I found myself ranting in my own head this morning while I was showering. Usually God gives me meditations, but today I was pondering breastfeeding. After breastfeeding my own three infants and counseling numerous women I have come to several conclusions. First, however, let me present some of the contentions of the World Health Organization, regarding infant feeding:
Global Strategy for Infant and Young Child Feeding p. 10 states,
"18. The vast majority of mothers can and should breastfeed, just as the
vast majority of infants can and should be breastfed. Only under
exceptional circumstances can a mother’s milk be considered unsuitable
for her infant. For those few health situations where infants
cannot, or should not, be breastfed, the choice of the best
alternative – expressed breast milk from an infant’s own mother,
breast milk from a healthy wet-nurse or a human-milk bank, or a
breast-milk substitute fed with a cup, which is a safer method than
a feeding bottle and teat – depends on individual circumstances.
19. For infants who do not receive breast milk, feeding with a suitable
breast-milk substitute – for example an infant formula prepared in
accordance with applicable Codex Alimentarius standards, or a
home-prepared formula with micronutrient supplements – should
be demonstrated only by health workers, or other community workers
if necessary, and only to the mothers and other family members
who need to use it; and the information given should include adequate
instructions for appropriate preparation and the health hazards
of inappropriate preparation and use. Infants who are not
breastfed, for whatever reason, should receive special attention from
the health and social welfare system since they constitute a risk
group."
Here are their recommendations, in order:
1. infants should be breastfed by their own mother
2. if #1 is not possible, then expressed milk from the infant's own mother
3. breast milk from a wet-nurse
4. breast milk from a milk bank
5. breast milk substitute fed with a cup
All of these methods are considered preferred to infant formula fed from a bottle with an artificial nipple.
Guess what? The World Health Organization isn't funded by formula makers. Conversely, American women are sent home from the hospital with their newborn babies AND a diaper bag, supplied by a formula manufacturer, a breast pump, also supplied by the formula manufacturer, and a supply of infant formula, from who else, but the manufacturer. Oh, sure, all of their printed materials pay lip service to breastfeeding as best for babies, but give me a break!! Those bottles psych mothers out. They become the great temptation when we need a few more minutes sleep or when we are unsure about our own milk production. Next comes the pump. If it is a manual pump, a woman may only produce an ounce or two - maybe more with an electric pump. This leads to more supplementation and pretty soon you aren't producing an adequate supply of milk and you give up. Those formula manufacturers are pretty tricky, but effective.
Here is the conclusion I have come to. First, assess your desire to breastfeed. Is it very important to you? If not, then don't condemn yourself - lots of infants are raised on formula and turn out just fine. Consider, however, the WHO guidelines and think about trying it for at least a few months. WHO recommends at least 6 months, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends up to 12 months. If you are committed to breastfeeding, you can do it!
My suggestion is to put away the formula that you brought home with you - or better yet, throw it away so it isn't a temptation. Next, pack the breast pump away, for at least the first two - three weeks. Pumping is not a reliable indicator of milk supply, as babies are much more efficient at extracting milk from the breast. Give yourself 2 - 3 solid weeks of exclusive breastfeeding, putting your baby to the breast as often and for as long as the baby demands. Remember, you are both learning a new skill and just need some time to master it, without confusing the issue with bottle or pumps. Later, once your supply has been established and your baby is confidently feeding, you can try introducing a bottle now and then, preferably with expressed milk. Keep in mind that most babies have growth spurts at 2 - 3 weeks, so don't give up nursing, just because your baby wants to nurse more frequently during that time.
Of course, you may have issues with weight gain, plugged ducts, sore nipples, etc, but those issues are much easier to sort out and resolve if your nursing relationship is uncomplicated by bottles or pumps.
Wow - I feel so much better - I just needed to vent I guess. Talking to myself is so therapeutic! Ranting inside my head is so tedious and boring. Thank you Blogspot for allowing me to add a little more wasted space to the WWW and to suck up a little more bandwidth.
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2 comments:
I share your frustration with the formula companies. They also woo doctors, who give advice to the moms. Mine wanted me to give formula at 2 weeks because she wasn't gaining weight yet. Come on, we were in the aftermath of a huge hurricane, and my milk came in late from all the stress.
With one of my other babies, a different pediatrician did the same thing (in fact, I've been pressured to give formula with ALL 4), and referred me to the lactation nurse on his staff. She said, "He did WHAT?? You don't need to give formula!!" This was all in the same practice.
I think an epiphany came for me this time around, though, when I was convinced that I needed to wean at 6 weeks so I could go back to taking a medication that I need. A friend who is a lactation specialist, said that just because my doctor said I shouldn't nurse on a medicine, didn't mean that I wouldn't be able to. I needed to research it further and look at Dr. Hale's book since he has done actual research on the levels of drugs in mother's milk. While I still came to the conclusion that I did not want to breastfeed on this particular med, something she said struck me: "What medication do you need to be taking? Because the only medication you absolutely have to wean for, no questions asked, is radioactive chemotherapy medications.
Most other medications, it is safer to continue nursing the baby than to wean her."
SAFER? I had never considered that there were risks to formula!! And then, a week later, there was all this news about the contaminated formula in China. I'm not saying that I think formula is dangerous...I do give a bottle of formula to my 6mo old every day now. But it's still worth it to ask the question, "How safe is it really?" How do we REALLY know what is going in there? Anyway, I'm still nursing and managing in other ways without the med for now. I'm so glad I didn't give in to the stress and medical hype when I was so tired with a new baby, because I have had so many moments nursing in the last 5 months that I will always treasure.
Wow, I feel better now, too. Maybe I should start a blog. :)
I think there are two radically different philosophies of infant care. The approach taken by the medical community just presumes that there is very little difference between breastmilk and formula or that either are equally good choices. Also, a mother must be empowered to say, "I am committed to breastfeeding - help me make this work." for her doctor to actually look for ways to accommodate things like illness, surgery or drug interactions. First times moms assume that the doctor knows what is best among all available choices and has concluded that breastfeeding must be supplemented or interrupted, but honestly, their recommendation to use formula are mostly motivated out of convenience. That is not to say that there is never a good reason to stop, but any amount of breast milk, particularly colostrum, has enormous long-term benefits. We just don't know for sure what chronic health problems we face as a society can be traced directly to infant feeding practices.
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