Diane Wiessinger wrote:

<< Common sense, 13,000 studies, virtually all the most current research,
documents ranging from the UN to the AAP, all these indicate that *formula
causes harm*.  That the only positive thing formula does, in any normal baby,
is provide a tolerable source of calories when breastmilk is withheld.
 .
<< I don't *think* cardiology, neurosurgery, endocrinology are as persistent
in ignoring the research and clinging to old beliefs.  Maybe I'm wrong there.
. . .

<< I think that for some reason I truly can't fathom, the medical world has
an underlying hostility toward breastfeeding and breastmilk that doesn't
exist toward, say, exercise or blood.  And I don't think I'm paranoid.  >>

For a possible explanation look into the writings of anthropologists Robbie
E. Davis-Floyd.  Her Website: www.davis-floyd.com/art_index.html

Here is a quote from her article on birth:

<< The social nature and significance of birth ensure that this biological
and intensely personal process carries a heavy cultural overlay.  In all
cultures birth is a rite of passage (van Gennep 1908) that embodies a
culture's deepest beliefs, which are transmitted and reaffirmed during this
critical transitional time.  Birth practices point "as sharply as an
arrowhead" to the core values of the culture, telling the observer a great
deal about the way that culture views the world and women's place in it
(Kitzinger 1978).  Where women's status is high, a rich set of nurturant
traditions tends to develop around birth; where it is low, the opposite
occurs.  For example, in the highly patriarchal Islamic society of
Bangladesh, childbirth (like menstruation) is regarded as so polluting that a
midwifery tradition never developed; women, assisted by female relatives, are
expected to give birth on dirty linens, and infant mortality and puerperal
infections are high (Blanchet 1984). . . .

<< The extreme emphasis on technology in the United States is mirrored in the
birth
practices there (Martin 1987; Davis-Floyd 1992).  Laboring women are placed
in hospitals and subjected to interventions such as electronic monitoring,
artificial stimulation of labor, and high rates of surgery. >>

In her view, requirements for maintaining the culture have more to do with
birthing practices than science does.  She has an article discussing
obstetrical training, not as a science, but as training in a rite.  While she
doesn't discuss breastfeeding directly formula feeding on a schedule is more
congruent with the technological world view than is breastfeeding.
Davis-Floyd's definition of technocracy includes a great deal of separation
-- separation of mind from body, separation of mother and child.  So, when
confronted with research affirming the value of breastfeeding, a Medical Care
Provider (MCP) may be in conflict between science and culture and may come
down on the side of culture.  --Well, I won't attempt to summarize her ideas
further.  They are worth your checking out for yourselves.

Alice Martino
in central New York State, USA
accredited volunteer with a major support group
whose secret ambition is to replace HCP with MCP.

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