The Breastfeeding Mafia is Starving Babies

by Valorie Delp | More from this Blogger

15 May 2007 02:01 PM

Or is it just a lack of common sense?

This week in the United Kingdom, powerful organizations like La Leche League, Unicef and the National Childbirth Trust in conjunction with the Department of Health are trying to get the message out that Breast is Best. But apparently not everyone thinks that this is such a good thing.

Enter Sarah Oliver, a new mom who nearly starved her baby because she felt like she was consistently 'bullied' into breastfeeding. Advised by midwives that even one bottle would permanently hamper the breastfeeding process. . .she continued to breastfeed and by the time she started to bottle feed, her baby had already lost nearly 25% of his birth weight.

Sharing her story, she blames the establishment that as she puts it, "spews propaganda" geared towards 'bullying' women into breastfeeding. She sites statistics about how this aggressive Breast is Best campaign may result in approximately 1,000 babies and mothers being re-hospitalized because of failure to thrive syndrome. But she fails to site statistics from WHO, that say a moderate increase in breastfeeding would significantly decrease infant morbidity!

Still a Lack of Support for Breastfeeding Moms

What happened to Sarah Oliver and her baby--shouldn't happen. Especially where there is so much support for breastfeeding. I scratched my head reading the article wondering why no one caught the problem until after the baby had lost 23% of his birth weight in one week?

The problem seems to be not the lack of education but the focus on numbers. Militant campaigns like these demand an increase of 2% in breastfeeding mothers in order to retain 'baby friendly' status. Many breastfeeding education classes talk about the good 'ole days before formula milk. . .but fail to mention that there were wet nurses for mothers who couldn't breastfeed and that the infant mortality rate was much higher due to malnutrition.

The common sense factor here isn't lacking in the mother, nor is it lacking in the education but rather in the application of the principle. Like childbirth, breastfeeding is an individual proposition. Mothers and babies need to be treated as individuals. . .not a set of statistics.

I fully support breastfeeding education. If you've read any of my blogs--you know that. I won't even lie and say that formula is just as good as breastfeeding--it's not. Breastfeeding is far healthier and numerous studies say so. What I will say though is that we need to strive not to bully people into one decision or the other but rather to educate thoroughly, and support new moms as individuals rather than lumping them into statistics.

Related Articles:

The Breast in Breastfeeding

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Learn more about Valorie Delp

Hello everybody! My name is Valorie and I am one busy lady! When I'm not writing or editing for families, I am busy trying to get my brood of 5 in line.

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YolandaCrisostomo (53) 15 May 2007 03:21 PM

Aloha,

I'm new here so I would like to comment but with respect. I don't think the breast feeding campaigns mean to "bully" a mom into breast feeding. They give information out and it's up to the individual mom to breast feed or not. I breast fed all of my children. With my first child it was easy. With my second child, he was premature and in an incubator so the nurses tried really hard to get me to have him use formula fed to him through a tube. I refused and breast fed him. With my third child the doctor gave me a book in favor of "not" breast feeding but I was already in favor of breast feeding. With each child I took them for check ups and this is where the doctor can see if the baby is not gaining weight like it should or if the baby is malnourished. With so much harm done in promoting "not breast feeding" in the past it's hard to restore the damage that's been done.

Valorie Delp (49340) 15 May 2007 06:51 PM

Did you read the link article? You should. . .it was very interesting. I think if promoting bfing becomes more about numbers and less about getting moms education on they healthiest way to feed your baby. . .then it's a problem. If it's more about numbers (as the woman was implying) than about supporting moms. . .it's not a good thing. btw welcome and thank you for commenting! This is a rare article for me to write. . .read some of my other stuff on breastfeeding! ;-)