Dear Lactnet Friends:

How is the rest of our community doing watching the US go through its
struggles? Thank you for your patience and tolerance.

The point that no one seems to have addressed yet is that formula has been
ubiquitous in US hospitals. Consequently, concerted effort has to be made
to make hospital staff conscious about  formula use. An easy way to
increase awareness, and document for Joint Commission evaluation purposes,
is to put formula in a system where it is controlled and counted.

As a hospital staff nurse, I handed out formula bottles with no thought at
all. I'd learned to do this as a student nurse; I was never taught one
thing about breastfeeding. It wasn't until I read Gabrielle Palmer's
Politics of Breastfeeding in 1986 or 87 that my eyes were opened.

Making change is always a shock. I don't like change. To use an example
that isn't related to infant feeding, resistance to change  makes learning
to figure skate very difficult. I get comfortable with one set of moves,
and then to advance, I have to push past my comfort zone. Changing the
culture so that breastfeeding is the default position is more difficult.

It's NOT about keeping formula feeding mothers from feeding their babies.
It IS about staff helping mothers to realize that formula comes with health
risks. Industry has kept that information from the public, just as industry
kept the truth about tobacco hidden from the public.

Industry wants to sell product. They are competing against public health.

Hurray for Bloomberg.

warmly,

-- 
Nikki Lee RN, BSN, Mother of 2, MS, IBCLC, CCE, CIMI, ANLC, CKC
craniosacral therapy practitioner
www.breastfeedingalwaysbest.com
https://www.facebook.com/nikkileehealth

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