That's very well argued, Tricia, and while I doubt this particular woman will be receptive, I hope lactnetters will note your comments for use with other practitioners they may encounter. The AAP and international documents should be sufficient, and then it's up to this new medical graduate to prove HER case for artificial baby milk - and at the same level as what she is demanding of human milk, i.e. benefit across most health outcomes, not just one or two! She also seems to be unaware that breastfeeding is more than just the milk. I'm wondering how much of her thinking has been influenced by marketing. Even intelligent people absorb these messages and base their attitudes on them. I also wonder if she was exposed to strong emotional negatives while she was growing up, e.g. mother's attitude. This is something that Angela will never know, of course, but clearly this woman has a huge mental block on anything good surrounding breastfeeding and I suspect an entrenched emotional component to her thinking. Poor woman, poor patients! Sadly, advertising for leading brands of factory-made artificial milks for older infants promotes the additives - but neglects to state that there isn't much of these in artificial formula, compared with the significant amount in human milk. An example is the 130 or more oligosaccharides in mother's milk. Parents hearing the advertisements naturally assume their precious baby can only get prebiotics (and probiotics and omega 3s) from the advertised product in the can, and this belief can easily lead to action, such as taking a baby off human milk and switching to the commercial product. What new mothers need is ongoing support for breastfeeding, not further undermining by a new medical graduate who insists that breastfeeding is inadequate. Virginia Dr Virginia Thorley, OAM, PhD, IBCLC, FILCA Private Practice Lactation Consultant Cultural Historian of the History of Medicine Brisbane, QLD 4072 Tricia Shamblin wrote: Dear Angela, The real problem is not lack of evidence of benefits of breastfeeding, or detriments of formula feeding, it's the lack of good research about breastfeeding. ... Mostly, we only have observational studies and literature reviews, and one million years of evolution at this point, to go on. But my question for her would be, if that's not enough for her, what research is she planning to use as her evidence that formula is adequate? ... it's her responsibility to provide proof of it's adequacy, it's not our responsibility to defend human milk for human beings. And I would challenge HER to find large scale, cause and effect studies that show that formula is as healthy for infants as human milk. When you talk to her, also I would be sure to use the term "human milk" not breast milk, as a reminder that what we are talking about is human milk for human beings.... .... as a new MD, I think she should be especially careful about passing along advice that conflicts with information provided by the AAP, ACOG, the Surgeon General, the AAFP, WHO and Unicef. ... Where are her large, cause and effect studies to make her case? Where are her studies showing human milk is detrimental? *********************************************** *********************************************** Archives: http://community.lsoft.com/archives/LACTNET.html To reach list owners: [log in to unmask] Mail all list management commands to: [log in to unmask] COMMANDS: 1. To temporarily stop your subscription write in the body of an email: set lactnet nomail 2. To start it again: set lactnet mail 3. To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet 4. To get a comprehensive list of rules and directions: get lactnet welcome