Hi! Late night owls!!! My personal problem with using the abm for artificial baby milk is the word "artificial" I have an extremely close friend who both breast & bottle-fed her six babies. She saw absolutely nothing wrong with using abm and still doesn't (she is very intelligent, just not regarding abm). She made it very clear that she is highly offended with abm because of the word artificial. She wants to know what is artificial in the formula or the feeding method. There are not plastic ingredients as she says, I countered what about "artificial" ingredients found in mass produced foods, flavorings, etc. Needless to say, this is a taboo subject between us, because we just don't agree on the long-term effects of abm in the diet of an infant. As a LLL Leader, I do believe the public at large (including myself prior to my first pregnancy) believes that formula is equal to or better than breastmilk. The word "formula" conjures up the idea of "scientific" meaning modern or "truly miraculous" meaning "look what man has created". The public, in general, believes that abm is actually better than breastmilk, because it is a "controlled" substance meaning manufactured, measured, whereas breastmilk is an unknown quality & quantity. Never mind all the hype & lawsuits when there is a deficiency found in a batch of abm. I don't believe that the "right" word or term can be found to shake up the public. I think "formula" is too entrenched in our society as are bottles. Look at all the cute soft drink name brand baby bottles that are produced. Get them babies drinking "*** cola" bottles & then they'll switch over to the "real" stuff when they get older. Subtle brainwashing going on? I think not!! The ultimate marketing ploy, you bet!! Same thing with popular cartoon characters on bottles. Just as others, I think parents should sign a consent form when choosing to use abm. They should be given info, prenatally, of the hazards of abm. Yet, I always have to temper this with there may be a time such as in the death or illness of the mother and/or parents that we should be grateful for abm instead of just using straight cow's milk. Because of HIV & AIDS, I think it is too complicated to have thriving milk banks as in years past. People are too scared, as I believe I would be, to use this as an option before resorting to abm. I don't like the term Human Milk Substitute. I believe it makes it sound equal still to mother's milk. The Substitute Infant Nourishment is too long, I do like the acronym though. Is abm "really" nourishing though? It is adequate for infant survival. My rantings for the night, now on to bed. Lora Gleaton. LLL Leader