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ROFL Song, so TRUW!!!

I’m glad to read yet another person is so keen… I’m really glad you took the time to read the post. (Btw, that is totally disgusting about the worm in the powdered formula. Ugh! :P)

As for acquiring milk from human milk banks… One of my dreams is that breastfeeding becomes so widespread (as it should be, given that it is the BIOLOGICAL NORM) that cooperative human milk banks which give milk FREELY to whatever baby that needs it, be set up all over the country… As a public service.

Right now, Prolacta has set up a bunch of milk DEPOTS all over the country that it calls milk “banks,” but those DON’T actually distribute milk to needy babies. They take, take, take milk donations to process and resell the milk for a HUGE profit. Very scummy, in addition to tarnishing the reputation of legitimate milk banks (which nowadays are known as HMBANA milk banks)…

As of right now, the most affordable way to get donor milk is to go through MilkShare and find a human milk donor directly, which means the only thing a recipient pays for is the cost of transporting the milk (if applicable). The second most affordable option is to pay $3.50/ounce for pasteurized human milk from a HMBANA milk bank (the reputable kind). Getting milk from Prolacta is prohibitively expensive. For regular pasteurized milk, it would cost you upwards of $35/ounce, and if you buy their human milk fortifier, it would cost $183.84/ounce. Ridiculous. Absurd. Greedy. Inhumane. Heartless. Deceptive. Just a few of the words I think of when the word “Prolacta” comes up.

We have a long way to go in revealing that the emperor has no clothes on.

I had a friend that due to health reasons couldn’t breastfeed. She expressed as much breastmilk as she could and even got banked breastmilk when possible because she so wanted her baby to have all the breastmilk she could get. She was extremely premature (born at just 6 months, she was 1 lb. 2 oz). She told me the same thing about powdered formula, should I have to give it to my daughter. My daughter hasn’t had much formula in her life, but she has had some if I wasn’t home and there was no expressed milk left in the freezer. She also had some when my EX-pedi told me to suppliment in the beginning, but that was only for about 3-4 weeks. It was powdered, because the pedi gave me a bunch of free samples. Hmm, wonder why she was so keen on me supplimenting. Could it be all the $$$$ she was getting from SIMILAC????

Oh and another reason NOT to get POWDERED formula: someone just posted on one of the forums on Cafemom that they found a WORM in their formula can (meal worm or some sort of larvae I’m guessing).

Oh, and formula is not the only option. There are human milk banks as I mentioned earlier.

You hit the nail right on the head. I can tell from your response you’ve put a lot of thought into this, and that you actually read the post! LOL! Thank you.

You say, “I just do not understand how people can have blind faith that a company is going to have their child’s best interests at heart.” I TOTALLY AGREE. I think part of it is that the companies themselves use their own marketing to say, “Trust us, we’re experts,” and people do because it seems so official! I blogged about and embedded a really powerful documentary called “The Corporation” here on my blog (http://www.breastfeedingsymbol.org/2007/09/30/required-consumption/), which goes into great detail explaining why it is that corporations generally do not have consumers’ best interests in mind… About how it all really is to make a buck. The whole movie is very compelling, but I found the parts about marketing to children to be particularly interesting. If you can’t view it for whatever reason on my blog, I recommend going to Google video to watch it (2 hours, 30 minutes long): http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3969792790081230711&q=the+corporation&total=19096&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=1

Thanks for reading and commenting so thoughtfully.

WHY am I NOT SUPRISED that the first comment on this post is a flame? This is the issue I have on every single web forum I participate in. When are people going to READ, THINK, THEN COMMENT?????

Grrr.

Anyway…

Very well written. You know, when I was pregnant with my first child I was not 100% sure about breastfeeding (even though I had a lot of information and support for it), but I knew one thing with 100% certainty: I was not going to use powdered formula. Even though we barely had two pennies to rub together, I was going to spend the extra on liquid formula because I remembered all too well having to mix up powdered formula for my younger brothers. That stuff sticks to your fingers, takes a lot of scrubbing to wash off and the smell lingers for HOURS. No way was I going to deal with that.

As I mentioned though, I had oodles of support (my husband was taking his Nursing Degree and during the last bit of my pregnancy took a course on Breastfeeding, I had a built in expert) and very few issues.

Since then though I have learned so much more about formula, how it’s made, how it’s marketed…and I just cannot believe how people can make the conscious choice. Not when it’s a neccessity, as in your case Mamabear, but when they could bf but don’t.

Most people’s eyes get real wide and jaws tend to drop when I’ve talked about formula, specifically powdered formula. I just do not understand how people can have blind faith that a company is going to have their child’s best interests at heart.

It is such a relief to read such an intelligent comment. Yes, this post was not about decrying formula use when it is necessary, but more of a warning about using the POWDERED infant formula, and a suggestion to basically boycott all powdered forms to force formula manufacturers to lower the prices on liquid formulations (thus making formula-feeding safer for babies and cheaper for parents who have to use it)… You get it, you really do. Thank you for reading the post.

I think if people knew more about how risky formula use was, more people would use it APPROPRIATELY, as a LAST-RESORT option, and not as the first infant feeding choice (like most hospitals INappropriately do now).

Formula manufacturers do not care about the truth, or about what’s best for babies (and parents). They only care about their bottom line, and their profit margin is enormous because it CAN be, not because it has to be (formula does not cost nearly as much to produce and transport as people think it does, not even the liquid stuff). These companies will continue to obfuscate the truth by promoting their product within the health industry (it’s the reason why they’re so successful), and it is resulting in needless health problems for moms and their babies.

Thanks again for commenting, Song.

People need to hear a LOT more about the risks of powdered infant formula in particular. Not because we are zealots who decry any formula use ever (because we’re not, and we don’t) — but because babies get sick and die on a fairly regular basis from contaminated powdered infant formula, or from the improper preparation, handling, or storage of powdered infant formula.

Educating everyone about these risks and the proper measures to decrease the risks would make formula-feeding safer AND encourage breastfeeding. This isn’t about “guilt” or “choice” or “freedom.” It’s about accurate information and public health.

If anyone would (and should) feel guilty after reading this post, it would be formula company spokespersons. Are you one of them?

Did you even read the post? I supplement with formula for MY OWN BABY. I am NOT saying women who can’t breastfeed shouldn’t use formula. I’m saying I don’t recommend using POWDERED infant formula, and I give many valid reasons for it (READ the GODDAMN POST). I also think guilting mothers for using infant formula is stupid and petty and I would NEVER do that. You need to work on your reading comprehension skills. If people stopped buying POWDERED infant formula, the liquid versions would become more affordable, and it would be better for mothers and babies. OMG, I feel like I’m writing my post all over again because you didn’t bother to read it correctly the first time around!

And FYI, baby formula is NOT always “perfectly safe.” OPEN YOUR EYES: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=infant+formula+recall&btnG=Google+Search