Cher you wrote:
"The understanding that breastmilk is both a food and a medicine is common in
most other parts of the world.  How backwards and behind we are here in the
US when it comes to mother's milk."

Well said but its not because we are backwards here in the US.  It's that
actually the drug and formula company know what a treasure we have in
breastmilk.  They have "borrowed" the research of human milk to use in
monoclonal antibodies (HMFG-human milk fat globule is used in producing alot
of mAbs--the reason for most of the patents on human milk, it is used to
immunize the mice who produce the antibodies).  I'd like to ask the drug
companies how exactly they got the HMFG. HMFG monoclonal antibodies are used
to diagnose breast cancer, prostrate, ovarian and other cancers and also used
to treat cancers. Of course, they have also borrowed the research in order to
duplicate breast milk components by genetic engineering for use in infant
formulas.  So in reality it isn't that this country is backward, we just have
the power of the profit-motive piloting the course of nutrition and medicine.
 Therefore we, Americans, aren't told about the truly wonderous nature of
human milk.  Because if we, American women, knew the truth we'd never put a
drop of infant formula in our babies' mouths.  Valerie W. McClain, IBCLC

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