CLSC last night...
I gave a Pre-natal last night and I got home at 10pm!... The nurse asked me if I could present some wraps and slings at the end of the class and I of course gladly accepted... We did the whole class, there was about 10 couples one of the biggest groups that I have had to date and also the most talkative. One mom in particular was very off the idea of breastfeeding and really had a head full of outdated info and tons of myths... she is having her second child 20 years after her first and I think is still dealing with guilt issues of her first parenting experience... Anyways I suffered through the stupid breastfeeding video from the 80's that they have to show (I have seen it at least a dozen times now and it is just getting old!!) and then at the end of the class I showed the wrap and sling... everyone thought it was great and they all took my card... just as I was packing up a mom came up to me, asked about price, when she could call, where I live etc... and then asked if I always have some at home... I had brought the slings that I have left with me so I showed her what I had and she bought one right away...
The nurse came back in the room at that point and we started talking... the girl that bought the wrap is a local police officer and she and the nurse our friends... we started talking and something she said really surprised me... she HATES giving the classes because she doesn't like what she has to say... she has to stick by the rules and they are the rules that she herself doesn't adhere to... We talked about how hard it was to have to recommend things, teach things that we just don't agree with. We have to put our own feelings and experiences aside and give the 'blanket recommendation' (Vit D supplements, co-sleeping etc)
We talked about how hard it was to talk about breastfeeding, talk about how important it is, talk about how easy it can be, talk about it being the best when you know very well that you are wasting your breath....
We both wished that we could stop talking about the importance of breastfeeding and could just focus on the dangers of Formula....
If Breastfeeding reduces the risks of :
Cancer (breast, ovarian, and uterine for mom and baby girls),
obesity,
asthma,
Crohn's disease,
diabetes (and insulin requirements in diabetic mothers),
Allergies,
Helps prevent post-partum hemorrhage,
Ear infections,
diarrheal infections,
bacterial meningitis,
respiratory infections,
rheumatoid arthritis,
Hodgkins disease,
protects baby against some vision defects,
osteoporosis
etc…etc…etc….
AND Breastfeeding is the NORMAL way to feed our child…
Then it can be easily concluded that Formula is a CAUSE of many of these diseases…
Again… I am Tired of talking about the benefits of breastfeeding when it is the dangers of Formula that we should be focusing on… but that will never happen because we don’t want to make moms feel ‘guilty’ and there is no money to be made by breastfeeding….
This of course is proof…
Anyways… it felt good to talk with someone that is in the same situation and it makes me feel good to know that there are more and more with the same ideas as me, people that I can share with and have great conversations with….
The nurse came back in the room at that point and we started talking... the girl that bought the wrap is a local police officer and she and the nurse our friends... we started talking and something she said really surprised me... she HATES giving the classes because she doesn't like what she has to say... she has to stick by the rules and they are the rules that she herself doesn't adhere to... We talked about how hard it was to have to recommend things, teach things that we just don't agree with. We have to put our own feelings and experiences aside and give the 'blanket recommendation' (Vit D supplements, co-sleeping etc)
We talked about how hard it was to talk about breastfeeding, talk about how important it is, talk about how easy it can be, talk about it being the best when you know very well that you are wasting your breath....
We both wished that we could stop talking about the importance of breastfeeding and could just focus on the dangers of Formula....
If Breastfeeding reduces the risks of :
Cancer (breast, ovarian, and uterine for mom and baby girls),
obesity,
asthma,
Crohn's disease,
diabetes (and insulin requirements in diabetic mothers),
Allergies,
Helps prevent post-partum hemorrhage,
Ear infections,
diarrheal infections,
bacterial meningitis,
respiratory infections,
rheumatoid arthritis,
Hodgkins disease,
protects baby against some vision defects,
osteoporosis
etc…etc…etc….
AND Breastfeeding is the NORMAL way to feed our child…
Then it can be easily concluded that Formula is a CAUSE of many of these diseases…
Again… I am Tired of talking about the benefits of breastfeeding when it is the dangers of Formula that we should be focusing on… but that will never happen because we don’t want to make moms feel ‘guilty’ and there is no money to be made by breastfeeding….
This of course is proof…
Anyways… it felt good to talk with someone that is in the same situation and it makes me feel good to know that there are more and more with the same ideas as me, people that I can share with and have great conversations with….
posted by paxye at 11/16/2005 07:04:00 p.m.
7 Comments:
I am pro-breastfeeding, but there is one thing that "they" always say that bothers me, and that is that breastfeeding prevents allergies! Dead wrong in my opinion.
If I hadn't of breastfed my baby, and gone straight to a hypoallergenic formula, she would not have been exposed to so many of her allergens through my breastmilk. If we had gone straight to the hypo formula, I would have been able to control what went into her body 100% -before it was too late.
If I had known that my daughter was prone to get food allergies ahead of time (hindsight is 20/20!), I would have been able to do an elimination diet to make my breast milk safe, but as it was, I blame my breast milk as the thing that aggrevated her allergies in the first place and caused her poor health for months until we finally figured out the problem.
Just some food for thought. The books and articles can say anything they want, but that is my personal experience.
