I just read an article in Clinical Pediatrics about a study comparing the use of two different forms of formula (powdered and ready to feed).  As I read it, I felt my hackles raise as it SO felt like what we all know to be - that the use of formula in human infants is an ongoing experiment. While the premise of the article was to compare the growth patterns of babies using the two products, there was NO feeling of what would they do if one of the ways was shown to be discrepant? It was just a compilation of checkpoints along the way to 4 months comparing growth patterns to each other- not to the norm of breastfeeding or even breastmilkfeeding.  I am sure some of you will have other questions YOU would have asked, but  here’s what I wrote to the lead author, who appears to be an employee of Abbott:
***
Dear Marlene,

I had a few questions about your study recently published in Clinical Pediatrics: Growth of Healthy Term Infants Fed 
Ready-to-Feed and Powdered Forms of an Extensively Hydrolyzed Casein-Based Infant Formula: A Randomized, Blinded, Controlled Trial.

It was mentioned in the article that infants were recruited in those early days after birth (between 0 and 9 days).  How were they recruited? Where and when did potential participants in the study learn about your study?  Were they recruited by solely communicating with ONLY those mothers, who , in hospital, had decided to formula feed exclusively from day one?  Were any of those babies, especially those recruited after the first few days, initially breastfed?  Did the participants need to pay for any of their formula?  Were there any educational materials about the normalcy of breastmilk/breastfeeding shared with the participants as they expressed interest in the study, and/or the risks of infant formula use? I saw no demographics about the mothers age and education background in the article- was this information collected?  If yes, what was the average maternal age and level of education?  Was informed consent given re the potential issues of Enterobacter sakazakii contamination of powdered infant formula as well as was instruction given and followed up on the proper preparation of powdered infant formula? Why is this study being published in 2014 when the dates of the infant recruitment were in 2000- what took so long? How does this relate to the powdered formulas of today?  Were follow up studies done on any of those now 13-14 year children?

Would love to know the answers to these questions.
*****

If any of you are interested in the responses I receive (if any) from the study’s author, I will be happy to share.  We know that research, especially published research, can be used to show whatever you want to be shown….there were just SO many ethical questions raised in my head about this study I just had to respond!  


Karen Foard, IBCLC
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Combining the Art and Science of Breastfeeding in Central Pennsylvania since 1988

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