It’s a mess. In general poor people are more likely to use formula since they have to go back to work/don’t have the same level of indoctrination- oops education—about the benefits of breast feeding, and breast feeding is a lot of work. Then there’s the issue that sicker babies often have to be formula fed, because they have weaker sucking reflexes and/or require special high-calorie formula. Multiples are more likely to be formula fed, for obvious reasons. Babies of older mothers are more likely to be formula feed, since older moms produce less milk, etc. etc. More obsessive and more highly educated mothers are more likely to breast-feed for obvious reasons. In general, my conclusion from the (noncomprehensive) reading I’ve done about it indicate that breast feeding clearly reduces early respiratory and GI infections as well as reduced colic and GI distress (while breastfeeding), but has unclear impact on long term psychological, physical, and cognitive health. Overall those things look better with breast-fed babies, but attempts to control for other things often negates the effects, leading to yo-yoing articles about the supremacy of breast milk depending on the fashion of the day. However, going back to theory, it would be very strange if breast milk weren’t better given human’s past experience with making food-substitutes. That being said, the healthiest baby is a fed baby, and the impact of formula vs breast feeding is unlikely to outweigh many other factors in a person’s life, such as milk production, needs to earn money to support the family, and mental health of the mother (depression in mothers is very highly correlated with poor long term outcomes).
Then there’s the issue that sicker babies often have to be formula fed...
Why do you believe this? My son is currently in the NICU (born at 25 weeks), and they push breast-feeding extremely hard, even going as far as to make it sound like negligence if you don’t attempt to breastfeed (due to higher incidences of NEC in premies, among other reasons). Babies whose mothers can’t breastfeed are supplied with donor milk, not formula. When my first son was born (who wasn’t a premie or otherwise sick), the nurses and doctors talked as if it were just a matter of personal preference.
My experience could be unrepresentative though, so I’d love to see some kind of justification for the above-quoted claim.
Sick babies are often too weak to suck much—and this is true even if the baby isn’t sick enough to require a nicu stay. If a baby has to be in the hospital—it can be difficult logistically to breastfeed them, and of course if women aren’t dedicated to it, they won’t maintain milk. My son was required to stay in the nicu for 4 days (for ridiculous reasons—he was fine). I was only allowed to stay in the hospital 2 nights, and I was exhausted and needed to sleep. I ended up allowing them to feed him formula since my milk was slow to come in—no one strongly encouraged me to stay there and breastfeed in the night. I got a 5 minute tutorial on how to use a pump, which was briefly suggested. It’s great that some hospitals are encouraging breastfeeding and providing donor milk to premature babies. I don’t know how universal this is. I know other women who have complained of similar problems I faced.
It’s a mess. In general poor people are more likely to use formula since they have to go back to work/don’t have the same level of indoctrination- oops education—about the benefits of breast feeding, and breast feeding is a lot of work. Then there’s the issue that sicker babies often have to be formula fed, because they have weaker sucking reflexes and/or require special high-calorie formula. Multiples are more likely to be formula fed, for obvious reasons. Babies of older mothers are more likely to be formula feed, since older moms produce less milk, etc. etc. More obsessive and more highly educated mothers are more likely to breast-feed for obvious reasons. In general, my conclusion from the (noncomprehensive) reading I’ve done about it indicate that breast feeding clearly reduces early respiratory and GI infections as well as reduced colic and GI distress (while breastfeeding), but has unclear impact on long term psychological, physical, and cognitive health. Overall those things look better with breast-fed babies, but attempts to control for other things often negates the effects, leading to yo-yoing articles about the supremacy of breast milk depending on the fashion of the day. However, going back to theory, it would be very strange if breast milk weren’t better given human’s past experience with making food-substitutes. That being said, the healthiest baby is a fed baby, and the impact of formula vs breast feeding is unlikely to outweigh many other factors in a person’s life, such as milk production, needs to earn money to support the family, and mental health of the mother (depression in mothers is very highly correlated with poor long term outcomes).
Why do you believe this? My son is currently in the NICU (born at 25 weeks), and they push breast-feeding extremely hard, even going as far as to make it sound like negligence if you don’t attempt to breastfeed (due to higher incidences of NEC in premies, among other reasons). Babies whose mothers can’t breastfeed are supplied with donor milk, not formula. When my first son was born (who wasn’t a premie or otherwise sick), the nurses and doctors talked as if it were just a matter of personal preference.
My experience could be unrepresentative though, so I’d love to see some kind of justification for the above-quoted claim.
Sick babies are often too weak to suck much—and this is true even if the baby isn’t sick enough to require a nicu stay. If a baby has to be in the hospital—it can be difficult logistically to breastfeed them, and of course if women aren’t dedicated to it, they won’t maintain milk. My son was required to stay in the nicu for 4 days (for ridiculous reasons—he was fine). I was only allowed to stay in the hospital 2 nights, and I was exhausted and needed to sleep.
I ended up allowing them to feed him formula since my milk was slow to come in—no one strongly encouraged me to stay there and breastfeed in the night. I got a 5 minute tutorial on how to use a pump, which was briefly suggested. It’s great that some hospitals are encouraging breastfeeding and providing donor milk to premature babies. I don’t know how universal this is. I know other women who have complained of similar problems I faced.