Since I've been bugging all of you, here's what *I* sent.
Janice
----- Original Message -----
From: Janice Berry <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Cc: <[log in to unmask]>; <[log in to unmask]>; <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Saturday, May 22, 1999 7:29 PM
Subject: Mothers Who Think Breastfeeding Is Inconvenient, Gross, and now
Deadly
> I'm a longtime reader of MWT, and I'm guessing -- from the dead horse
you're
> beating with your editorial content -- that something kept you (or someone
> close to you) from breastfeeding, or from breastfeeding as long as you'd
> hoped. This happened to me with my first child, whom I breastfed only one
> short week, so I feel your pain. I remember afterward feeling bitter
> satisfaction when others didn't breastfeed, or when they complained about
> the drawbacks of breastfeeding, because it validated my choice.
>
> Perhaps if I'd been working in a position such as yours, I would have used
> my career to work out my unresolved issues. Perhaps, though, I would have
> become concerned -- I hope before the point where I'd printed my sixth (!)
> article painting breastfeeding as a terrible thing -- that I was blurring
> the line between my personal and professional life. "If this strategy is
> really helping me," I hope I would ask myself, "why do I need to keep
doing
> it over and over?"
>
> I wonder if you realize that Salon has established a solid reputation
among
> lactation consultants, breastfeeding-supportive physicians, and
> breastfeeding mothers as being a place where somebody has an axe to grind
> with regard to breastfeeding. So I'm here to say, we feel your pain -- but
> can you perhaps find another way to deal with your emotions about infant
> feeding choices, and present a bit of balance in your coverage?
>
> I spent a lot of time engaged in such bitterness. The turning point came
> when I read the putrid _Bottlefeeding Without Guilt_. I realized that I
> didn't want to be one of those people who goes through life trying to
blame
> others for guilt feelings that came from within me. Projection and denial
> are such dishonest ways of dealing with one's feelings. I realized that I
> could instead use my grief to do something positive -- to learn as much as
> possible about the benefits of breastfeeding, what went wrong in my case
and
> why, and how I could keep that from happening to others.
>
> Karen Houppert's poorly researched article reminded me a lot of
> _Bottlefeeding without Guilt_. It too was a thinly veiled attempt to
escape
> reams of research showing the dangers of formula feeding. Perhaps Houppert
> was on tight deadlines ... or your fact-checkers had the week off ... or,
as
> I hypothesized earlier, you're all blurring the line between personal and
> professional issues.
>
> Ironically, Houppert had an excellent point to make: Women *are* set up
for
> failure by not getting the support, information, and encouragement they
need
> to breastfeed. This is a huge problem, one that the medical profession
> (which gets little or no training on breastfeeding and human lactation, as
> your writer could easily have discovered for herself) needs to address. In
> fact, this lack of knowledge is why Waldrond was not informed -- by the
> doctor who performed her breast reduction, her OB, or any hospital
> personnel -- that breast reduction surgery can affect a mother's milk
> supply. But Houppert didn't tell us that. Instead, she aimed to stretch
her
> point to show that women are bullied into breastfeeding and that such
> bullying was what really killed Tyler Waldrond.
>
> Are women bullied into breastfeeding? Research does *not* support
Houppert's
> assertion of "the complete turnaround on breast feeding by the medical
> establishment in the last 20 years." The most recent survey of
pediatricians
> I've seen, published in the March 1999 issue of _Pediatrics_, showed that
> their knowledge and support of breastfeeding is as dismal as it has been
in
> past surveys. While some doctors today may give lip service to the
"breast
> is best" idea (which they read on the formula cans they were passing out,
I
> guess), few know the first thing about breastfeeding. They fail to inform
> parents about the hazards of artificial feeding. They are quick to
recommend
> supplementation with infant formula. They fail to refer mothers to sources
> of correct information, such as lactation consultants and La Leche League.
>
> Was I bullied into breastfeeding six years ago? Bwahahahaha! When I ran
into
> trouble breastfeeding, no one told me where I could get help. Instead,
they
> passed me the formula samples and told me my son would turn out "just
fine."
> They did not tell me there were any dangers associated with infant
formula.
> All the glossy parenting magazines, too, affirmed my choice to bottle-feed
> and assured me that my son would be fine and that I shouldn't feel guilty
> (as though the issue was my guilt and not my son's health). Friends and
> relatives, too, rallied around me to support my decision. No one mentioned
a
> *single* heightened health risk associated with infant formula.
>
> Years later, when I did my own homework, I learned how significant the
risks
> were. "Breast is best" is not only far from bullying -- it is a vast
> understatement. I wondered why my doctors hadn't told me, why the truth
> wasn't making headlines everywhere. But I know the answer, and I bet you
do
> too. We wouldn't want to "make" anyone feel guilty -- and heaven forbid
that
> we be honest enough to feel any regret about our own infant feeding
> decisions.
>
> Was bullying what really killed Tyler Waldrond? Houppert claims that
> "Tabitha Walrond -- like all new moms today -- was under considerable
> pressure to breast-feed" and that "she felt her self-esteem and competency
> as a mother hinged on her ability to breast-feed successfully." I have
heard
> nothing to support this assertion about Waldrond's feelings. Is Houppert
> speculating, or did facts along these lines come out in the trial?
>
> Houppert and Mothers Who Think are blaming the messengers because you do
not
> like the message that infant formula is dangerous. You launch one missive
> after another to make breastfeeding sound inconvenient, gross, or deadly.
>
> I find it ironic that "Mothers Who Think" assumes that its readers are so
> stupid that they need to be spoonfed just one side of an issue, and so
> fragile that you must go to pains to ensure that they feel no guilt. I
> certainly wish someone had "bullied" me with information I could have used
> to make an informed decision. Do we call it "bullying" when mothers are
> informed about the dangers of infants riding in the car on laps, or
mothers
> smoking or drinking during pregnancy? Do we strive to hide the information
> and blame the messenger so that no one feels guilty?
>
> *Thinking* mothers have always made the best decisions they could with the
> information they had. I challenge you -- now that you've presented six
> articles on the perceived drawbacks of breastfeeding -- to present a
single
> piece about all the infants (which, researchers estimate, accounts for
> 16,000 of the 4,000,000 babies born in the U.S. each year) who are, as you
> might say, formula-fed to death. Thinking mothers will appreciate your
help
> in making informed decisions.
>
> Sincerely,
> Janice Berry
> Westerville, OH
> [log in to unmask]
>
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