Jessica, Great Speech!
Gail Hertz, MD, IBCLC, FABM
Author of The Little Green Book of Breastfeeding Management
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> On May 4, 2014, at 9:28 AM, "Jessica L. Callahan" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> This 'formula' has been around for awhile now. Of course when the rep brought it to the hospital he gave his little speech and some of the nurses were all for it. I gave the nurses and management my little speech. I have copied the in-service that I gave to the staff below. Feel free to take any of it to share with your staff:
>
>
> Similac: Supplementation Formula
>
> The New Best Thing or a Marketing Scheme?
>
> Similac is a brand of formula marketed by Abbott and Abbott is a company. The main purpose of any company is to make a profit. Similac's competitors are other formula companies and breastmilk. In 2003 breastfeeding rates in early post-partum was roughly 72% and about 29% of infants were still being exclusively breastfed by 3 months and these numbers continue to rise. The breastfeeding report card from CDC shows breastfeeding rates early post-partum at 77% (our initiate rates are usually higher than this – Go Nurses) and exclusive breastfeeding at 3 months up to 38%. When breastfeeding rates increase the formula companies profits decrease.
>
> I’m sure most of you have noticed the new green labeled bottle of formula on the shelves. It is Similac’s Supplementation formula. This new formula is directed toward the breastfeeding mother since breastmilk is the leading rival for formula. The paragraph below is from Similac’s website. As you can see Similac claims this formula provides infants with softer stools and helps mothers to be able to breastfeed.
>
> "Similac For Supplementation is the first Similac formula designed for breastfeeding moms who choose to supplement. It has more prebiotics than any other Similac formula, along with the same benefits as Similac Advance. Some moms may notice changes in stool patterns when introducing formula to a breastfeeding routine, and studies have shown that prebiotics produce softer stools more like those of breastfed infants. 8 out of 10 moms who supplemented with formula agreed it helped them continue to breastfeed." (Similac’s Website)
>
> If the addition of prebiotics is good for the baby’s health why has the company put it in the formula that is only advertised to be used for baby’s that are also receiving breastmilk. Shouldn’t all babies even the ones that are exclusively formula feeding enjoy the luxury of softer stools? Why should the exclusively formula fed baby have to deal with ‘harder stools’ it wasn’t his choice to not receive breastmilk?
>
> I looked at the research in regards to prebiotics and stools. There were only a couple systemic reviews and these are their quoted results. “Prebiotics increased stool frequency but had no impact on stool consistency, the incidence of colic, spitting up / regurgitation, crying, restlessness or vomiting”. The second, from the Committee on Nutrition of the European Society for Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition states “At present, there is insufficient data to recommend the routine use of probiotic- and/or prebiotic-supplemented formulae”. I even found a statement from Mead Johnson “However, not all clinical trials have demonstrated a positive effect of prebiotics on gut levels of beneficial bacteria”. So, the research is not backing up Similac’s claim but most parents don’t have time to look at research.
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> The second item Similac advertises is that mothers agreed this formula helped them to continue breastfeeding. According to this statement it was not the time that you spent bent over for 20 minutes every couple of hours helping this couplet latch instead it was when the baby had this formula that kept them nursing. We all know that milk production is based on the amount of milk removed from the breast. The more milk removed the more milk mother will make. I don’t need to look at the research for this I already know it. Time and time again it is proven that when formula is introduced mother’s milk supply decreases. Although this mother has not had the 15 plus hours of training on lactation that you have. She sees a baby who is fussy (more likely cluster feeding) she thinks there is a problem with her milk (likely there isn’t) she gives formula and baby sleeps. Wow, now she really thinks there is a problem with her supply so she continues this behavior time and time again. What she doesn’t know is that every drop of formula her child had her body will not produce that food and eventually she no longer has enough milk for her baby.
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> So now that I have you thinking - the new best thing or a marketing scheme? The company’s largest profit loss is to the breastfeeding couplet. Don’t you think that their strategy is to target that particular group to hopefully regain back part of their loss profit?
>
>
>
> Jessica Callahan RN, IBCLC
> NC, USA
>
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