Resistance to cigarette smoking was very strong in US.  Then we got a label on cigarettes about danger.  I was hoping the label on formula would help, but it hasn't seemed to help at all. Adverts on  TV have decreased in US, but they are still all over baby focused magazines.  Unfortunately people don't connect public  health issues with lack of breastfeeding.  If my baby/child is healthier, smarter than yours, no one chalks it up to breastfeeding.  If I'm less likely to get breast Ca, ditto.  All they talk about is early detection and treatment.    I don't know where we go next.


That's interesting Pat. Are you saying that warning labels have been put on infant formula where you are? I was unaware that this was happening. It is particularly difficult to connect one factor with any condition, whether maternal or infant. Breast cancer as you mention is multifactorial, and it is impossible to attribute the cause to any one factor. In my case, I had breastfed for a number of years, but it was not enough to protect me. The only risk factor I had was excess weight - not obesity but overweight. However my older sister is a good deal heavier than me and she's been fine. I blame the cosmic boomerangs!

I've been thinking about the comparisons between health promotion in relation to smoking and to infant feeding, and i strickes me there are two main differences: agency and evaluation. Let's call the smoker john and mother Mary.

John is the target of the anti smoking campaign and he has complete responsibilty for its success. He is the only one who determnes if he smokes or not. Mary is the target of the breastfeeding campaign, but the success of the breastfeeding is influenced by her baby as much as her, arguably. And everyone on Lactnet knows that the baby's ability to participate may be scuppered by the drugs, poor postnatal support, or innate difficulties such as tongue tie or prematurity. So The smoker as target has complete control over the smoking behaviour ( if he can motivate hinself to exercse it) while the mother as target does not have complete control.

Self evaluation is also easier for the smoker. Every day without smoking is an achievement and is a success. However self evaluation of breastfeeding success is more difficult. We all know the mother who thinks her baby is not getting rnough, even though all is well, and the reverse is also true. The mother cannot determine her success with 100% certainty the way the smoker can. 

Eithne Murray,

Carlow, Ireland 

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