Fritzi,

Thanks for sending this.  I wrote a brief note to the author.  I am
including it here.

Wendi Jones


Ms. Lara,

I read your piece in the SF Chronicle online.  (pieces like this are one
reason I won't subscribe)  It is unfortunate that you are looking at this
issues through the microscope of failed lactation.  There are women who
cannot breastfeed and they should not be ridiculed or hassled, with that I
agree.  You never mention that although many hospitals have Lactation
Consultants and many would like to get rid of formula samples, the reality
of SF hospitals is that MOST still give out formula samples and many don't
have enough Lactation Consultants on staff.  You never mention that many
women are failed by their health care providers.  Just this past week I
spoke with a mother who was advised by her pediatrician to nurse no more
than 10 minutes per side.  This type of outmoded information does a huge
disservice to breastfeeding mothers.  I live in the Bay Area and much more
often than seeing a mother breastfeeding, I see mothers feeding formula.  I
have the manners to not say something to them, apparently other don't.  This
is a formula feeding culture.  It used to be a cigarette smoking culture,
until the medical community started using Guilt to induce changes in
people's behavior.  They also use Guilt to encourage the use of car seats,
why because using a car seat saves lives, smoking a cigarette injures
health.   There are countless studies showing the dangers of formula and the
health risks involved with it's use, but Guilt shouldn't be used to induce
changes?  I don't understand.  Is it because women may feel guilty?  Aren't
they made to feel guilty about smoking around a child?  Where do we draw the
line with health issues?  Until all the hospitals in San Francisco acheive a
Baby Friendly Status, I just don't see that there will be substantial
changes in our area.  Pieces like this, that focus on allaying guilt at the
expense of health, the mother's (decrease risk of breast cancer) and the
baby's (too many benefits to list) don't move us forward, only backward.
With your voice you could make such a better impact, unfortunate that you
don't use that voice to make real change happen.

A concerned Bay Area Mother

Wendi Jones

Subject: San Francisco Chronicla op-ed peice on bf

There is an article in the San Francisco Chronicle today on breastfeeding
and
bottle feeding...although it doesn't have the drawing that is in the hard
copy edition, it's at:
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2002/06/30/LV10546.DTL

             ***********************************************
The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM)
mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html