The Power of Breast feeding

    As part of my current career I have a professional obligation to inform newly pregnant and young parents about the power of breast milk. It is easier said then done, however, in today's world people are taken aback by the idea of actually breastfeeding their children. In the modern culture breasts are seen as a sexual item, therefore completely off limits for providing any type of nutritional value to their potential offspring. During the infant nutrition section of my course, I make sure to point out the long list of benefits and the extremely short draw-backs to breastfeeding. I also like to make it know to my students that there are not just two choices: to breastfeed or to formula feed. There are actually three choices with the third being to choose to bottle feed-breast milk. This is the feeding selection I chose when I had my son last summer. I  understood the limitless value of my motherly "liquid GOLD," yet wanted to ensure my preemie child was getting the correct amount of food during each feeding. I also wanted my husband to have to ability to bond with our son through feeding him. It is widely understood that mothers create this unmatched bond with their children through the prenatal period and even more bonding happens during the closeness of breastfeeding. I knew my husband couldn't breastfeed or grow our baby, so the next best thing is to allow him to participate in the nurturing of our son through bottle feeding breast milk. I clearly remember when I had successfully pumped a minimal 6 ounces of this " liquid GOLD" and when I was going to put the nipple of the bottle I spilt it down the sink drain. After that horrible situation, I also remember having a complete break down, it felt like everything I had work so hard for had literally went down the drain, I cried for about 30 minutes. I had to regroup, wipe my tears, and start pumping again- I knew this was the only thing my son was getting to eat and crying wasn't going to feed him. I tell my students this story, of course they laugh at my melt down, but they see the relevance and connection between stories. It lets them see that even though I am an adult, married, have a career, and all this supportive family- I too need help, I too have moments of helplessness and fear. It is suggested to all new parents to at least feed their children breast milk during the first two months of life, normally that two months is the during the 6-8 week recovery time, so it's a little easier to manage. I understand the struggle with wanted to breastfeed and not having the proper environment to pump or breastfeed in. Luckily, I was off over the summer when I had my son, so I was able to breastfeed for about four months, but when school started back up in August I was overwhelmed with the idea of being trapped in a "closet" to pump every two hours. I eventually had to switch to formula for convenience issues, but I know I gave my son the best start by at least feeding him breast milk for those 4 months.
 When doing research on breastfeeding in other countries Africa kept popping up. Africa has a "double edged sword" effect when regarding breastfeeding. According to WHO and UNICEF, Africa  has the highest AIDS/HIV percentage in the world, unfortunately they also have one of the worst water filtration systems. Breastfeeding is a cultural tradition in most countries of Africa, however formula feeding is on the raise. Formula feeding is gaining popularity in African villages and cities as a sign of status, only those that have money are able to purchase the high-priced breast milk substitute. Regardless of the income status of the person purchasing the formula, the water used to make the formula is still the same. In the 1970's Nestle was put on trial for providing mothers in third world countries with formula that was less nutritious and more expensive then breast milk, but marketed as "better than the real thing." "The Baby Killer," which was a booklet published by War on Want organization in 1974 was a compete whistle blower on the formula scandal. The booklet accused Nestle of getting families "hooked" on the milk substitute in three ways:

1. Creating a need where none existed. 
2. Convincing consumers the products were indispensable. 
3. Linking products with the most desirable and unattainable concepts—then giving a sample.

    Unfortunately, the exact opposite was happening in the North America and Europe, researchers were proving that breastfeeding was on the rise and that it was much healthier and nutritious for babies. This switch effect is what caused companies like Nestle to start a gorilla style marketing style of targeting the less educated, struggling, women wanted to transcend their income ceiling. Even still today, new mothers strangely start receiving formula samples in the mail soon after their first OBGYN visit, regardless of HIPPA laws personal information seems to get out to big producing companies. The big issue in third world countries such as Africa is that one cannot clearly side one way or the other. If a doctor says breastfeeding is the best, that mother may have AIDS/HIV and now the child is at extreme risk of contracting (if he/she doesn't already have the disease) or if the doctor suggests formula the water most likely is tainted which can also lead to malnutrition and/or death of the child.
  Just like anything dealing with your children, it is a personal choice to breastfeed or not. In countries like the United States, where there are not normally any water filtration issues of disease outbreak, it is suggested to breastfeed or bottle feed breast milk your children for at least the first 2 months of life. However, in third world areas of Africa, Asia, or Latin America it is suggested to go with doctor recommendation regarding feeding children, there are too many variables and possible issues related to each specific area that it really depends on each child/family situation.

Reference:
Kuhn, L., & Stein, Z. (1997). Infant Survival, HIV Infection, and Feeding Alternatives in Less-Developed Countries.           American Journal Of Public Health,87(6), 926-931.

Martucci, W. C., & Coverdale, B. (2001). A STATE LAW TRENDS AFFECTING BREAST-FEEDING AT WORK. Employment Relations Today (Wiley), 28(2), 111-121.

Tzuriel, D., & Weller, L. (1986). Social and Psychological Determinants of Breast-Feeding and bottle-Feeding Mothers. Basic & Applied Social Psychology, 7(2), 85-100.