I'm beginning to totally understand one of my former professors at Cornell, who recently wrote a
tirade about how formula causes death and basically dared the formula companies to sue him.

I'm sharing the following response with all of you, while I figure out how to make a second
attempt at Weissingerizing this woman so she gets it.  I basically feel it is completely unethical to
talk about the theoretical risks of toxins in breast milk without a side by side comparison of the
risks of not breastfeeding.

As was evidenced by the reactions on my clients about the NY TImes article on Toxins in
Breastmilk and even after a fairly decent NPR piece on the topic, many women here in Manhattan
were talking about "Toxic Breastmilk".  After all my years of running large-scale nutrition
programs with some very successful social marketing along with these programs, I am firmly
convinced that the warm and fuzzy "breastfeeding is still good" won't counteract the terror that
"Toxins" strike in the heart of mothers.  We must provide the counterexample with the
overwhelming concrete and well-documented evidence that the substitutes have far more negative
health consequences.

Best regards, Susan E. Burger, MHS, PHD, IBCLC


Hi Susan,
 
I am writing in response to your concerns about the ad about the need to decrease environmental
contamination, which specifically highlights the need to protect breastmilk.  I am writing as a
physician & researcher who focuses on protecting and supporting breastfeeding, and as such,
have been deeply involved in this issue, including as Co-Chair of the Breastfeeding Coalition of
Washington. 
 
I am writing to tell you both that I sympathize with the concerns expressed in your message
below, and to clarify that the Breastfeeding Coalition of Washington & it's Coordinator Kim Radtke
are deeply committed to and work tirelessly to protect and promote breastfeeding, with rigorous
attention to available data.
 
In part because of Kim's efforts, the research / policy / advocacy communities markedly refined
their ads, so as to minimize the risk of inadvertently undermining breastfeeding.  For example, in
response to our concerns, they conducted pilot research to check the impact of the ads on
women's confidence in & plans regarding breastfeeding, and revised the ads accordingly.  They
again suspended ad production again to seriously consider ongoing concerns & messaging
suggestions from breastfeeding experts.  The end product did not incorporate all of our
suggestions, nor those of the myriad groups giving input, but it did go a long ways to more
strongly state the health importance of breastfeeding, even in a polluted world---and highlight
timely policy actions that people could take to protect this precious resource.
 
Although it was not possible to address all the important issues related to breastfeeding in the
brief space of an ad, the concerns you raise were & continue to be discussed in depth in other key
forums, including planning the biomonitoring research, strategizing how to frame the issue in
response to media inquiries, in meetings with policy makers, etc. 
 
The protection of maternal-child health is the driving force behind efforts to support
breastfeeding & to clean up the environment.  These 2 goals are not at odds.  How to go about
achieving them both is challenging, and best accomplished if done in concert [with each mindful
of the importance of the other].  This is what we are trying to foster here in the NW.
 
Best wishes, MaryAnn O'Hara, MD, MPH, MSt

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