Ivy, these stories have as much credibility as the Western stories that 
circulated in the mediaa few decades ago. In other words, no credibility. 
Examples from the West include: "breastfeeding causes breast cancer" 
(late-1960s media - the reverse of the facts); "you milk turns to water at 
[age] (commonly from nurses and other women, and the age cited could be 9 
months, 7 months, or whatever the age of the baby of the first-time mother). 
Then there was the idea, mothers telling other mothers, that a baby would 
get a deficiency disease, such as rickets, if a mother exclusively 
breastfeed. Or that a mother who didn't BUY food for her tiny baby and fed 
her on something free was "cheap", a miser. Then there was the policy in the 
1970s that babies had to be taken off the breast for a number of hours on 
the day of a vaccination as the vaccination wouldn't "take" (which was 
resoundingly proven wrong). Any time there is a scare about environmental 
contaminants in the West, some media will scare breastfeeding mothers by not 
including the statement from scientists to keep breastfeeding.

These are just a few of the stories that were told to discourage 
breastfeeding - in the West. Still, I agree that the type of media reporting 
you have quoted is irresponsible.

Perhaps, Ivy, you can get to know and befriend a Beijing journalist who is 
interested in reading information that is correct. Other LLL Leaders who 
read Chinese fluently may be able to help you with ideas about where to find 
good information in Chinese. It is good to build a network of allies for 
support.  You could also let English-speaking health professionals know 
about the World Breastfeeding Conference in Delhi in early-December and next 
year's ILCA conference.

I hope these ideas help.

Virginia
in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

> Date:    Sun, 11 Nov 2012 15:43:45 +0800
> From:    Ivy Makelin <>
> Subject: >
> Every now and then, an article comes out in the Chinese media saying that
> "Breastfeeding while a mother is angry produces toxins in breastmilk", for
> example:
> Chinese and Western studies have found that the milk of the angry mother,
> is a serious cause of infant mortality because of the production of
> terrible toxins, no doubt is a major threat to the health of the baby. 
> Angry
> mothers must not breastfeed for at least half a day or a day, and should
> express and discard the toxic milk, and clean the nipple after
> breast-feeding.
>
> This is posted on a major Chinese portal:
> http://baby.sina.com.cn/health/12/0905/2012-05-09/1124205316.shtml
>
> Has anyone seen such studies they mention in the article?  Or is this
> another example of the ridiculous myths the Chinese media spread about
> breastfeeding like the one earlier this year that exclusive breastfeeding
> can cause cerebral palsy?
>
> --Ivy Makelin
> LLL Leader, IBCLC
> Beijing, China

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