In a message dated 11/14/2003 9:20:53 PM Eastern Standard Time, [log in to unmask] writes: ~~the flip side of that is the issue of living cells in fresh mother's milk. We know that's a positive, but I *know* there are people out there who are repelled by the idea of ingesting living cells, or by the thought of giving them to their baby. I don't know how to address these, especially since the latter is a gut reaction; an emotional reaction not based on fact.~~ you know, this is one of my favorite points to illustrate w/ new moms. when we get to the part of the conversation where they ask why formula has to be discarded after 1 hr at room temp and breasmilk can remain out for 10. i always say b/c breastmilk is alive, it is fighting off invading bacteria just like blood cells do in our bodies...but formula is not alive, it is a 'dead' substance. as soon as you mix it, it begins decomposing, in effect. as soon as that 1st bacertium enters it, it only becomes more and more contaminated, whereas breastmilk becomes more and more antibacterial! i even had a mom who had been comparing breastmilk to cannibalism (!) take great pause when i expressed it that way. she said she'd never considered that angle before! no matter how long the shelf life may be, the fact remains that when you mix the stuff up, it begins to deteriorate and is only of use for a very limited amount of time. ~jacqui gruttadauria, who has never had so much as a signle ounce of formula in her home and plans to keep it that way. *********************************************** 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