First… I am sorry that you have had problems with your daughters health…
However… The way Breastmilk prevents allergies has been proven many times…
As you probably know up to the age of about 6 months (when solids can start to be introduced) babies have what is often called an ‘open gut’. This means that the spaces between the cells of the small intestines will readily allow intact macromolecules, including whole proteins and pathogens, to pass directly into the bloodstream. Substances in breast milk coat baby's intestines, which prevent microscopic food particles from "leaking" through baby's bloodstream. When and if they do pass into the blood (something that much more frequent in an artificially fed baby because no protective lining is made), these food particles may be treated as foreign substances by his white blood cells, which in turn attack them, therefore cause an allergic reaction.
Formula does not coat the gut and leaves these holes wide open for much more food particles to go into the bloodstream especially one of the most problematic ones which is bovine protein.
This is the reason that even a small amount of formula given in the hospital after birth can erase the positive effects that breastmilk has.
These are two great reads…
http://breastfeed.com/resources/articles/virgingut.htm
and
http://www.health-e-learning.com/articles/JustOneBottle.pdf
The thing is...Though some children may be allergic to things that pass through the breastmilk NO child is allergic to breastmilk itself and the problem can in most cases be solved by elimination diet. It may take time but it can be as efficient and even more so in the fact that it can even be easier on the allergic childs body when a allergenic food is introduced because it is in a very small dose.
Also, the ‘hypo-allergenic’ formula that you are talking about is just a formula that has less bovine protein and it can feed about 90% of babies that have a proven Milk-Allergy only … Which means that it is not the perfect solution and carries the same risks as any other formula….
Breastmilk is THE only Hypo-Allergenic food that Exists… and Formula is the CAUSE for many allergies in children that may not have had them otherwise.
Thanks for the thoughts and taking time to respond. Obviously you aren't familiar with all hypo formulas though. The formula she eventually went on (and is doing marvelously on!) is 100% dairy and soy free. Not even a trace amount of those proteins in them. So NO, not all hypo formulas still have bovine protein in them.
You are probably talking about Neocate right... it’s true it is an amino acid-based formula (I’m sorry)... and babies do have little reaction to it…
HOWEVER... it still carries ALL of the other risks that I mentioned in my original post…. And breastmilk still helps prevent allergies…
The thing is besides Neocate (and I think there is one other amino based formula), all other Hypoallergenic formulas DO have bovine proteins even though they have been extensively hydrolyzed...
The problem is that though a child may not have a reaction to such a formula, it still doesn't coat the gut in the way that breastmilk does and doesn't help prevent allergies in the way that breastmilk does...
It may be very true that you were not able to do an elimination diet to the extent that was needed but it doesn't mean that breastmilk was the culprit...
I would even say that with the extent of allergies that you are talking about using artificial baby milk to start with would have probably set you up with more problems from the beginning...
Also, Amino based formulas are only by prescription anyways for already known Milk allergy problems so that would not have been a first option and other hypo-allergenic formulas are known to be effective for a milk allergy only 90 % of the time. So there is still a great chance to have a reaction...
Breastmilk is true non-allergenic food, though the mom's diet can influence that, it can in most cases be fixed though it may take a lot of effort...
However, THE MOST important thing (which is why we are having this discussion in the first place) is that it is not really the breastmilk itself as a food that helps prevent allergies later on it is the PHYSICAL aspect of what it does to the gut...
and THAT is why it has been PROVEN to help prevent allergies....
and THAT is also why Allergies, and the prevention of, will always remain on the list of the dangers of Formula and the benefits of exclusive breastfeeding.
Why aren't you allowed to inform people about forumla? Your job (and the nurse's job) is to give women the information they need to make a choice, right? And not telling them about the risks would be like giving them medication without letting them know what the side-effects of a drug are.
That aside...can you talk about the history of formula? The best book I ever read was 'So That's What They're For'...if I'd read that before I had my first child, formula never would have passed her lips. But it does a great job of simply informing- letting the facts speak for themselves. Ya know?
Formula doesn't "cause" the evils of this world. That's complete BS. Considering formula is only a century old and diseases have been around oh I don't know, since the beginning of time, I would say causation is not probable. May not prevent diseases, but it certainly isn't the cause of diseases. Also, the research says breastfeeding reduces xyandz. Doesn't irradicate it. So, while breastfeeding may reduce breast cancer, it doesn't protect on from getting it. It's not the cure of the world, other wise diseases would have been created in 1900 when formula was created. I get tired of hearing that breastmilk is the cure of the world. It's not.
Diseases have been around but not in the concentrations that we have now...
Think about it... if Breastfeeding helps prevent all of this list of diseases and breastfeeding is the normal way of feeding all babies then it is not normal that we have so many cases.... So yes formula is a cause for many people developing many of these diseases... it is a risk factor and it does cause too many unnessesary deaths every year....
I have NEVER said it erraticates diseases (I'm not stupid and naive) but it does reduce the chances....
Smoking causes lung cancer... not smoking helps prevent lung cancer but it doesn't mean that you won't get it...
If everyone stopped smoking though there is a good chance that there would be a lot less cases of lung Cancer... The same goes for Formula...
Formula is not a good option for feeding our young but it should be used as a LAST resort for those who really NEED it... (it is there for that reason)
No, Breastmilk won't cure the world, but it would save a lot of children (not all) from dying, and getting sick....
Formula should only be availible on prescription and parents should be informed of the side effects.
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