Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : View from the Center and Left -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Lane3 who wrote (13339)	2/27/2006 5:35:46 AM
From: thames_sider	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 541490

Breast milk is the best possible food for babies. There is a long list of benefits provided by breastfeeding - I noticed some posted over the maternity ward when my wife was in last year. Those included very significantly lower dispositions to later obesity, allergy and heart disease. Significant. Here's another list: babyfriendly.org.uk However for neonates bottle-feeding is somewhat easier to pick up, since it requires less effort, and it's also simpler for an inexperienced mother. And once adapted - imprinted - on a bottle, it is immensely hard to convert a baby back to breastfeeding; even if the mother's milk has not dried up, a baby fed from a bottle for a few days will generally not have developed the responses and actions which work on the breast and so will not feed adequately and happily. So a few little free samples renders the baby unable to feed on its best and most natural food. It's the breast milk that's genuinely free: the 'sample' provided by the commercial company hooks the baby and it's hardly a willing or intelligent consumer capable of knowing what's best. IMO you picked a poor cause, for formula milk for newborns is a particularly invidious and damaging product. Hospitals are absolutely right to do nothing to promote it. It would be similar to them welcoming in Philip Morris to hand out free starter packs of Marlboro for stress relief.