The formula industry is exploitative, predatory and deceptive. Their marketing is full of lies and omission of facts and they don't list the risks on the packaging. Women struggle with breastfeeding because we don't have paid leave, we don't have enough support and we pretend that formula is 'fine' when in fact it increases the risk of illness and death for mother and baby. When a substitute is actually required, a wealthy country like the US needs to have more screened milk available. The risks of formula mean that how we feed our babies is not just a lifestyle choice.
It’s hard enough when you’re postpartum to process straightforward information. I agree that the facts should not be hidden or obfuscated.
I think saying “just a lifestyle choice“ is a little bit dismissive of the lived experience of individual moms. It suggests people are choosing formula so they can kick their feet up and have a spa day. I don’t know a single mother for whom that was the case. I know many who were wracked with guilt and formula was a last resort, people who wanted to breast-feed but had emergency C-sections and their milk never came, people whose mental health was going sideways and for whom the sleep deprivation of night feeds was making it worse.
I really appreciate the work you are doing to advocate on behalf of mothers and babies against very loud and well-funded voices. But implicit in what you wrote is the idea that parents are choosing formula versus breast-feeding in a vacuum. In reality, the choice quite often is formula versus an under-nourished baby, or an unemployed mother. As you note, we need systemic changes, but in the interim we need choice without shame.
We should be transparent about the risks, which on a relative scale are small. I think it’s similar to a lot of the decisions parents make every day where they trade varying levels of risk so their kids can have a full life or benefit the overall family unit.
For example, my mom let me ride to school with another high school student in the mornings because she had four little kids to get to a different school. Undoubtedly riding with a teenage driver was a riskier choice, but I wanted to do it and it worked for the rest of our family.
All choices involve tradeoffs and I think it’s important that moms are empowered to weigh those and make their own decisions.
Informed choice is choice. Most women are not informed of the risks of formula because it is always phrased as 'the benefits of breastfeeding'. This positions formula as the baseline for human health and what's normal, and positions breastfeeding as an optional bonus like a supplement. Instead we need to re-phrase the language to the risks of formula. In focus groups this language increases the number of women who want to breastfeed. Wanting to breastfeed and being willing to put in the time to overcome challenges (whenever possible) is necessary to success.
Many women look at how they feed their babies as a lifestyle choice because they don't know the risks and because they are not supported. There's no judgement in that. 'Formula is fine' is a common misconception and if a mother believes that, as many do, it is just a lifestyle choice. There are no real consequences.
According to WHO 1-2% of women don't make any or enough milk (in the US it may be higher but even at 10% we are still not hitting anywhere near 90%). However, in the US on 83% initiate and that number drops to 25% exclusively breastfeeding at 6 months. During Covid breastfeeding rates increased - because mothers were at home and there was a formula recall. So, many women are not breastfeeding for reasons that don't have to do with physical barriers.
Supported choice is choice. Women have little to no support. How can a woman who has no paid leave be expected to have the time to learn to breastfeed and succeed long term? How can a woman who's never breastfed and never seen anyone breastfeeding know how to breastfeed? I don't call this choice. It's exploitation.
The notion of choice is a formula industry marketing tactic to make women feel empowered, independent and modern.
Also, the risks of formula are not calculated on 100% breastfed vs 100% formula fed - if they were, the risks would look much worse (see substack post). Women deserve the truth and support in order to make actual choices.
The formula industry is exploitative, predatory and deceptive. Their marketing is full of lies and omission of facts and they don't list the risks on the packaging. Women struggle with breastfeeding because we don't have paid leave, we don't have enough support and we pretend that formula is 'fine' when in fact it increases the risk of illness and death for mother and baby. When a substitute is actually required, a wealthy country like the US needs to have more screened milk available. The risks of formula mean that how we feed our babies is not just a lifestyle choice.
It’s hard enough when you’re postpartum to process straightforward information. I agree that the facts should not be hidden or obfuscated.
I think saying “just a lifestyle choice“ is a little bit dismissive of the lived experience of individual moms. It suggests people are choosing formula so they can kick their feet up and have a spa day. I don’t know a single mother for whom that was the case. I know many who were wracked with guilt and formula was a last resort, people who wanted to breast-feed but had emergency C-sections and their milk never came, people whose mental health was going sideways and for whom the sleep deprivation of night feeds was making it worse.
I really appreciate the work you are doing to advocate on behalf of mothers and babies against very loud and well-funded voices. But implicit in what you wrote is the idea that parents are choosing formula versus breast-feeding in a vacuum. In reality, the choice quite often is formula versus an under-nourished baby, or an unemployed mother. As you note, we need systemic changes, but in the interim we need choice without shame.
We should be transparent about the risks, which on a relative scale are small. I think it’s similar to a lot of the decisions parents make every day where they trade varying levels of risk so their kids can have a full life or benefit the overall family unit.
For example, my mom let me ride to school with another high school student in the mornings because she had four little kids to get to a different school. Undoubtedly riding with a teenage driver was a riskier choice, but I wanted to do it and it worked for the rest of our family.
All choices involve tradeoffs and I think it’s important that moms are empowered to weigh those and make their own decisions.
Informed choice is choice. Most women are not informed of the risks of formula because it is always phrased as 'the benefits of breastfeeding'. This positions formula as the baseline for human health and what's normal, and positions breastfeeding as an optional bonus like a supplement. Instead we need to re-phrase the language to the risks of formula. In focus groups this language increases the number of women who want to breastfeed. Wanting to breastfeed and being willing to put in the time to overcome challenges (whenever possible) is necessary to success.
Many women look at how they feed their babies as a lifestyle choice because they don't know the risks and because they are not supported. There's no judgement in that. 'Formula is fine' is a common misconception and if a mother believes that, as many do, it is just a lifestyle choice. There are no real consequences.
According to WHO 1-2% of women don't make any or enough milk (in the US it may be higher but even at 10% we are still not hitting anywhere near 90%). However, in the US on 83% initiate and that number drops to 25% exclusively breastfeeding at 6 months. During Covid breastfeeding rates increased - because mothers were at home and there was a formula recall. So, many women are not breastfeeding for reasons that don't have to do with physical barriers.
Supported choice is choice. Women have little to no support. How can a woman who has no paid leave be expected to have the time to learn to breastfeed and succeed long term? How can a woman who's never breastfed and never seen anyone breastfeeding know how to breastfeed? I don't call this choice. It's exploitation.
The notion of choice is a formula industry marketing tactic to make women feel empowered, independent and modern.
Also, the risks of formula are not calculated on 100% breastfed vs 100% formula fed - if they were, the risks would look much worse (see substack post). Women deserve the truth and support in order to make actual choices.