter outlining the things I would like you to know.
How formula marketing kills
Let me be clear. This is not about what you chose to feed your babies. If you formula fed, whether by choice or by necessity, that is none of my business. That said, the marketing and advertising of formula has been linked to the deaths of millions of babies every year. According to the World Health Organization:
The protection, promotion and support of breastfeeding rank among the most effective interventions to improve child survival. It is estimated that high coverage of optimal breastfeeding practices could avert 13% of the 10.6 million deaths of children under five years occurring globally every year. Exclusive breastfeeding in the first six months of life is particularly beneficial, and infants who are not breastfed in the first month of life may be as much as 25 times more likely to die than infants who are exclusively breastfed.
In developing countries, the difference between being breastfed and being bottle fed truly is life or death. When women choose to formula feed in developing countries, their babies are at significant risk. They do not have the financial means to keep buying formula, so they water it down and give their babies less than they really need. There is often a lack of clean water, so formula gets mixed with dirty water, which can lead to infections, disease and death. In the developed world, formula feeding isn’t as likely to kill a child, but not breastfeeding does come with a whole host of health risks for both the baby and the mother. It can lead to deaths as well as increased health problems and increased health costs (whether you have a public system or a private insurance system, you do pay for other people’s health care to some extent). Around 1.4 million lives could be saved every year with improved breastfeeding .
Advertising formula and providing free samples to women in developing countries could be likened to advertising free c-sections with a dirty knife and untrained medical staff. Infant formula and c-sections can both be life saving under specific circumstances. But marketing them to the general public as an equal, better, or even close to as good alternative is dangerous, especially in countries where they do not have the means to use it safely.
The International Code of Marketing of Breast Milk Substitutes
In order to reduce the negative effect of formula marketing and save lives, the World Health Organization developed the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes (World Health Organization), which restricts marketing and related practices of the following products:
breast-milk substitutes, including infant formula, other milk products, foods and beverages, including bottle-fed complementary foods
feeding bottles
teats, like bottle nipples and pacifiers
Governments in more than 60 countries have adopted the Code and made it law. Some countries have gone a step further by making formula available only by prescription or requiring warnings on labels. In the absence of legislation, the Code encourages manufacturers and distributors to comply with its provisions. Some do so voluntarily. Some pretend that they do, but instead blatantly lie (Nestle), do not fully disclose ownership (Lanisoh), or make other choices that compromise their compliance. Others just don’t care at all about compliance and care only about profits.
How Nestle lies, cheats and deceives
What is Nestle’s role in this problem? According to INFACT Canada, Nestle controls 40% of the worldwide market for baby food and is active in 80 countries. It is the biggest player in this market. Other companies are unethical too, but the size and reach of Nestle makes its violations of the Code especially problematic and especially risky for moms and babies. Nestle has been characterized by experts in the field as the worst of the baby food companies in terms of its breaches of international standards.
Some illustrations of Nestle’s unethical practices include:
Nestle has an Infant Formula Marketing Policy that it says complies with the International Code of Marketing of Breast Milk Substitutes, but its scope is much narrower, covering only infant formula (instead of all breast milk substitutes) and covering only developing countries (instead of all countries). Read more here and check out a detailed chart comparing the two here.
Nestle invests in public relations initiatives to divert criticism, instead of making changes to bring its practices in line. Read more.
Monitoring of the baby food industry by NGOs has found many areas where Nestle’s advertising and promotion practices violate the Code. Look here for 13 pages of illustrated and annotated examples of violations.
Nestle systematically violates its own policies as brought to light by a senior Nestle employee in Pakistan who resigned and then wrote a scathing, detailed and well-documented whistleblower report on all of the violations that were both allowed, encouraged and ordered by his superiors. He is pursuing legal action against the company. His family has been threatened.
It is important to note that Nestle will try to tell you that all of this is in the past. That has been their approach all along. According to Baby Milk Action’s report on Nestle’s PR machine, “Nestle’s strategy is to admit to malpractice only years in the past, even though it denied it at the time“.
Beyond the marketing issue, there are other business practices related to its infant formula that have come into question. For example, apparently Nestle is purchasing 1 million litres of milk per year from Grace Mugabe, the wife of the President Robert Mugabe, despite sanctions due to human rights violations by his government and despite the fact that these farms were seized from farmers by Grace Mugabe. As per its usual practice, Nestle came up with some weak excuses for why this was not a problem.
There is so much to say. I feel like there is no way I can do it justice in a few short paragraphs.
