Maybe this has been thought of before, but I was thinking of a way to make new mothers realize, on a visceral level, why they shouldn't formula feed. I'm thinking in particular of those newly post-partum mothers who sometimes ask if formula is really all bad, or those who say that they grew up on formula and they're fine, etc., etc. Imagine that medical technology reached a point where you could grow a fetus until about 12 weeks in utero, and then you could have it taken out and put into an incubator-type machine, that feeds it and nourishes it until full gestation. Imagine, too, that this machine had undergone extensive trials and had been --for the most part--- "successful," and that the deaths that have occurred from it are not *necessarily* linked to the machine itself and that when used properly, the babies really grow fine and thrive. Most moms would not opt to do this and we could ask them why not? What feels so wrong about it, especially when it is so successful? The answers are similar to our feelings about breastfeeding--natural design, norm for the baby, etc. Just a late night thought--feel free to extrapolate and add to this analogy if anything strikes you! Heather Kelly, MA, IBCLC NYC, NY *********************************************** 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(R) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html