Dear fellow Lactnet-ers, I have learned so much from this venue over the years and I'm hoping you will help me now again. This incident happened last night and I'm still stunned! I teach a prepared childbirth class and usually have a pediatrician come to one of the classes. I ask the pedi to "not spend a lot of time talking about breastfeeding because I also do an entire class on that topic." I've found through past experience that the less info the pedi gives about breastfeeding, the less misinformation I have to correct. Unfortunately, many (not all) pedi's I have run into still give misinformation. My guest speaker last night was doing fine; saying general statements such as, "We encourage breastfeeding. Put the baby to breast right after delivery. Room-in with your baby." etc... Then, someone asked if it is true that breastfed babies are healthier than formula fed babies. His response was (and I'm paraphrasing) "Yes, but it's because mom is the only one who can feed the baby so the baby doesn't get exposed to germs from so many other people- not because of the milk." Trying to do some damage control, I asked about the antibodies, IgA, IgE, etc... in breastmilk? His answer, "The gastric pH is so low that it neutralizes those and no one has been able to prove that it's helpful in protecting the baby. In daycare situations, babies fed breastmilk via a bottle get sick just as often as formula fed babies." My response, " Then why are formula companies spending millions of dollars trying to replicate these substances to put them in the formula?" The discussion went downhill from there!! He negated the cognitive benefits ("Your child will not score 8 points higher on an IQ test"), the immunological benefits; all the while saying that he encourages breastfeeding but "if you choose not to breastfeed you shouldn't feel guilty." UGH!!!! As this Dr was leaving class, I couldn't help but continue. The long and short of it is, he challenged me to come up with a "reputable study" that factors out the affect of only one caregiver holding the baby during feedings. I drove home from that class so furious - at the Dr. and at myself for not holding my temper and keeping a clear head about me! All my textbooks and journals are at my office, and I'm not scheduled to work again until Wednesday. But, I'd like to start compiling my ammunition. Can anyone help me with titles of research studies. I'm betting that whatever I give him, he'll refuse to believe it (if he even reads it at all). I know things such as this have been discussed on Lactnet before. You may e-mail me privately. Thank you in advance. Debbie, feeling like I'm swimming upstream and the current is getting faster and faster. [log in to unmask] *********************************************** The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html