What I would like Nestle to do
I think there is an opportunity for Nestle, as a leader in the food industry, to take a leadership role on this issue. At a minimum it should start abiding by the law in all countries where it operates and not just the letter of the law, but the spirit of the law. But ideally, in order to rectify some of the damage that its past practices have caused, it should go above and beyond what the law requires. Nestle should:
Commit to abiding by the International Code of Marketing of Breast Milk Substitutes in all countries worldwide for all products covered by the Code
Ensure that all of its packaging includes information on:
The risks of formula
Where people can go for breastfeeding help from trained lactation professionals (not Nestle staff)
Provide funding for lactation programs in developing countries and in low income neighbourhoods in the United States as part of its corporate social responsibility program
I think a complete about face is required here. Nestle should shift from trying to circumvent the law and the Code to proactively trying to encourage the safest nutrition for infants.
What I would like you to do
At a minimum, while you are there, I hope you’ll listen with a critical ear and not take everything at face value. Nestle’s public relations machine is well oiled and they will find a way to “address” your concerns without really doing so. I would like you to tell Nestle in no uncertain terms that you do not support its unethical business practices. I would like you to tell them that you will not be using your blog, your twitter presence, or any other platform you are on to help market their products. I would like you to tell Nestle that you are going to boycott its products and ask your friends and family to do so too. Above all, I would like you to ask yourself how you feel about supporting a company that puts profits ahead of the lives and health of babies.
I’ll be watching your blogs with interest and a critical eye following this event.
Safe travels,
Annie
Monday, September 21, 2009
Aggressive push for baby formula in Vietnam
HANOI, Vietnam - Multinational companies in Vietnam sell baby formula so aggressively that they routinely stretch and sometimes break laws designed to promote breastfeeding, an AP investigation has found.
International guidelines and Vietnamese law recognize breast milk as superior to formula for an infant's health. Yet dozens of interviews with mothers, doctors, health officials and shopkeepers suggest that formula companies pay doctors to peddle their products, promote it for infants under age one and approach mothers and health care workers at health facilities — all of which are against the law...
(To Read More, click here)
International guidelines and Vietnamese law recognize breast milk as superior to formula for an infant's health. Yet dozens of interviews with mothers, doctors, health officials and shopkeepers suggest that formula companies pay doctors to peddle their products, promote it for infants under age one and approach mothers and health care workers at health facilities — all of which are against the law...
(To Read More, click here)
Friday, August 28, 2009
Jeannie Babb Taylor: The problem with breastfeeding
Here's a great read that has a lot of info. Jeannie did a great job with it!
(To read the article in it's entirety, click on this link or the one below.)
What if doctors discovered a substance so potent, it could prevent dozens of diseases and even reduce the risk of cancer? What if these benefits extended not only to those who partake of this amazing substance, but also those who serve it? If a pharmaceutical company had developed it, it would be a billion-dollar industry. Breast milk, though, is free. Without a visible profit stream, it also lacks a marketing team.
Numerous studies show that breastfeeding reduces cancer risks for both givers and receivers — yet the American Cancer Society (ACS) has no campaign statement on the importance of breastfeeding. One huge study (147,000 participants) found that American women could cut their breast cancer risk by 33% by increasing the lifetime average of breastfeeding from three months to thirty months, which is the worldwide average. The ACS concluded that significantly increasing breastfeeding duration was “unrealistic” and instead continues to focus on mammograms, cancer prevention drugs and other methods that put money in the pockets of physician groups and pharmaceutical companies.
Although breastfeeding has been shown to reduce sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) risk by as much as 55%, the National Institute for Child Health (NICH) invests virtually nothing in breastfeeding education. Instead, the NICH organized the “Back to Sleep” campaign encouraging parents to put babies to bed on their backs. The first corporate sponsor of the Back to Sleep campaign was Gerber, a formula and baby food manufacturer. Is it any surprise there is no financial backing to promote breastfeeding as a SIDS prevention tool?
Breastfeeding contributes significantly to child health. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) breastfeeding is “as important to preventive pediatric health care as promoting immunizations, car seat use, and proper infant sleep position.” Yet a recent AAP survey found that 45 percent of pediatricians who responded see formula-feeding and breast-feeding as equally acceptable. Once again, we can follow the money to understand this phenomenon. Doctors receive numerous samples, perks, and gifts from formula companies — a practice condemned by the World Health Organization (WHO.)
