There is absolutely no debate that breastfeeding babies is best.
It is healthier for the mother (lowers breast cancer rates).
It is MUCH healthier for the child (fewer ear infections, higher IQ, etc).
It is better for the environment (fewer plastic bottles, throwaway formula cans etc)
It is also better for society (babies who are breastfed have fewer doctor bills which lowers insurance costs for us all)
Only about half of all American babies born are breastfed for even a few weeks.
If formula were available only by perscription, than those who really need it could get it. Women who have real health problems that prevent them from breastfeeding, or who are on medication that would be transmitted in the milk, or who adopted the baby would all have access to formula.
But women who either don’t know better, or haven’t tried hard would be forced to make a real attempt to breastfeed their babies. Lactation consultants would have to be widely available and free of charge. If the lactation consultant declared that the woman couldn’t breastfeed for some reason, then a formula perscription would be granted.
This would improve the health of women, the health and IQ of babies, help the environment, and lower health care costs. I even suspect it would slightly lower the child abuse rate by forming closer bonds between mother and child (though this is of course supposition)
Great idea. I mean, no nursing mother ever has to go to work, or school, and they certainly never want to sleep through the night. And of course, everyone has a good quality breastpump and the time to use it. Everyone also has the time to go to a doctor the minute they get a health problem, since we know doctors are available at all hours and your two month old won’t mind waiting until tomorrow to eat.:rolleyes:
All things being equal, breast is best. This is rarely the case, however, and forcing people to breastfeed when they won’t or can’t for various reasons puts undue stress on the mother/child relationship and can cause alot of damage.
Bottle feeding can be a good alternative to breastfeeding, even thiugh I freely admit to coming down heavily on the side of Breastfeeding. If the formula companies "ChoughNEstlecough* weren’t so corrupt when it came to their formula practises, they would have more support for what they do.
I don’t think that the plastic bottles add too much onto the environmental waste list considering that bottles are extremely reusable.
After all, the purpose of having something availble only by perscription is that in people for whom it is not medically necessary, it could do more harm than good.
This is true for many narcotics, heart medication, and baby formula.
Some women simply do not make enough milk for nursing to be an option. So, already humiliated by the idea that she won’t be a “real” mom, she now has to “prove” her lack of milk to a medical professional in order to feed formula?
Some babies will never latch on properly. Sometimes the mothers can pump and feed, but not always.
Oh, and by the way, how about a cite for the “half of all American babies born aren’t breastfed” statement?
PS- some women don’t know better or don’t try hard enough? Huh? Breast feeding is the most natural thing in the world, you don’t need a college education to figure out that the baby should eat that stuff seeping out of your nipples! As for not trying hard enough, please see above.
And corvidae is right about possible damage when you force a woman to nurse. There is nothing more frustrating in this world than trying to nurse a baby who (for whatever reason) cannot or will not cooperate, or trying as hard as you can, with no results.
I’m on medication-I probably couldn’t breastfeed. (I don’t even know what my doctor will tell me if I ever have children in the future.)
BTW, my sister had such severe allergies, as well as being lactose intolerant, that she had to have a kind of formula that WAS only available by prescription. And it was pretty damn expensive-my mom was able to get WIC for it.
well, of course, forcing breastfeeding onto a mother was choosing a different method, would naturally make for a much more positive relationship… how???
and, will also second the comments about laying a serious guilt trip onto a mom who, for whatever reason, cannot/will not be able to breastfeed.
I’d recommend to you to tread very carefully about mandating what **you ** think is ‘best’ for some one else’s child. that is indeed a slippery slope.
(aside as to harm from formula - there is data about formula fed babies being harmed, generally happened when inadequate amounts of formula and incorrect instructions were given, for example when formula was sent to third world nations and mom’s thought watering it down was a good idea)
Steel or aluminium cans aren’t recyclable then? - OK, a certain amount of energy is used in manufacturing the product, so I suppose you’ll have to win that point, but only if you’re happy to relinquish all of your non-essential consumer items too.
Now the real objection:
I have two living children; with both of them we wanted to avoid formula, but due to huge problems (the details of which I won’t bore you with, but suffice it to say that we tried as hard as I believe is reasonably possible) and serious weight loss and dehydration in the infants, we caved and used formula; I don’t think it would have helped in either case if we had added (at least) several hours to the delay while we drag a doctor out of bed to approve what is essentially the only choice we had.
