Dear Friends:
    Valerie asks about the notion of human milk as magic fairy dust.
    The grandmother I spoke with yesterday was amazed that her breastfed
nieces,nephews and grandchildren were sick at all because she had heard and come
to believe that breastfed children don't get sick at all. This belief was based
on her having heard for years about the benefits of breastfeeding.
    I am wondering if all those years of promotion campaigns touting the
benefits of breastfeeding,  (also implying that formula feeding is the norm) could
lead someone to believe that breastfed children are 'healthier'.............
then, someone sees their grandchild hospitalized with RSV and concludes that
feeding really doesn't make difference.
    Exclusive human milk feeding is no guarantee that any one baby will be
disease free. However, we all know that the odds are so much better that it is
worth it.
       A campaign that focuses on the risks of NOT breastfeeding may go far
to help the general public understand better about the importance of
breastfeeding, and dispel the notion that human milk is magic fairy dust, guaranteed to
make every baby healthy.
    Just some thoughts.........
    warmly,
Nikki Lee RN, MS, Mother of 2, IBCLC, CCE, CIMI
Maternal-Child Adjunct Faculty Union Institute and University
Film Editor, Journal of Human Lactation
Support the WHO Code and the Mother-Friendly Childbirth Initiative

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