Just a thought here on what the Ross breastfeeding data actually says. When I
looked at it, there is no category of EXCLUSIVE breastfeeding. A couple of
years ago I saw marketing data which showed that only about 42% of US women
were exclusively breastfeeding in the hospital. Ross lumps exclusive and
partial breastfeeding into a category called total breastfeeding. If we
defined breastfeeding as exclusive there is still only about 40 some percent
of women exclusively breastfeeding at discharge. The 62% figure is actually
closer to the total bottle-feeding population. A woman who is bottle-feeding
most of the time and puts the baby to breast once or twice a day is often
listed as breastfeeding, either because she intended to or is trying to
establish her baby at breast. This is also used as a WIC eligibility criteria.

The 62% actually represents a population of partial breastfeeding or partial
bottle-feeding, depending on how you look at it! Do not become overly
optimistic about these figures. This can represent a smokescreen that fulfills
Ross and other makers of formula goals of early supplementation to extend
their market from birth through toddlerhood.

Exclusive breastfeeding is becoming an endangered practice. Early
supplementation reduces milk production and increases dependence on formula.
Early formula supplementation is encouraged by formula makers so that mothers
buy their product for a longer period of time, wean from the breast earlier,
and continue using formula through the first year. What a boost to sales!

All those discharge packs of formula do their job quite well too. I think we
keep asking the wrong questions about discharge packs. We do not need to pull
research studies showing whether or not discharge packs affect breastfeeding
rates. We need to ask what would happen to formula sales if no hospital gave
out formula-containing discharge packs?

Marsha Walker
Weston, Massachusetts