In a message dated 3/1/1 1:52:49 PM, [log in to unmask] writes:

<< I predict this DHA additive issue will be a huge one in the future.  We are
going to have to work to develop OUR DHA message just like the formula
companies are working at developing theirs.  Of course I [and everybody else
of Lactnet too] know that BM is more than just milk with DHA that there are
all the WBC and immunity factors in BM that are not in formula, but our
patients still don't comprehend this message as well.  >>

Jon,
I think that there is a double-edged sword here. I think I have made it clear
that I want no gov't money spent on "improving" cow's milk formula, b/c it
perpetuates the myth that there is a need for such a thing. (I know we have
debated this before, and I don't dismiss some really great arguments from
adoptive mothers and others, but I think my orphan drug analogy
stands--unless lots of babies consume cow's milk formula, there will not be a
"better" one, since there will be no financial gain. So, unless you want lots
of kids eating this stuff, we need to be prepared to let it go altogether).
But, I have done quite a bit of reading on DHA and we ourselves (bf
advocates) have used DHA in the past as one of the "advantages" of bf'ing.
So, we certainly cannot now understate its importance to babies. And, there
is strong evidence that women in Western countries are DHA deficient, as is
our milk. So, while we are arguing that bf is more than cow's milk + DHA, we
are going to be blindsided by our own argument about the importance of DHA. I
certainly can foresee an advertising campaign which shows that cow's milk
formula now has more DHA than human milk!
    I think when we continue to make the argument that we want bf to seem
easy and so we don't want to tell mothers to change their diets in any way
(unless they live on soda and chips), then we are a set-up for this attack.
IMO, Westerners eat a lot of nutrient-deficient food and have
nutrient-starved bodies. Just as medicine has not addressed bf'ing in the
past, it has also ignored nutrition as a whole. The degenerative diseases of
our societies are not only a product of AF; they are also a product of the
diets that follow AF througout life (and other factors, of course--like
environmental pollutants).
    I am not saying the answer is to drill mothers about their diets or to
make bf'ing complex. I think, after all, no one should be allowed to give
cow's milk or soybean formula without a prescription and a course in how to
detect and treat all of the diseases it is likely to cause. AFis what should
be hard to do, not bf'ing. But, I do think we need to pull our heads out of
the sand on this one, b/c we will get nailed if we don't. Even though I think
bf'ing is worlds better even if the mother is living on soda and chips and
she even smokes, I think we need to talk about this issue. I don't presume to
have answers, but I would like to see it addressed seriousely.
Jennifer Tow, IBCLC, CT, USA

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