Be wary of doing TOO good of a job promoting breastfeeding... Imagine our surprise and shock in the midst of our major WIC breastfeeding campaign to open the front page of the "Southern Style" section of the Jackson, MS "Clarion Ledger" (distributed statewide) to see a 6x8 full color picture of a mother bottle feeding her infant, AND an additional full color picture of a can of Similac, with the headline, "Next best thing?" Subhead reads, "For those who just can't breast-feed, new baby formula claims to be closer than ever to mother's milk." It was provided to the Clarion-Ledger by a freelance writer named Gloria Butler Baldwin. The article is way too long to reprint here...if you are interested in the entire thing, e-mail me. Just a few "tidbits" from the article... *Quotes from a mom who weaned her 4-week-old baby to formula include "I quit breast-feeding because I was going back to work and I just couldn't do it" and "Plus, I wasn't comfortable breast-feeding in public, like some are, and it was difficult to go anywhere." (interesting that these are the 2 major barriers our campaign is addressing...) *"Improved Similac with Iron, the mineral considered the culprit of colic, is replacing the original Similac with a special combination of ingredients. A new fat blend provides fat and calcium absorption simlilar to that of the bresat-fed infant and was shown to support visual, mental and psychomotor development. A unique protein system provides plasma-essential amino acid levels, similar to those of the breastfed infant that promotes better tolerance. And it contains nucleotides, compounds that are found naturally in breast milk." *Quotes by a nurse..."Most mothers now work and breast-feeding is too inconvenient. The mother has to be there all of the time. No one else can feed the baby." *A long list of disadvantages of breastfeeding, including: --"The quality and quantity of the mother's diet can affect the quality and quantity of breast milk" --"If a nursing mother takes certain medications or abuses drugs, it will affect the baby" --"Another downside to breast-feeding is now knowing how much milk your baby drank" --"With formula, babies tend to sleep longer since it takes longer to digest." --"It is also easier to keep track of how much a baby eats, and is more convenient, especially when in public." --"Excessive alcohol can affect the baby and reduce milk production, as can the estrogen in some oral contraceptives." --"Excessive caffeine makes babies jittery and restless." The article ends with: "According to a report by Ross Products, while other formulas with iron and nucleotides, the building blocks of DNA and RNA, exist, the improved Similac with Iron is the only U.S. infant formula with levels and ratios patterned after breast milk." Free advertising for Ross? Was the timing a coincidence? You decide... Cathy Carothers, IBCLC State WIC Breastfeeding Coordinator Mississippi