Below is my response to the Mad About You folks.  I got the usual thank you for your interest response.  Chanita, San Francisco

 
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I can hardly believe what I saw on your show the other night regarding weaning from breastfeeding -- 

Please understand, I am not against fathers or other people feeding babies occasionally from a bottle.  And I am aware of and appreciate the intricacies of having fathers participate in nurturing.   But Dad seemed to have several issues going on beyond just the nurturing, i.e. being  upset when his wife breastfed in front of others.

 I was glad to see that no-one but dad seemed to have a problem with mom's breastfeeding in (semi)public.  "The kid's got to eat" is exactly right.  Ditto, the acknowledgement that formula doesn't taste that good.

BUT:  

First of all, this baby was not screaming frantically in the background.  She was not starving, and she was satisfied sucking on someone's finger.  She could have waited, or even had just plain water to tide her over.  But for the sake of the point that the show was trying to make, let's assume it was time to feed the baby.

 1)  One does not have to give formula -- especially if parents are as interested in maintaining breastfeeding, as this couple has been.   In this day and age most moms know, and particularly intelligent, middle-class, urban moms know, about expressing their milk.  It is part of the teaching of most prenatal classes, and certainly part of the information that breastfeeding moms are given in hospital.  Moms do express their milk into bottles and keep it in the freezer for those "emergencies" when mom is suddenly not there, or even the non-emergencies to allow baby to interact, feedingly, with others.  

2)  You have your characters state or imply at various times that formula is as nutritious as breastfeeding.  WRONG!!!  Even formula companies admit their product is not as good, but is the "next best thing" to mother's milk.  But they are far from equal, and have still along way to go to even get protein-fat-calorie proportions right.  

3)  You have Dad hastily and sloppily mixing formula.  Well, one time 
probably won't hurt the baby.  But possibly hundreds of thousands of 
people saw that episode, and now think they don't have to be careful in 
mixing formula.  WRONG!!!.  Many of the problems infants have related to 
formula stem directly from improper mixing of formula.  Too little formula in 
the water, which many parents do to make formula stretch farther, and you
 are effectively diluting the formula, and starving the infant.   Too much 
formula in the water -- this is not like putting  too much cream in your 
coffee.  An imbalance of this nature throws off the infant's electrolyte 
balance and can cause serious neurological problems if it is ongoing.

   We do not tolerate crime shows or dramas to give incorrect information. 
 Programs now hire experts from given fields to make sure those fields are 
represented correctly on television.  The American Academy of Pediatrics 
has just recently published its statement regarding breastfeeding, which 
has created a tremendous stir in the media.  But you give it no credence.  
Do you feel you have no obligation to your viewers to present correct 
information?  Do you feel you can portray ignorance and stupidity regarding
 this very serious and timely subect,  and that's okay because you are only a comedy?

I feel you do both your viewers and your art a disservice.


Sincerely,

Chanita R. Stillerman-Evans
BSc, RN, IBCLC
San Francisco, California