"A multitude of studies demonstrate that when breastfeeding is
accompanied by formula supplementation, illness and death rates are
much closer to those of babies who are fully formula-fed..."
My friend Darillyn voiced her concerns about this paragraph, and
wondered if adoptive breastfeeding mothers might become discouraged if
they learned that breastfeeding combined with supplements did not have
the power that exclusive breastfeeding has.
It’s true that Americans in general struggle with the concept of risk.
If formula-feeding were associated with 100% fatality, we would have no
trouble convincing people to breastfeed. Certain death is a concept
most understand. But because the outcome of not breastfeeding is much
more variable than that, it is hard for many to understand that there
is any risk at all. How many times have we heard someone say, “But I
wasn’t breastfed, and I’m fine,” meaning “I wasn’t breastfed, and yet I
am alive. Since I can see that there isn’t 100% mortality, there must
be no risk at all.”
In a culture where most moms hear that breastmilk is only marginally
better than a can of dried milk from a cow, the concept of comparative
risk may be even harder to communicate. That adoptive breastfeeding
mothers may initially be discouraged is a real possibility. However,
this group has faced great adversity to choose what they know to be the
lowest risk for their children. They seek out information about
relative risks, and the fact that they are maximizing their children’s
chances for health has not changed.
I believe that with sufficient knowledge, empowerment will be the end
result, rather than discouragement. Today, many adoptive breastfeeding
mothers rely on supplemental formula. We can hope that accurate
information about the risks of artificial baby milk will help to
empower all mothers to demand access to safe and affordable donor human
milk when needed.
All that any of us can hope for is to have enough knowledge and control
over our lives to be able to act to decrease risk--not eliminate it.
All of our lives are filled with risk. The safest course lies in
having accurate information about risk, so that we can reduce our
exposure to it.
Arly Helm, MS, IBCLC
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