I appreciate this, Karleen. You're right. We've got the smokers, the obese, the people who have had lifelong poor care. Giving information about the dangers of formula has been done - and met with tremendous resistance. We're the mean people who are suggesting that Momma J isn't doing a very good job of being a mother, because she's formula feeding. Or at least, that's how it is perceived. We give information, but people hear what they want to hear. The incidence of pump use is up, because it is advertised and became the norm. The incidence of formula feeding increased with the direct advertisement of formula to a target population and became the norm. What we need to do is go after the marketing of formula (just as we've been talking about the marketing of pumps and bottles) and cut this gigantic tree off at the roots. The parallel to tobacco? "The sharp increase in cigarette use during the early to mid-1990s observed in this and other surveys might have resulted from expanded tobacco company promotional efforts, including discounted prices on cigarette brands most often smoked by adolescents, product placement in movies, development of nontobacco product lines with company symbols (e.g., hats and t-shirts), and sponsorship of music concerts and other youth-focused events" (Nelson DE, Mowery P, Asman K, et al. Long-term trends in adolescent and young adult smoking in the United States: metapatterns and implications. Am J Public Health 2008;98:905--15.) Great deals of money go into successful (and unsuccessful) advertisement campaigns. The story I mentioned the other day about Fosamax is another example, as are many other drug "successes." Many women now take Serafem for Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder (PMDD). Used to be called Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS) but that was just a collection of symptoms. A disorder, well, drugs can be created and marketed specifically for a disorder. In this case, one of the drugs is Serafem. Serafem is actually Prozac, but marketed in a "pretty" pink and purple scheme, unlike the less feminine green and yellow Prozac. I stand by my thoughts that substituting the normal (breastfeeding) for the abnormal requires the follow-through with someone who is dedicated to this branch. I don't want to be responsible for suggesting a mother use Formula A, and next find out the baby has bloody diarrhea. I dislike the thought of suggesting a medical treatment (which is what the use of formula is) to a mother, not being an expert on the topic. And honestly, the thought of being an expert on that topic sickens me. Best wishes, Sam Doak << Cardiac nurses are dealing with the tail end of poor health behaviours not the beginning. Anyone working with new mothers should be providing anticipatory guidance on infant feeding issues. If we knew why and how mothers used formula we could provide them with support and information that would help them to avoid or minimise its use. At the very least you need to know why formula is dangerous and how it harms the health of mothers and babies so as to be able to allow women to make informed decisions about infant feeding. And pray tell who should be the expert on infant formula?? While those who understand the importance of breastfeeding and the risks of artificial feeding seek to keep themselves pure and untouched by the F word, industry is only to happy to fill the gap. Here in Australia we no longer have the Infant Formula Manufacturers of Australia but the Infant Nutrition Council- to help support breastfeeding and formula feeding.... Karleen Gribble Australia *********************************************** Archives: http://community.lsoft.com/archives/LACTNET.html To reach list owners: [log in to unmask] Mail all list management commands to: [log in to unmask] COMMANDS: 1. To temporarily stop your subscription write in the body of an email: set lactnet nomail 2. To start it again: set lactnet mail 3. To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet 4. To get a comprehensive list of rules and directions: get lactnet welcome