Formula makers are forced to give lip service to the superiority of breastfeeding. Yet these companies spend millions of dollars per year tripping up new mothers. They have inroads at the obstetrician’s office, the hospitals where babies are born, and the pediatrician’s office. Formula makers ensure that every mother goes home with a couple of cans of formula, so it will be available in the middle of the night when the baby is crying, she is exhausted from lack of sleep and she is vulnerable to the insecurities American society has pressed on her day after day. The result? Even though 70% of mothers start breastfeeding, within a few months the statistics have flipped. Only 11.3% of babies are still exclusively breastfed at six months.
It is difficult to blame American mothers for the failure to breastfeed, when everything is stacked against mothers from the start. Unlike women in most other developed countries, American women receive no paid maternity leave. Only those on welfare receive a stipend to carry them through the first months of mothering. Women who support themselves are forced to return to work, where it is often impossible to bring an infant, and pumping opportunities may be few and far between, with unsanitary conditions.
Rep Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) recently introduced the Breastfeeding Promotion Act of 2007. The bill amends the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to protect breastfeeding women from workplace discrimination. It also gives employers a tax credit of up to $10,000 per year to provide employees with equipment, dedicated space and consultation for pumping breast milk. The bill establishes standards for breast pumps, and creates tax breaks for women who purchase breast pumps in order to maintain employment.
Maloney says, “I have heard many horror stories of women who were fired for trying to figure out a way to express milk at work. My bill clarifies the Pregnancy Discrimination Act to protect breastfeeding under federal civil rights law, ensuring that women cannot be fired or discriminated against in the workplace for expressing (pumping) milk, or breastfeeding during breaks or lunch time.”
At least the welfare moms have the chance to stay home and breastfeed — after all, their babies comprise the most high-risk population of infants in terms of health problems, asthma, failure to thrive and learning disabilities. Yet the formula-makers find these mothers, too. Government programs take away one of the incentives for breastfeeding by shelling out $600 million per year to put low-income infants on the bottle. Taxpayers also foot the bill for the increased healthcare cost of these children.... Click here to read more
(To read the article in it's entirety, click on this link or the one below.)
What if doctors discovered a substance so potent, it could prevent dozens of diseases and even reduce the risk of cancer? What if these benefits extended not only to those who partake of this amazing substance, but also those who serve it? If a pharmaceutical company had developed it, it would be a billion-dollar industry. Breast milk, though, is free. Without a visible profit stream, it also lacks a marketing team.
Numerous studies show that breastfeeding reduces cancer risks for both givers and receivers — yet the American Cancer Society (ACS) has no campaign statement on the importance of breastfeeding. One huge study (147,000 participants) found that American women could cut their breast cancer risk by 33% by increasing the lifetime average of breastfeeding from three months to thirty months, which is the worldwide average. The ACS concluded that significantly increasing breastfeeding duration was “unrealistic” and instead continues to focus on mammograms, cancer prevention drugs and other methods that put money in the pockets of physician groups and pharmaceutical companies.
Although breastfeeding has been shown to reduce sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) risk by as much as 55%, the National Institute for Child Health (NICH) invests virtually nothing in breastfeeding education. Instead, the NICH organized the “Back to Sleep” campaign encouraging parents to put babies to bed on their backs. The first corporate sponsor of the Back to Sleep campaign was Gerber, a formula and baby food manufacturer. Is it any surprise there is no financial backing to promote breastfeeding as a SIDS prevention tool?
Breastfeeding contributes significantly to child health. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) breastfeeding is “as important to preventive pediatric health care as promoting immunizations, car seat use, and proper infant sleep position.” Yet a recent AAP survey found that 45 percent of pediatricians who responded see formula-feeding and breast-feeding as equally acceptable. Once again, we can follow the money to understand this phenomenon. Doctors receive numerous samples, perks, and gifts from formula companies — a practice condemned by the World Health Organization (WHO.)
Formula makers are forced to give lip service to the superiority of breastfeeding. Yet these companies spend millions of dollars per year tripping up new mothers. They have inroads at the obstetrician’s office, the hospitals where babies are born, and the pediatrician’s office. Formula makers ensure that every mother goes home with a couple of cans of formula, so it will be available in the middle of the night when the baby is crying, she is exhausted from lack of sleep and she is vulnerable to the insecurities American society has pressed on her day after day. The result? Even though 70% of mothers start breastfeeding, within a few months the statistics have flipped. Only 11.3% of babies are still exclusively breastfed at six months.
It is difficult to blame American mothers for the failure to breastfeed, when everything is stacked against mothers from the start. Unlike women in most other developed countries, American women receive no paid maternity leave. Only those on welfare receive a stipend to carry them through the first months of mothering. Women who support themselves are forced to return to work, where it is often impossible to bring an infant, and pumping opportunities may be few and far between, with unsanitary conditions.
