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September 05, 2007
It's Official
Not only does the government put corporate profits ahead of your health, it puts corporate profits ahead of your baby's health. This article from the Washington Post details how federal officials toned back the content of breastfeeding advocacy ads several years ago (I don't know that they were fantastic to begin with, but we can discuss that at length later) and officials were also pressured to not publicize statistics showing fewer childhood illnesses among breastfed babies. More discussion here.
You knew that formula was manufactured by some of the wealthiest, most politically connected companies on the planet (including Big Pharma), but did you really think they felt so threatened by the message that Breast is Best that they had to play dirty?
And here's some more great stuff compliments of the Motherwear Breastfeeding Blog, about how your maternity nurse may have been bought off to push formula on you. Wake up, people. Breastfeeding is part of motherhood. Formula is necessary in some situations for the health of mother and baby, absolutely, but it should not be the norm, and it should not be pushed for the sake of corporate profits when ALL the facts point to the fact that this "choice" has long-term health consequences for children.
/rant.
A Quick Addendum...
If there were a pill that you could take once your baby was born that would:
•Help speed your post-partum recovery
•Help you lose weight
•Reduce your risk of postpartum depression
•Significantly reduce your risk of breast and cervical cancer
•Keep you from menstruating for up to 20 months
•Significantly reduce your baby's risk of diabetes
•Reduce your baby's risk of female cancers
•Strengthen your baby's immune system and reduce the risk of ear and respiratory infections
•Aid your baby's brain development
Would you take it? Wouldn't you expect your doctor to be strongly encouraging you to take that pill? The problem is, no one has figured out how to make very much money on that particular pill. Well, except for maybe the Boppy people.
Posted by mwashburn at September 5, 2007 06:43 AMPosted to Culture & Politics | mommyhood