Heather wrote:

<Yes...I know!

But while I have no real statistics on this, what we already see
happening is that within a culture, formula use follows a similar
pattern,  once the economic and marketing conditions are there. In
most western (or aspirant western) societies, the middle class take
to formula most quickly, leaving the urban poor to follow on behind,
with the rural poor being the last to take up formula...unless, of
course, they are transported (like the Irish immigrants to the US,
and the Bangladeshi immigrants to the UK - all mostly rural/urban
poor) to a society which is further along this axis, and they speed
up their own change to match.>

I've noticed the same pattern here in Micronesia, with the  employed town
folks being the first to convert, the villagers next and the outer islanders
being the last to follow the trend to formula. What seems to me to happen is
that the notion of something from a can and bought from a store is embraced
over breastmilk. That something might be sweetened condensed milk,
evaporated milk or even soda put in a bottle and fed to babies. The outer
islanders who tend to be at risk for more health problems because of poverty
and conversion to a "westernized" diet and lifestyle tend to have the least
correct information about infant feeding too.

The good news is that the hospitals are seeking baby friendly status and are
working hard to provide good information and save breastfeeding from being
lost and here in Palau, it is the older ladies, who often remember
breastfeeding as children, who are working with the new moms to support
breastfeeding.

Warmly,
Lisa Boisvert-Mackenzie, Midwife
Palau, West Caroline Islands
Pacific Ocean

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