11-22-97

Back to Sleep
P.O. Box 29111
Washington DC 20040

Back to Sleep Campaigners:

Thank you for recommending breastfeeding as important in reducing the
risk of SIDS in your Back to Sleep pamphlet.  However, I must take issue
with the way that it was presented.  The other recommendations were
stated very strongly, with words like "make sure…baby sleeps on a firm
mattress,"   "no one should smoke…," and "you should not use alcohol or
drugs during pregnancy…"  Why then was the breastfeeding recommendation
so wishy-washy?
( "If POSSIBLE, you should CONSIDER breastfeeding your baby.  Breast milk
HELPS  to keep your baby healthy." )  [emphasis mine]  I bet a pamphlet
on preventing head injury would not say "if possible, consider having
your child wear a bicycle helmet."

Perhaps you did not want to make mothers feel guilty - that is the pat
excuse given most of the time. Why are the breastfeeding statements the
only ones that are so weakly stated? It would seem that in producing such
a pamphlet, your goal would be to present the relevant facts in a
compelling way, so that parents would follow through with the
recommendations.  Since there is overwhelming evidence about the
superiority of breastfeeding and the very real hazards of artificial
feeding, I feel you unfairly de-emphasized breastfeeding.

Sincerely,
Laurie Wheeler, RNC, MN, IBCLC
Louisiana Breastfeeding MediaWatch
Violet Louisiana USA