Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. was a physician who became a well-regarded American poet in the 19th century. I can tell he was a smart man just by this quote from one of his books:
We are willing to give Liebig’s artificial milk when we cannot do better, but we watch the child anxiously whose wet-nurse is a chemist’s pipkin. A pair of substantial mammary glands has the advantage over the two hemispheres of the most learned Professor’s brain, in the art of compounding a nutritious fluid for infants.

– Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (1809-1894), p. 276 of Medical Essays
A “pipkin” is a …read more

Welcome Blog Action Day and Carnival of Breastfeeding readers! As thousands of bloggers around the world reflect on the topic of poverty, Breastfeeding 1-2-3 and other breastfeeding carnival participants (see links at the end of this post) are discussing poverty as it relates to the topic of breastfeeding.
Myths about Breastfeeding and Poverty
1. Myth: If a breastfeeding woman is malnourished due to poverty, she should be told to wean and be given formula for her baby.

Are you participating in the Nestle-Free Week starting today, October 4, 2008? For more on the why and how of the Nestle Boycott and Nestle-Free Week in particular, visit Baby Milk Action’s Nestle-Free Week planning page.

Baby Milk Action is planning Nestle-Free Week surrounding this coming October 4, 2008. For more on the why, when and how of the Nestle Boycott and Nestle-Free Week in particular, visit Baby Milk Action’s Nestle-Free Week planning page.

An article newly published in Maternal and Child Nutrition discusses the flaws of the “breast is best” promotional message that many of us favored in a recent poll. According to a ScienceAlert piece, one of the article authors, doctoral student Nina Berry, argues that the “breast is best” message is misleading and fails to communicate the importance of breastfeeding:
“In fact, these messages may have obscured the importance of breastfeeding to infant and maternal health and the well-established risks associated with early weaning from breastfeeding,” Ms Berry said. “To say that ‘breast is best’ is to suggest that what breastfeeding offers …read more

Sixty-four percent of 111 voters said their most recent or only child had only had breast milk and had never had any artificial milk. That left 36% of voters whose child has had at least some artificial milk at some point. Here is the complete breakdown:

Special shout-out to the 11 percent of voters who started off supplementing with formula and made a successful transition to exclusive breastfeeding!
Please vote in the new poll!

Perhaps the formula industry never heard the phrase, “Don’t mess with Mother Nature.” In an attempt to market artificial milk as “closer to breast milk” and “closest to human milk,” formula companies developed DHA and ARA fatty acid additives. Those additives are made from fermented algae and fungus, and require the use of hexane (a neurotoxin) in the manufacturing process. Now the Cornucopia Institute has released a report detailing the 98 complaints filed with the FDA by parents and physicians who observed adverse reactions in infants fed the DHA/ARA formula. The complaints involved cases of diarrhea, vomiting, severe dehydration, and …read more

Can I trust you all to play nicely? Let’s have a frank discussion about breast milk, formula, and whether or not you consider breastfeeding an “all-or-nothing” proposition (for the record, I think exclusive breastfeeding is wonderful but breastfeeding does not have to be all-or-nothing. It’s not a club. It’s not a contest. Some breast milk is better than all formula. If a mother is worried about milk supply, I hope she seeks the help of a lactation consultant or La Leche League leader, and considers whether supplementation is truly necessary). Keep in mind, it’s all about the baby (and sometimes …read more

Is breast milk better than formula, or is formula inferior to breast milk? Is breastfeeding the best, and formula-feeding second choice? Or should we consider breastfeeding the norm, and formula-feeding as substandard? There are lots of ways to frame the debate. Some are aggressive. Some might make formula-feeding mothers feel bad. So what’s the best way to advocate breastfeeding to pregnant women, new mothers, and the public in general?
{democracy:39}

My hat is off to Hathor the Cow Goddess for putting together this fantastic parable about breastfeeding and the formula marketing industry. Hat tip as well to Tanya at the Motherwear Breastfeeding Blog for bringing it to my attention! Enjoy “The Zoops Movie”!