Rep Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) recently introduced the Breastfeeding Promotion Act of 2007. The bill amends the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to protect breastfeeding women from workplace discrimination. It also gives employers a tax credit of up to $10,000 per year to provide employees with equipment, dedicated space and consultation for pumping breast milk. The bill establishes standards for breast pumps, and creates tax breaks for women who purchase breast pumps in order to maintain employment.
Maloney says, “I have heard many horror stories of women who were fired for trying to figure out a way to express milk at work. My bill clarifies the Pregnancy Discrimination Act to protect breastfeeding under federal civil rights law, ensuring that women cannot be fired or discriminated against in the workplace for expressing (pumping) milk, or breastfeeding during breaks or lunch time.”
At least the welfare moms have the chance to stay home and breastfeed — after all, their babies comprise the most high-risk population of infants in terms of health problems, asthma, failure to thrive and learning disabilities. Yet the formula-makers find these mothers, too. Government programs take away one of the incentives for breastfeeding by shelling out $600 million per year to put low-income infants on the bottle. Taxpayers also foot the bill for the increased healthcare cost of these children.... Click here to read more
Breastfeeding Advice - A Help or a Hindrance??
http://www.breastfeeding.com/reading_room/hindrance.html
by Barbara Behrmann, Ph.D.
Many factors likely influence your decision to nurse, how you go about establishing and maintaining your nursing relationship, and how long you keep going. Even if you assert that you are not influenced by others' opinions, your experience, knowledge and values are still influenced by the larger culture and society in which you live.
But how do you figure out who or what to listen to? Say you want to travel to Italy. Do you rely on the advice of someone who has scarcely crossed the state line? Do you read promotional literature about Italy produced by a French tourist agency? Do you go to your own travel agency who specializes in domestic cruises? Maybe, but the helpfulness and reliability would be suspect.
Breastfeeding is not much different. A lot of breastfeeding promotional materials are produced by companies that make formula. (Would you go to Pepsi to find out why you should drink Coke?) On the surface the information may appear sound, but probe a little deeper and it's not always the case.
If you are surrounded by family and friends who have had successful breastfeeding experiences, great! But what if they haven't? How do you react when they ask, "Do you need to feed that baby again? He just ate!" "The poor thing's crying. Do you think you don't have enough milk?" "When are you going to wean that child? She's got teeth already!"
Most of us value input from those who care about us. But with breastfeeding myths and misinformation so prevalent in our society, if we are going to let anyone influence our decisions, perhaps they should be from people who have been there, done that.
This is even true when it comes to medical advice. Some doctors and nurses, for example, know a lot about breastfeeding and have much to offer nursing mothers. But just because someone is a pediatrician or family doctor doesn't make him or her a breastfeeding expert. In fact, studies have documented that medical textbooks on the subject are often filled with errors and misinformation. Many doctors freely admit that they don't have the knowledge, training and experience to adequately council breastfeeding mothers.
Contradictions often result. One mother, for example, had a hard time getting her newborn to breast while recovering from a c-section. She recalls, "Every four hours I had a different nurse. One said don't worry about it; the next said I should be pumping and giving her formula in the meantime; the next said something completely different. One nurse said it's because I wasn't holding her right. There seemed to be no standard. It was very frustrating."
So how do you know who to turn to? How do you know who or what is credible? Here are five suggestions:
General Guidelines
Don't rely on literature produced by and source with an opposing interest. This means any breastfeeding information coming from formula companies probably doesn't have you or your baby's best interest at heart.
If you are reading a magazine or other resource that relies heavily on advertising from formula companies, they may feel a certain limit on how free they are to present certain information.
If you have a partner, obviously he hasn't nursed (unless your partner is female, of course). That doesn't mean you don't want to respect his or her) opinion. But it's important to share information with each other so that your thinking can evolve together.
He or she may be wonderfully supportive and willing to help you in any way possible, but may also be uncomfortable with breastfeeding in general, have concerns about you nursing in public, not want the baby in your bedroom, or may encourage you to wean before you want to. Hopefully you can learn together.Know who you can go to for help before you give birth. Bring their phone numbers with you to the hospital or birth center. Not all lactation consultants are equally trained and some providers may use the title even though they aren't certified. Someone with the initials of IBCLC - International Board Certified Lactation Consultant - has the most expertise and experience counseling nursing mothers.
