Cindy writes:
"I am not less healthy than breastfed babies.

There are people in existence who do not fit that profile.

 And, it is harder for me to see the virtues of breastfeeding when I
read a
negative conclusion about my upbringing that is, as it pertains to
me, a lie."



Nothing is absolute.  While it is true that many people who were not
breastfed present as perfectly healthy adults, when you look at
overall numbers and percentages, a higher percentage of those who
were not breastfed present with health problems both as infants and
in later life.  There are always those who fall outside the
averages.  For example, just because those of us who breastfed don't
have the same overall risk for breast CA as those who do did not
breastfeed doesn't guarantee we won't get it as we have found the
hard way.

When I discuss the value of breastfeeding, I like so say it
something like this:

Studies have shown that there is an overall IQ difference between
people who were breastfed and those who were not.  It doesn't mean
that if you breastfeed you are guaranteed a child who will be a
Rhodes scholar and if you don't your child will automatically need
remedial education.  What it does mean in that not breastfeeding
gives more odds of not having as great a potential as those who were
breastfed.  The same with the help of the "mothering hormones".
They help a mom respond more positively to her infant.  It doesn't
mean that just because you breastfeed you will automatically win a
"Mother of the Year" award or that if you bottlefeed Social Services
will automatically be at your doorstep.  It means there is an
"edge", a shift of the odds.

I have found that since I have taken this approach I have not gotten
the complaint that "I was bottlefed and I'm just fine."  I believe
most parents want what's best for their babies, so we certainly are
obligated to discuss why breastfeeding is so great (and the
drawbacks to not breastfeeding).  To withhold that information is to
deny the right to make a fully informed choice.  However, the
information can be presented in ways that set up barriers or in a
way that informs without demeaning the recipient of teh information.

Cindy, please remember that Lactnet is a discussion between those of
us who work with moms and babies.  The way we discuss things among
ourselves is not necessarily the way we present the information to
our clients or the public.  This is the one place where we can "let
our hair down" and say things without always having to be
"politically correct" )while avoiding slamming any person or group).

Winnie Mading
IBCLC

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