The La Leche League says on their website that breastfeeding is the best thing you can ever do for your child - such a comically preposterous claim I am not even sure how to comment.
Also I hate how the bar is being lifted higher and higher - it isn’t just about breastfeeding now, it has to be ‘exclusive breastfeeding.’ I didn’t have a lot of milk in the early weeks and months and felt guilty giving my daughter one bottle of formula daily. So unnecessary…
The more I spoke with mothers, the more I realized how much they felt like you, guilty for not having enough milk production, or burping their child the correct way, or even the milestones that are often associated with early childhood development. Almost everyone was trying their best and made to feel less than for some arbitrary "gold standard."
Also, working-class women used to wean their babies at 2 to 4 months. The recommendations have shifted according to people's access to clean water, innovations in baby formula, and women's liberation. As you stated, exclusive breastfeeding can be difficult or unnecessary for some people's circumstances. The data in Belarus shows that a majority of the women in the randomized trial (in BOTH the intervention and control group) did not exclusively breastfeed after 3 months.
Like many health recommendations one size and approach does not fit all. Breastfeeding mafia (so funny btw) members need to realize it’s what’s best for baby and mother which is unique to each family. Great review of the research
Someone told me that some groups promoting breastfeeding also have ties to the church and "tradwife" type orgs. Not sure if it's true as I didn't spend any time researching it, but what I do know is how stressful it was for us to not be able to fully breastfeed our first.
I don't know about the religious claim. All I can speak to are the recommendations by the World Health Organization, the CDC, and the NHS, which are publicly available for people to read. Their guidelines are based on some of the peer-reviewed scientific articles about breastfeeding. Still, as I note, and as other evidence-based science writers have indicated, some percentage differences between disease outcomes between people who breastfeed and those who do not breastfeed may not always seem significant (that is 3-4% differences in some cases). Moreover, other factors impact a child's health, including environmental and genetic factors. To reduce a baby's development, health, and safety to one factor--such as breastfeeding--can be misguided. We should advocate for giving families and their child-rearing communities the resources they need to nourish their child.
Oh yeah I agree with the facts and data, and don't think WHO CDC or NHS have any ill intent.
However I also agree with Oster that there's too many confounding factors to establish causality on things like IQ and school outcomes and yet that's what everyone tells new parents (and by everyone I include a big influencer community on social media peddling a lot of expensive "solutions"). Similar things are said about c section with similar confounding issues.
I guess given how everyone seemed to be okay with making new parents feel shitty (or at least that was our local experience), my reaction at the time was to wonder why. It may be simply misplaced good intentions, but yeah was wondering if you had heard of, or seen any kind of lobbying involved.
The La Leche League says on their website that breastfeeding is the best thing you can ever do for your child - such a comically preposterous claim I am not even sure how to comment.
Also I hate how the bar is being lifted higher and higher - it isn’t just about breastfeeding now, it has to be ‘exclusive breastfeeding.’ I didn’t have a lot of milk in the early weeks and months and felt guilty giving my daughter one bottle of formula daily. So unnecessary…
The more I spoke with mothers, the more I realized how much they felt like you, guilty for not having enough milk production, or burping their child the correct way, or even the milestones that are often associated with early childhood development. Almost everyone was trying their best and made to feel less than for some arbitrary "gold standard."
Also, working-class women used to wean their babies at 2 to 4 months. The recommendations have shifted according to people's access to clean water, innovations in baby formula, and women's liberation. As you stated, exclusive breastfeeding can be difficult or unnecessary for some people's circumstances. The data in Belarus shows that a majority of the women in the randomized trial (in BOTH the intervention and control group) did not exclusively breastfeed after 3 months.
A brave and honest piece. Thanks
Thank you for reading the piece.
Like many health recommendations one size and approach does not fit all. Breastfeeding mafia (so funny btw) members need to realize it’s what’s best for baby and mother which is unique to each family. Great review of the research
Someone told me that some groups promoting breastfeeding also have ties to the church and "tradwife" type orgs. Not sure if it's true as I didn't spend any time researching it, but what I do know is how stressful it was for us to not be able to fully breastfeed our first.
I don't know about the religious claim. All I can speak to are the recommendations by the World Health Organization, the CDC, and the NHS, which are publicly available for people to read. Their guidelines are based on some of the peer-reviewed scientific articles about breastfeeding. Still, as I note, and as other evidence-based science writers have indicated, some percentage differences between disease outcomes between people who breastfeed and those who do not breastfeed may not always seem significant (that is 3-4% differences in some cases). Moreover, other factors impact a child's health, including environmental and genetic factors. To reduce a baby's development, health, and safety to one factor--such as breastfeeding--can be misguided. We should advocate for giving families and their child-rearing communities the resources they need to nourish their child.
Oh yeah I agree with the facts and data, and don't think WHO CDC or NHS have any ill intent.
However I also agree with Oster that there's too many confounding factors to establish causality on things like IQ and school outcomes and yet that's what everyone tells new parents (and by everyone I include a big influencer community on social media peddling a lot of expensive "solutions"). Similar things are said about c section with similar confounding issues.
I guess given how everyone seemed to be okay with making new parents feel shitty (or at least that was our local experience), my reaction at the time was to wonder why. It may be simply misplaced good intentions, but yeah was wondering if you had heard of, or seen any kind of lobbying involved.