I had a chance to personally talk with Dr.and Martha Sears yesterday and
was deeply humbled by the experience.  We really do have to stop jumping to
conclusions and judging people when we don't have all the facts and don't
know what they are thinking.
     Dr. Sears told everyone at the LATCH Conference in Cheseapke, Va. that
he is on the Board of Directors of Wyeth ( the company that makes the
generic formulas that places like WalMart sell), and his explanation seemed
very sincere, and from the heart. He is, above all, committed to helping
mothers and babies and sometimes (he claimed 2-5%) mothers are unable to
breastfeed and need to use formula.  Therefore he is trying to get at least
one formula company to add DHA to its product, as he sees this as an
essential ingredient for brain growth and development. In return they will
put information about attachment parenting on their labels and refer people
to askdrsears.com. He reasons that some people may try 3, 4, or 5 of the B's
of attachment parenting ( Birth Bonding,Breastfeeding,Babywearing,
Bedsharing, Believe Babies Cries,Balance) and maybe next time they will try
breastfeeding.
    I talked with him at length during a break and truely believe that it is
not about the money ( as has been suggested on Lactnet). He and Martha both
said that this is an experiment to try to get the word out to a larger
audience. "It may work or it maynot."  He also implied that the formula
banners will come off of his site. "That was a mistake and it has already
been taken care of" From talking with him I suspect that they never thought
about some of the things us Lactnuts think about.  I asked them about the
possibility that the formula co. would want to market a DR.Sears formula
with DHA and he and Marth were both very clear "THAT WILL NEVER HAPPEN _ WE
WOULDN"T ALLOW IT! They are truely committed to breastfeeding and to babies.
It was a joy to hear them talk.  I hope that everyone can forgive them and
that next time something like this happens we take the time to get all the
facts and to find out what the accused party is thinking before we jump to
conclusions and send off our "Mad Mommy" letters. (Dr. Sears said he has
been averaging about 20 "Mad Mommy" letters a day.)

Peg Merrill, IBCLC, LLL(retired)
Parkton, Md.

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