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Date: | Mon, 21 May 2012 11:37:33 +0100 |
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On 18/05/2012 05:32, Maria Paciullo wrote:
> I am a little in disbelief at the reasoning in this discussion. Re: going to any lengths--
> I will say that I missed many of the posts on this topic
I think this is a large part of the problem with this debate - that, in
the tangents of this complex topic, the context in which I raised my
original objections has been lost, and that people are thus
misunderstanding what I have actually been saying.
My original post was a reply to a poster who felt it would be a good
thing for formula to disappear from the world due to being entirely
replaced by donor milk as the *only* available option for parents unable
to provide breastmilk as their babies' sole nourishment. This is rather
different from simply expressing the wish that donor milk become widely
available for those parents who make an informed choice to use it. It is
a viewpoint that completely disregards the many practical and cultural
reasons why parents may choose formula milk over donor milk even when
given a choice. A world in which donor milk was the only available
alternative for women not breastfeeding or not fully breastfeeding would
allow for no more choice than a world in which donor milk is
unavailable. I was objecting to this idea; to the idea that we should
work towards this world as the ideal.
I am not 'promoting formula'. I am not claiming that formula is 'better'
than donor milk as far as health outcomes are concerned. I am pointing
out that we do not currently know very much at all about the extent to
which donor milk is better than formula or the circumstances in which it
is or is not better, and that this is something we really ought to know,
and consider carefully, before assuming that it is appropriate to work
towards a world in which it is the option promoted for everyone unable
to fully breastfeed, far less a world in which it is the *only* option
available for such women.
> , but seeing this one. . .
> Is the question what price is it worth it to pay to get your baby milk that will help it survive?
Hardly. At least, not in the sense that I think most of us would
interpret that question. The phrase 'will help it survive' suggests
we're talking about a situation where a sick baby is in dire need of
something that will make a major difference to its chances of dying. In
that situation, I doubt anyone would question the need to do whatever
they could to get hold of what was needed. That's not at all the same as
a situation where there is a *remote* chance that taking one course of
action rather than another may result in a baby's death, and where this
is weighed up against the various practical reasons for choosing one
course of action rather than another. The latter choice is the same
choice we make as a matter of course whenever we take our children for a
car journey.
Hope that clarifies.
Best wishes,
Dr Sarah Vaughan
MBChB MRCGP
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