The opposition

Why I think it's so important that breastfeeding activists be ACTIVISTS and speak out against the underhanded tactics of formula manufacturers, and why we need to start being a lot more intentional and strategic in our efforts to eliminate their undermining of our children's health.

Moms Feeding Freedom - Feeding Your Baby

Don't see a problem with anything on that site? How about this: it's owned by the International Formula Council. Hidden agenda, anyone? Don't believe me? It's right there in the first sentence of their "who we are" page:

MomsFeedingFreedom.com was made possible by a grant from the International Formula Council.

The editing of the site is attributed to a woman named Kate Kahn, who they make no bones about having no lactation expertise - she's a journalist. And from the statements given as "facts" given on that site (especially common sense reasons women don't breastfeed, which are almost all lack of education issues not physiological ones), not a very good one. Not that I've been overly impressed with the quality of journalism lately while watching the presidential campaign news and seeing several candidates be totally ignored while getting a decent percentage of votes in early primaries and caucuses. No, the news never creates the story. Never.

But, of course, women need a "Guilt-Free Zone" when she's "not able" to breastfeed her baby. And yes, they DO go so far as to say:

[A]ccording to the Mayo Clinic, while "breast milk is best, formula-feeding is perfectly acceptable. Sometimes exclusive breast-feeding isn't possible or practical. Until age 1, formula-feeding is the next best choice." [emphasis added]

Funny, the World Health Organization and others disagree. Formula is the fourth best choice. First being milk directly from mother's breast, THEN mother's milk pumped, THIRDLY the milk of another human mother. Commercially prepared artificial baby milks just out-rank homebrews of various concoctions of things like goat's milk and honey (which some argue are actually better for the child and funny enough there hasn't been much research to prove either side correct).


That website was written extremely strategically. Lactivists need to really start returning the favor. The "who we are" would give you the impression that the two women organizing this site are breastfeeding activists. You need nothing more than their own words in print and some critical thinking skills to see how much undermining they're actually doing. Then add to it that they're doing it for pay and what do you have? What I have are questions about what these two women's definitions of "successful breastfeeding" are - and a guess that it's breastfeeding that winds up with the baby on a bottle of formula at least part-time before it's first birthday. They'd lose their paychecks otherwise.