Sarah, I hear what you are saying, but I do think there is value in accuracy. I don't think that it is being critical of mothers who are away from their babies and who are pumping milk for them; they are doing the best they can for their babies in very difficult circumstances. However, they are not feeding their babies at the breast (breastfeeding). 

I think this matters because often in research breastfeeding and breastmilk feeding get lumped in together, and if we treat them as though they are identical (e.g. by calling breastmilk feeding breastfeeding) then it is more likely that will happen. We do know there are some differences, but we don't know yet what all the differences might me. For example, we know that breastfeeding mothers who bedshare with their babies position themselves in relationship to their babies than mothers feeding bottles of formula. That makes bedsharing safer for breastfed babies. But what about the mother who is bottlefeeding her expressed milk? Is she more like the breastfeeding mother or the formula-feeding mother in terms of how she bedshares? We don't know. And yet that would be useful to know, so that breastmilk feeding mothers can make better decisions about whether or not to bedshare. 

That's just one example. Being accurate about these things helps us to understand the differences so we can respond to them in more effective ways.

Teresa Pitman

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