Choose health care providers who are breastfeeding-friendly. Declaring support for breastfeeding is not enough. Be wary of providers who offices seem to promote formula. Find out ahead of time if your family physician or pediatrician has someone on staff to offer breastfeeding assistance and find out what kind of training they have. You can also ask them what percentage of their new mothers are nursing.
Doing What is Right For You
I think the best advice comes from a woman I know who is now a grandmother. She says, "Whatever the cultural climate is at a given time, you have to be centered in what you want to do because there is no right and wrong. You have to do what's right for you . If you can please yourself, that's wonderful. If you can please yourself and your child? Wow! And your husband? Incredible! And then you want to please all of society? Forget it. You have to be happy with what you're doing because there is no single way and every person and situation is so unique."
by Barbara Behrmann, Ph.D.
Many factors likely influence your decision to nurse, how you go about establishing and maintaining your nursing relationship, and how long you keep going. Even if you assert that you are not influenced by others' opinions, your experience, knowledge and values are still influenced by the larger culture and society in which you live.
But how do you figure out who or what to listen to? Say you want to travel to Italy. Do you rely on the advice of someone who has scarcely crossed the state line? Do you read promotional literature about Italy produced by a French tourist agency? Do you go to your own travel agency who specializes in domestic cruises? Maybe, but the helpfulness and reliability would be suspect.
Breastfeeding is not much different. A lot of breastfeeding promotional materials are produced by companies that make formula. (Would you go to Pepsi to find out why you should drink Coke?) On the surface the information may appear sound, but probe a little deeper and it's not always the case.
If you are surrounded by family and friends who have had successful breastfeeding experiences, great! But what if they haven't? How do you react when they ask, "Do you need to feed that baby again? He just ate!" "The poor thing's crying. Do you think you don't have enough milk?" "When are you going to wean that child? She's got teeth already!"
Most of us value input from those who care about us. But with breastfeeding myths and misinformation so prevalent in our society, if we are going to let anyone influence our decisions, perhaps they should be from people who have been there, done that.
This is even true when it comes to medical advice. Some doctors and nurses, for example, know a lot about breastfeeding and have much to offer nursing mothers. But just because someone is a pediatrician or family doctor doesn't make him or her a breastfeeding expert. In fact, studies have documented that medical textbooks on the subject are often filled with errors and misinformation. Many doctors freely admit that they don't have the knowledge, training and experience to adequately council breastfeeding mothers.
Contradictions often result. One mother, for example, had a hard time getting her newborn to breast while recovering from a c-section. She recalls, "Every four hours I had a different nurse. One said don't worry about it; the next said I should be pumping and giving her formula in the meantime; the next said something completely different. One nurse said it's because I wasn't holding her right. There seemed to be no standard. It was very frustrating."
So how do you know who to turn to? How do you know who or what is credible? Here are five suggestions:
General Guidelines
Don't rely on literature produced by and source with an opposing interest. This means any breastfeeding information coming from formula companies probably doesn't have you or your baby's best interest at heart.
If you are reading a magazine or other resource that relies heavily on advertising from formula companies, they may feel a certain limit on how free they are to present certain information.
If you have a partner, obviously he hasn't nursed (unless your partner is female, of course). That doesn't mean you don't want to respect his or her) opinion. But it's important to share information with each other so that your thinking can evolve together.
He or she may be wonderfully supportive and willing to help you in any way possible, but may also be uncomfortable with breastfeeding in general, have concerns about you nursing in public, not want the baby in your bedroom, or may encourage you to wean before you want to. Hopefully you can learn together.Know who you can go to for help before you give birth. Bring their phone numbers with you to the hospital or birth center. Not all lactation consultants are equally trained and some providers may use the title even though they aren't certified. Someone with the initials of IBCLC - International Board Certified Lactation Consultant - has the most expertise and experience counseling nursing mothers.
Choose health care providers who are breastfeeding-friendly. Declaring support for breastfeeding is not enough. Be wary of providers who offices seem to promote formula. Find out ahead of time if your family physician or pediatrician has someone on staff to offer breastfeeding assistance and find out what kind of training they have. You can also ask them what percentage of their new mothers are nursing.
Doing What is Right For You
I think the best advice comes from a woman I know who is now a grandmother. She says, "Whatever the cultural climate is at a given time, you have to be centered in what you want to do because there is no right and wrong. You have to do what's right for you . If you can please yourself, that's wonderful. If you can please yourself and your child? Wow! And your husband? Incredible! And then you want to please all of society? Forget it. You have to be happy with what you're doing because there is no single way and every person and situation is so unique."
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