Breastfeeding: Lines in the Sand

I hear that breast milk is way better for the babys development than formula.

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...in how polarizing it can be - the debate as to how to feed your child.

The scare tactics in the ad campaign (and in Liza's comment above - "murder"?!) only add to the guilt that mothers already feel. And speculative exaggeration of possible consequences only dilutes the impact of the message itself.

Furthermore, I find it rather hypocritical that women who advocate our rights to our bodies (e.g. legalized, safe abortion) can be so militant in their insistence that women must use their bodies to feed their children.

And I make that statement as a mother who breastfed my two daughters and as a woman who supports legalized, safe abortion.

Julie
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While I understand the benefits of breastfeeding, this constant pressure on women to do so and only do so is downright dangerous.

I agree and disagree. The constant pressure isn't country wide. Believe me. I had an issue with breastfeeding my Son in the hospital and the lacation consultant was off because it was the weekend. The nurses just said, "Well, formula is okay." In some areas, there NEEDS to be more push to breastfeed. Lactation consultants need to be on hand at all times, like nurses.

No, cussing at women who don't breastfeed won't accomplish anything at all. But we don't need to walk around and think that breastfeeding support is widely available to all women. It's not. And that's downright sad for the children.

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Jenna

While I agree that formula is imperfect (I trust your expertise on how it affects various ethnic groups in different negative ways) and I know that the formula companies are downright evil, I am not convinced that it is all that rare for women to not be able to breastfeed. Anyone who has had a breast reduction surgery is at risk of not being able to breastfeed, sometimes babies never figure out how to latch on, and sometimes there really is not enough milk being produced. Some women must take medications that will be passed to babies through breast milk. These are just a few situations that I have come across.

That's the rub: there are a million different reasons why it might not work, but we put so much pressure on women to breastfeed, breastfeed, breastfeed at all costs that it makes women who are unable to do so feel like shit. I watched two friends go through this. They were really made to feel like they were not real women, that they did not love their babies, and that they were somehow selfish bitches who purposely withheld the breast. It was heartbreaking.

More understanding on both sides is needed.

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Here's the link to the Ad Council Blog about this topic ( http://www.adlibbing.org/adcouncil_weblog/2006/06/... ).

~Denise
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Every woman produces milk differently and the amount of nutrients per ounce varies considerably. It's so rare that a breastfed baby is malnourished. You just can't use ounces as a measure of nutrition when breastfeeding.

The truth though is that in our culture we do not make it easy for women to breastfeed. It takes a lot of energy to do so and women need lots of rest time which in our nuclear family structures it's almost impossible.

If you dont have that extra pair of hands to take care of the baby while you take a nap, eat some decent food and take a shower, breastfeeding is going to become an uphill battle.

This though is the first sensible and cogent thing that has come out of the US government in years. Formula was never meant for healthy kids --and it's murder to latino, black, asian and native american babies.

Boo to formula.

liza sabater
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While I understand the benefits of breastfeeding, this constant pressure on women to do so and only do so is downright dangerous. I have a number of friends who were not able to produce enough milk for whatever reason. You'd have thought that they were purposely starving their babies from the way the "health care" profession treated them.

Non-breastfed babies come out OK, too. My friend almost died of starvation as a baby because her mom did not have enough milk. Once they figured out why she was losing so much weight, she was given the bottle. Now she's a chief surgery resident in NYC. My husband, an intellectually and physcially robust individual, was bottle fed. I was bottle fed. And so forth... People need to lay off. Women are doing the best they can and don't need to be made guilty for their choices.

Suzanne ( http://www.blogher.com/member/suzanne ), BlogHer Contributing Editor - Feminsim & Gender ( http://www.blogher.com/topic/feminism-gender )
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