I actually don't think this is so bad.  First of all, formula preparation is complicated and needs to be done carefully.  I worked for WIC for many years and, having never made a bottle in my life raising 4 children, I had no idea how do to this and had to learn.  I don't think most new mothers realize how complicated it is.  And, if this is going to be the sole nutrition for an infant, it needs to be done right.  Secondly, very often breastfeeding is made out to be a complicated process while artificial feeding is made out to be simple.  What's easier than just putting a bottle in a baby's mouth as opposed to positioning, reading hunger cues, etc, etc.  Lots of mothers tell me it's "easier" to just switch to a bottle.  I then go into my bottle preparation routine, which takes quite a while to explain....cleaning, preparing, measuring, heating, making sure to keep it refrigerated, keeping track of how long it's been unrefrigerated, etc, etc.  Third, poor preparation of formula is DANGEROUS!  Over or under diluting or not keeping it refrigerated can cause serious medical issues.  When I was working in a hospital years ago we had a father, who was a dentist (so not a dumb guy), feed a baby undiluted concentrated formula.  They had been giving the baby a ready to feed formula and the mother switched to concentrate and neglected to give the dad a lesson in preparation.  The baby was ok but had some kidney issues for a while.  And this was a well educated man!  We often have mothers overdilute formula because they think it's just like giving the baby extra water!  It is really a very complicated process and needs to be understood. 

We often send mom's home with a video about breastfeeding.  We don't do that for bottle feeding. So, it might not be a bad thing to have a complicated video available to explain that formula feeding is a rather daunting process.  It wouldn't be bad to have a piece in it about watching out for allergies, etc and then providing a chart for what to switch to if the baby exhibits these symptoms, after a meeting with a medical provider, of course.  

Seeing how difficult it is to artificially feed a baby is sometimes the selling point to get a mother to breastfeed.  Pat, it might be a good idea to get on the committee to "direct" some of this to make sure the details are shown accurately  ;-)  This is not, necessarily, a bad thing.  In a back handed way, it is really promoting breastfeeding!


Barbara Leshin-Zucker, IBCLC
22 Cindy Lane
Highland Mills, NY 10930
845-928-6906 (home)
845-551-7527 (cell)

Aim with your heart, adjust with your head, and always, always, always, do all you can. 







Date:    Sun, 11 Apr 2010 20:00:45 -0400
From:    Pat Young <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Disturbing news

My current professional organiztion, NAPNAP (Natl. Assoc of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners) has recently signed a contract with the International Formula Council  to produce a "how-to" video on formula making. I'm sure you can all imagine my feelings of betrayal!  I don't know who to scream at first :-(

The Breastfeeding sig was not consulted after an initial discussion in June/July.  The contract was signed and they were unaware until notified after the signing.

I can't attend the national conference this week in Chicago (April 14-Bd meeting & 15-18 conference) at the Hyatt Regency, but it would certainly be neat if breastfeeding interested Chicagoians could make a media event out of this unfortunate decision/contract. :-b  Pat in SNJ

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