Diane's post really brought the issue into focus with a wonderful analogy. In fact I have to admit that I was having a hard time seeing the problem with the original statements until I read Diane's post. But I would like to add another important part to this analogy: This Rolls Royce ad was written by your good friend, a well-known and respected expert on Rolls Royces. The ad was paid for by Jaguar. Hm.... I think my difficulty in seeing the statements as "damning with faint praise," is because I have seen so many horrible statements about breastfeeding that it is difficult to find that upsetting. Well, until Diane made the statements come alive for me. I am more use to seeing statements like the following from the FDA (I know some of you have seen this before but I thought I'd revisit this "wonderful" website called..."Breastfeeding Best Bet for Baby" (yes choking and turning blue when saying wonderful)...Valerie W. McClain, IBCLC PS Actually in my opinion, it looks like the FDA is placing its bets with infant formula. Maybe that is because the government has an investment in recombinant human milk components.... http://www.fda.gov/fdac/features/895_brstfeed.html "Possible ProblemsFor all its health benefits, breast-feeding does have some disadvantages. In the early weeks, it can be painful. A woman's nipples may become sore or cracked. She may experience engorgement more than a bottle-feeding mother, when the breasts become so full of milk they're hard and painful. Some nursing women also develop clogged milk ducts, which can lead to mastitis, a painful infection of the breast. While most nursing problems can be solved with home remedies, mastitis requires prompt medical care (see accompanying article).Another possible disadvantage of nursing is that it affects a woman's entire lifestyle. A nursing mother with baby-in-tow must wear clothes that enable her to nurse anywhere, or she'll have to find a private place to undress. She should eat a balanced diet and she might need to avoid foods that irritate the baby. She also shouldn't smoke, which can cause vomiting, diarrhea and restlessness in the baby, as well as decreased milk production. Women who plan to go back to work soon after birth will have to plan carefully if they want to breast-feed. If her job allows, a new mother can pump her breast milk several times during the day and refrigerate or freeze it for the baby to take in a bottle later. Or, some women alternate nursing at night and on weekends with daytime bottles of formula. In either case, a nursing mother is physically tied to her baby more than a bottle-feeding mother. The baby needs her for nourishment, and she needs to nurse regularly to avoid getting uncomfortably full breasts. But instead of feeling it's a chore, nursing mothers often cite this close relationship as one of the greatest joys of nursing. Besides, nursing mothers can get away between feedings if they need a break. Finally, some women just don't feel comfortable with the idea of nursing. They don't want to handle their breasts, or they want to think of them as sexual, not functional. They may be concerned about modesty and the possibility of having to nurse in public. They may want a break from child care to let someone else feed the baby, especially in the wee hours of the morning. " *********************************************** To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest) To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet All commands go to [log in to unmask] 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