Breastfeeding

Breastfeeding? Bottle feeding? A mixture of both? Should probably leave it to the parents and their doctor — what the internet at large thinks is irrelevant.

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Breastfeeding is part of the wondrous, natural, healing, nurturing world of mother Earth exclusive to the God-blessed humans and other inferior mammals. If you don't exert your God-given responsibility to breastfeed your baby, you are an evil child-abusing devil monster. However, if you do breast feed in public, you are a pervert-creating trouble-maker.^[1]

In reality, breastfeeding, which is common to all mammals^{[note 1]} is simply mothers lactating and babies drinking milk from their mother. It is a praiseworthy practice, but not obligatory in humans. In some very specific cases (for medical or psychological reasons), it is not advised to breastfeed and shaming mothers who don't is a pretty bad way to deal with the issue.

Impacts[edit]

The debate on the topic of "breastfeeding vs bottle feeding" has been going on since at least Victorian times. Parenting books examining the positives and negatives of maternal breastfeeding, wet nursing, and bottle feeding have been published as far back as the 1860s.^[2] Unfortunately, science has a bit of a hard time giving a definitive answer on the issue one way or the other due to two reasons:

• Ideally, a good study needs to be randomised and double blinded to eliminate interfering variables. This isn't actually possible in the real world when it comes to breastfeeding, obviously; we can hardly take a big group of young mothers, split them fifty/fifty, and then randomly assign them breastfeeding or bottle feeding without any of them knowing about it. That's just not realistic. So most studies on breastfeeding are observational as opposed to being truly experimental.^[3]
• The longer a study goes on to examine the benefits of breastfeeding, the more confounding variables are introduced. There are plenty of papers that have been published in which the subjects of the study have been tracked from birth into adulthood to determine the impact of breastfeeding on their lives. 5-year studies, 10-year studies, 30-year studies — they all suffer from the same problem. Who is to say, 30 years into a study, that the breastfeeding group has a stronger immune system (or better income, lower cholesterol levels, higher IQ, whatever) because of breastfeeding and nothing else. THAT would be a very bold claim to make, implying that every other factor has been accounted for — a claim that's rather dubious.^[4]

With all that said, breastmilk does seem to be a bit better than formula, containing antibodies and micronutrients that formula doesn't have, while also promoting bonding between mother and child. Most health agencies around the world recommend 6 months of nothing but breast milk before other foods are introduced into a baby's diet.^[5][6][7]

Benefits[edit]

Studies have shown that babies who are breastfed for longer are more likely to reach adulthood,^[8] are less likely to become obese,^[9] and have slightly higher cognitive development.^[10] One long-term study on about 3500 subjects showed on average a significantly higher IQ score (3.76 points) and length of education (almost a year) at the age of 30 for those who had been breastfed for more than twelve months compared to those with less than one month, after confounders have been accounted for. The monthly income of the breastfed group was also higher, though this is attributed mostly to the higher IQ score.^[11]

Though how convincing these studies are is up for debate. One long-term study on siblings by Cynthia G. Colen and David M. Ramey concluded that the supposed 'benefits' of breastfeeding may be primarily due to selection pressures into infant feeding practices along key demographic characteristics such as race and socioeconomic status.^[12] One notable meta-analysis stated that "There was no relationship between breastfeeding in term infants and cognitive performance."^[13] A 2006 paper suggested that breastfeeding does not play much of a factor in a child's intelligence, finding instead that it is much more strongly correlated to maternal intelligence.^{[14][note 2]}

The correlation between breastfeeding and desirable health outcomes might be a result of confounding factors: people who are more intelligent also tend to be more educated, and folks with more intelligence tend to be more aware of the benefits of breastfeeding. Also, more intelligent people tend to be better off financially, and (at least in the US) while the government offers some financial assistance to needy mothers for bottle feeding, it does not offer assistance for breastfeeding (pumps, nipple shields, etc.).

Mothers who breastfeed are less likely to develop certain forms of cancer and diabetes,^[16] and breastfeeding makes post-partum problems and complications less likely, making part of the post-partum recovery process easier.

Dr. David Meyers, the director of the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, pointed out that six women would have to breastfeed exclusively for six months to prevent one ear infection.^[17]

Dangers[edit]

The breastmilk may contain certain substances that the mother ingests; in certain quantities, these may harm the child. For instance, caffeine, alcohol, and mercury are known to pass through. Likewise, certain medication or illnesses of the mother can harm the child through the breastmilk. It is recommended that mothers seek medical advice in these cases before they breastfeed.

For HIV-positive mothers, there is conflicting indications as to how dangerous breastfeeding may be to their child. In general, it is recommended to use alternative breastfeeding or formula, if they can be used.

Breastmilk that is purchased over the internet may contain high levels of microbial contamination, reflecting "poor collection, storage, or shipping practices", and putting the exposed infants at risk.^[18] Another study by the same authors found that 10% of internet breastmilk was contaminated with cows' milk.^[19]

The Breastapo is coming to take you away[edit]

Oh my gosh! This baby is being abused!^{Do You Believe That?}
(Maybe if we replace the milk with Heineken?)