Sooooo, the main objections so far seem to be: It’s hard. It’s very hard for some people.
Yes, it’s hard. I personally hard a terrible time nursing my first child. In coutries where formula isn’t an option over 99% of babies nurse. So almost all difficulties can be overcome. In the rest of cases, a perscription can be had.
(P.S. cite for statistics on how many women breastfeed, http://www.kellymom.com/bf-numbers.html, 64% do it in the hospital, the percent drops to less than 30% by 6 months)
When I say it causes harm, I refer to the loss of so many benefits. The harm is in more food allergies, most colds, lowere IQ, etc.
No, not just hard; impossible in some cases - I have reason to believe that we would have been holding a dead baby if we had carried on trying. How close we came to finding that out, I don’t know, certainly it was a good thing that we were able to obtain formula without delay.
In (unnamed) countries where formula ‘isn’t an option’, I’d wager that infant mortality is higher (although of course not necessarily entirely due to problems with feeding).
And baby food, too. After all, it just encourages women to wean their babies too soon. All babies should be breastfed until they have teeth. So in the rare cases where baby food needs to be used, a doctor’s prescription should be required.
And soap should require a prescription, since it can cause dry skin, and coffee is obviously a drug, and no one needs sugar, and with the way Americans eat in general, any portion of food over 800 calories should require a prescription too!
And let’s put all the smokers in jail, and make it illegal to call people names.
You think formula is expensive now?
And I love the idea of a doctor dictating my choice in feeding my child.
And I love the idea of sick mothers breastfeeding ANYWAY, just because they can’t afford to pay a doctor for that prescription.
And I just adore the idea of a baby starving because a mother can’t afford to go to a doctor to get a prescription for formula but she’s not producing enough to feed her baby.
Sense my sarcasm?
Congratulations, Autz, for overcoming your problem with breastfeeding. I’m sure you worked just as hard as I did. Unfortunately for me, my baby quickly became undernourished. Luckily I had insurance at the time, went to the doctor, and was told to supplement breastmilk with formula.
This is a crazy argument, no offense. When shall we line up for our prescriptions of Diet Pepsi? After all, some unsuspecting child might pick it up and be contaminated by nutrasweet.
I thought about asking for a cite indicating that IQ means anything at all, but then the horror of it dawned on me: my children may never join MENSA, oh the shame.
What in particular is it about breastfeeding that brings out the fascist in people? We’ve had three kids, and fortunately breastfeeding worked out for us, but I’ve been constantly amazed at how ridiculously over-the-top the BoobNazis get. Even seemingly normal parenting magazines have ads not only advocating breastfeeding long past any medical benefit ends but even trying to make mothers feel guilty about not breastfeeding five (5!) year-olds.
I’ve found that people who wouldn’t ordinarily give you the time of day or tell you to pick the spinach out of your teeth have endless amounts of crappy advice about three things: getting engaged/married, having kids, and breastfeeding (activities which many of my relatives start all in the same weekend sometimes).
Here’s a tip: ANY time you find yourself giving advice on any of these points beyond “Congratulations!” on any of these topics to someone whose middle name you do not know, do the world a favor and shut the hell up.
"And I love the idea of sick mothers breastfeeding ANYWAY, just because they can’t afford to pay a doctor for that prescription.
And I just adore the idea of a baby starving because a mother can’t afford to go to a doctor to get a prescription for formula but she’s not producing enough to feed her baby. "
I already said lactation consultants would be free and widely available and could give out the perscriptions.
If you’re worried about cost, the overall cost would be much lower because most women would breastfeed (free) instead of formula feed (many hundreds of dollars a year). This is especially relevant since women who formula feed tend to be less educated, younger, and poorer. (cite: http://www.pediatrics.org/cgi/content/full/99/4/e12)
And who’s going to pay for that? The state governments? The Feds? Are you going to mandate that there has to be one in every neighborhood, or just within 50 miles?
Not to mention, to issue a prescription you have to have a valid license and you have to go to med school too. Are you going to change the rules for formula prescription, or are you advocating a fleet of doctors available nationwide for free 24-7? And . . .