I am normally a lurker, and quietly waited for someone on the list to
comment on Tuesday, August 21's Good Morning America, in which Nancy
Snyderman, a physician filling in for Diane Sawyer, presented a segment on
bottle feeding vs. breastfeeding.  The magazine Baby Talk had done a survey
in which mothers expressed opinions regarding their chosen method of
feeding.  The premise was that there was a feeling of lack of acceptance
between the two groups of mothers, similar to the "mommy wars" in which
working mothers and stay at home mothers resented one anothers' choices.
There was a large group of both types of mothers and their babies on the
show. I was very upset by Dr. Snyderman's line of questioning, which seemed
to put the breastfeeding mothers on the defensive.  For example, she first
questioned a mother who had breastfed her child for a little over 2 years
and asked her what she did if the child wanted to nurse in public.  She
asked if the mother went ahead and nursed the child.  Then she asked
another mother about an incident in which 2 older couples came up to this
mother who was nursing her child in public and told the mother it was
disgusting.  She asked one bf mother if she lifted her shirt up to her chin
when she nursed in public.

Dr. Snyderman gave one mother a brief opportunity to talk about the
benefits of breastfeeding but added that she didn't believe the studies
that said breastfed babies were healthier.  She went on to add that her
first child was adopted and bottle fed, and her second and third children
were breastfed for two months and had just as many ear infections.  One
mother added that her pediatrician felt the same way.  One mother stated
that the research that showed there was no difference in the health of BF
vs ABM fed babies was probably funded by pharmaceutical companies.

Of course, there was also discussion about going back to work and lack of
support by employers.

The show continued in this vein.  I got more and more angry, and
disappointed that a woman physician would not be an advocate for
breastfeeding.  There was a spot on the web site where you could add
comments.  Go to www.abcnews.com.
Still fuming,
Sharon Gollman RN, BSN, IBCLC
Lenoir, NC

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