"Lactivism"^{[note 3]} is an apparent portmanteau of "lactate" and "activism" used to describe the (often sensible) advocacy of breastfeeding in contrast to bottle feeding. Its main focus is on promoting the health benefits associated with breast milk and with attempting to counteract discrimination that nursing mothers can face at work. While these aims are certainly noble, the rhetoric sometimes used by lactivists can border on bullying and emotional abuse.

Many people have an idealised version of what motherhood is like, but the truth is that being a mom is pretty fricking hard. Breastfeeding isn't this lovely, effortless thing that all mothers can perform with no hassle. It's an exhausting and painful experience,^[21] especially for people who suffer from an aversion response^[22] or postpartum depression.^[23] The stress placed upon these mothers is enormous and exacerbates feelings of guilt and inadequacy, which can lead to a severe deterioration in their mental health.

Lactivist Harassment[edit]

There have been some instances of truly absurd, upsetting, and in some cases dangerous lactivist harassment. The classic example is that of Emily Wax-Thibodeaux, a breast cancer survivor who had to have a thorough double mastectomy. When she told the lactation consultants that she was physically incapable of lactating, they suggested she try to produce milk through her armpits.^[24]

Tara Blanchard related how she was on an anti-tumour medication that completely suppressed prolactin, which is essential for producing breast milk. Again, she was bullied, painfully physically handled, and pressured to produce milk that she was physically incapable of producing.^[25]

Another woman reported how, when her baby was jaundiced and screaming, nurses still refused to provide formula — rather than leave the baby to starve, the parents resorted to smuggling the formula into the hospital.^[20]

But it's not just individuals who create this atmosphere of bullying. Government officials also play their part. As Courtney Jung, author of Lactivism: How Feminists and Fundamentalists, Hippies and Yuppies, and Physicians and Politicians Made Breastfeeding Big Business and Bad Policy, pointed out:^[26]

When lactivism kills[edit]

The Virgin Mary deploying her anti-monk defence system, 12^th century CE.

At the more extreme ends, lactivism and the mania for breastfeeding can kill. Florence Leung killed herself during an episode of postpartum depression, which her husband says was exacerbated by the pressure to breastfeed.^[27] Babies have died from malnutrition because their mothers did not know that their breastmilk was insufficient.^[28] Mothers in Africa with HIV have been pressured to breastfeed, even though breastfeeding could transmit the virus to their babies, and between 4.9-7.35 million babies have been infected as a direct result of breastfeeding.^[29]

Goodness gracious! Have some modesty![edit]

In contrast to the "all natural super moms" who berate women for not breastfeeding, there is the giant cohort of conservative folk who seem to think that breastfeeding in public is akin to being a prostitute. According to them, the act of feeding your kid in public is an inherently indecent and salacious act^[31] that must be punished by law,^[32] lest the critical mass of exposed nipples brings about the downfall of our civilization. How hurling abuse at young moms breastfeeding in public places is acceptable, well, that's never really explained.^[33] One might think that religiosity plays a role in people's attitudes regarding "public decency", but this argument doesn't stand up to scrutiny: Are we not all perfectly made by the Abrahamic God? Surely these people are not saying that He made a mistake?^[34] Indeed, in Mediaeval times (when Christianity was an even more pervasive factor in shaping people's attitudes in Europe), breastfeeding was seen as a miracle, something to be celebrated.^[30] No less a religious authority than Pope Francis himself has deemed it okay to breastfeed in public, and we sure as hell ain't gonna argue with him!^[35] Not on this issue, anyway.

Breastfeeding benefits the public in numerous ways — and if members of the public truly want what's best for society, they should support moms as much as possible.^[36] Come on, leave the kid alone; he's hungry.

Woo[edit]

• It has been claimed that breastfeeding is essential for bio-psycho-spiritual-health.^[37] This has not been substantiated by research.^{[citation NOT needed]}
• Another thing that has not been substantiated by research? "Lactation cookies." Women who struggle with breastmilk production are often desperate for a solution and are willing to try anything. "Lactation cookies" are just normal cookies, however. Whether they are of the home-baked variety or of the very expensive store bought kind, there is absolutely no evidence to back up the claim that eating cookies improves lactation.^[38][39] Anyone who say otherwise is arguing by assertion.
• If you're a fan of alternative medicine (or trying to avoid pharmaceuticals because you're, you know, breastfeeding), there is evidence that fenugreek can increase the production of breast milk.^[40] It's probably not as tasty as the "lactation cookies", though.
• Some people seem to think that it's okay to breastfeed your baby after drinking alcohol provided you "pump and dump" your first batch of breastmilk. Alas, alcohol stays in the bloodstream too long for that to work.^[41] So save that Vodka Red Bull for later.

External links[edit]

• Advocacy Group: Mothers Have Right To Expose Milk-Engorged Breasts In Public, The Onion News Network

Notes[edit]

References[edit]