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Bicycles:

I understand the intent of the statement that goes something like: "formula
advertising is trying to convince people to buy a bicycle when they could
get a Mercedes for free."  However, there are circumstances under which I
would rather buy a bicycle than get a Mercedes for free (unless I could
sell it right away!).  I think it would be better to compare two things
like a "Yugo" and a Mercedes.  I may be being a little sensitive, but
having used a bicycle for my only form of transportation for about a year,
I feel strongly about it!  (I recently bought a car because I need one for
my midwifery apprenticeship.)

Formula Advertising:

I have read the literature that comes with several different free formula
"gift packs" or whatever.  It seems that although they do have some good
breastfeeding info, their tips can be restrictive.  For example, they all
say that your baby will want to eat every two to three hours, without any
mention that eating more frequently is perfectly normal.  Much of the
information is more subtly biased, like the statement that your breasts
SHOULD be noticeable "softer" after a feeding.  Many people I know,
including myself, do not have this noticeable softness after the first few
weeks.  I read somewhere that this is to be expected, but it makes many
mothers so nervous that it is a major cause of stopping breastfeeding at
about six weeks postpartum.  Also, the formula info always talks about
"weaning to formula."  I was a nanny for a mother of twins who breastfed
for eleven weeks, and she said of a friend of hers with a six month old,
"She's still breastfeeding; she hasn't started a bottle yet" or some such
thing.  It really didn't occur to her that one could breastfeed until the
baby didn't need a bottle!

Katherine, apprentice midwife in Portland, Oregon

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Katherine, Scot, and Torin Woods-Eliot   [log in to unmask]

All things excellent are as difficult as they are rare - Benedict de Spinoza