Kathleen says,
> If we can all see beyond our own personal practices and look a bit
> farther, perhaps we can see and examine what is really happening in our
> culture.
>
It's been an interesting discussion r/t breastfeeding and formula. I've
often said that the only people that directly benefit from breastfeeding and
the mother & the baby. Of course, the family benefits from the financial
savings and from having a healthier baby, but the health care profession, as
a whole (interesting choice of terminology, isn't it? HEALTH Care -- when
most of us make money on illness?) does NOT benefit from breastfeeding.
Insurance companies, as it was pointed out, do benefit from breastfeeding,
but dentists don't, orthodontists don't, pediatricians don't...and the list
goes on.
Let's face it, even IBCLCs "benefit" (at least monetarily) when breastfeeding
doesn't go well. When I first started in practice in 1985, I figured that
I'd be out of a job by 1990 -- 1995 at the latest. Instead, I'm busier than
ever. That's unfortunate.
Part of the problem I think is that bottle feeding, on the face of it, seems
so EASY, particularly for a mother who is struggling with latch, or sore
nipples, or plugged ducts, or oversupply, or constant leaking, or yeast, or
mastitis, or..... Or she's exhausted and depressed, and the baby doesn't stop
crying after being fed, but does after being given formula....
And Pediatricians see that bottle feeding is easier. I'm on a peds chat
list, and occasionally someone will post about a breastfed baby that was
losing weight (today's story was a 8-5 newborn who came back in the office at
2 weeks at 5-6. Hospitalized immediately for suspected metabolic disorder,
but hey -- no -- as soon as the mother stopped breastfeeding and put the baby
on formula, he thrived.)
I'm rambling, and I apologize (it's early here), but I guess I echo Nancy's
comment that pediatricians don't really KNOW, and do believe that the
"research" on breastfeeding is hyped up -- that formula really is just fine
-- that it has saved many baby's lives..... and remember, they are looking at
it from a perspective of clean water and "safe" alternatives in cushy
America, forgetting that even in America, babies die from not being
breastfed.
Jan Barger, RN, MA, IBCLC, RLC
Lactation Education Consultants
www.lactationeducationconsultants.com
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