Sanna-Mari's translation of the Finnish recommendations for breastfeeding,
and her comments on it, are cause for concern. (Thanks, Sanna-Mari)  This
document is form one cuntriy, but reflects an attitude seen elsewhere, as
Lactnetters will be aware.  I think it shows that we all need to be working
to keep before the eyes of the policy makers:
a) good new studies on exclusive Bf (with rigorous adherence to clear
definitions of "exclusive" and other categories) and
b) the concept that they don't have to go looking for spectatular "benefits"
of breastfeeding.  What they *should* be looking for are the costs of *not*
brestfeeding - both health costs and costs of the replacement products and
associated paraphenalia.  There is plenty of information out there on
costs - e.g. published papers by Marsha Walker, Jan Riordan, Denise Drane,
Julie Smith, and other people.
    We need to keep pushing the idea that we don't have to prove any
benefits at all from breastfeeding - rather, *they* have to justify the
negative health impacts (on a population basis) and the financial costs of
*not* breastfeeding or of not BF exclusively.
     To take the line, in this day and age, that BF infants are falling off
the weight curve, because the artificially-fed curve is taken as "normal",
is astounding!  This is the sort of assumption that is made in a 1953 paper
in the BMJ (Stewart & Westropp, BMJ, 1953, II: 305-307) - and the health
community has (supposedly!) learnt so much since then! (The 1953 study
suggested, in part, that differences in weight were "due to minor degrees of
under-feeding among the breast-fed babies", not to overfeeding of the
others.  This was not the main focus of the article, by the way.)
   So, we all need to remember there is still work to be done to change
perceptions.  We don't have the money of the multinatinal and other
companies, but we can cause a ripple effect with each "stone" (positive
information) we thrown in the "pond" (clients/workplace/community/friends) -
and who knows how far the ripples will spread, and how many of those touched
by the ripples will create new ripples of their own.
          Virginia
           in cloudy Brisbane
PS. I'm going NOMAIL later today.  So any replies to me privately, please.

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