"Proud Formula Feeder"?

iVillage Member
Registered: 06-23-2004
"Proud Formula Feeder"?
1054
Thu, 12-14-2006 - 8:27pm

In my playgroup, I've noticed some members have a blinkie I haven't seen before: "Proud Formula Feeder". In the past, I've seen the "Formula Feeding Mom" and "It's formula, not rat poison", but this new one struck me as odd. I can understand simply stating that you formula feed or saying that formula isn't rat poison (because it isn't), but I've been trying to figure out just why someone would be "proud" to FF.

While I don't think that women should necessarily feel guilty about not BF, I don't get what about FF there is to be proud about. Most (or maybe even all) of the women with said blinkie acknowledge that breastmilk is better, so why would they be proud to feed their babies something they know is substandard, even if they couldn't BF and FF was their only choice? What do you ladies think? Is/should there be such a thing as FF pride?

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iVillage Member
Registered: 04-01-2003
Tue, 01-09-2007 - 3:07am

Unless things have drastically changed in the last few years, I think your experience is different than most women. Where exactly is all this pressure coming from? Most general parenting information buys into the "breast is best but formula is good" which doesn't put a whole lot of pressure on any one IMO. I felt like the breast/birth issue were both presented about qually:

Breastfeeding is hard, and although there are benefits, no one is really hurt by formula.

Drug-free birth is hard, and altough there are benefits, no one is really hurt by epidurals.

And although we agree that epidurals should not be the assumption, how do you think that will change? Do you think that moms who believe that epidurals are completely safe, effective and will completely eliminate pain in birth are going to thank you for "enlightening" them with informaiton otherwise? As others have mentioned, many of us are/were also at the childbirth debate board and I can assure you that most women aren't that grateful.

Almost everyone accepts that there is a "better" choice, but those who advocate for that choice try to normalize while those who choose the "lesser" choice tend to glorify the "better" choice as something "superwomen" do. (which I think has a lot to do with the judgement issue)

Melissa

Avatar for mrsmichael6300
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Tue, 01-09-2007 - 8:19am

>>It's all about degress of risk. On one hand the baby is exposed to chemicals for a few hours, maybe a day. The chemicals clear the body and it over. Ffing on the other hand is the wrong proteins, the wrong fats, the wrong balance of nutrients and the missing hundreds of ingredients during the period of time when only one food is the majority of the diet on top of it being the fastest period of growth in the lifespan. Whew!<<

I have to disagree. The effects of anesthetic and pain medication during birth can and do last a lifetime for many moms and babies. There is risk of allergic reaction to the medication itself, resulting in death. 33% of people recieving an epidural experience a drop in blood pressure; this equals less oxygen to the baby, and requires a shot of epinephrine to counteract, which can put the baby into distress (read c-section, and sometimes death). If a narcotic (demerol, stadol, nubain) is given within four hours of the birth, the baby often is born with respiratory distress. Mothers can also react to narcotics with respiratory depression and distress, which deprives the baby of oxygen. Because an epidural limits the mother's range of motion, the baby is more likely to be in the wrong position for birth (the right position is facing the mother's spine, top of head presenting); this lengthens labor, complicates the pushing stage, and can result in either birth injury or c-section. Becauset he mother is numb and on her back, epidural use lengthens the pushing stage, which can lead to the use of vacuums/forceps, and birth injury (and injury to the mother herself -- pelvic floor trauma, bladder trauma, internal tearing of the vagina, and a mandatory episiotomy which can cause complications of its own).

Epidurals carry risk of paralysis and back injury to the mother. Epidurals can cause a spinal headache, rendering the mother incapabale of caring for her newborn until the headache subsides. Epidurals cause a fever in at least 40% of mothers who receive them; this causes medical staff to do a septic workup on the baby, which generally requires a spinal tap, which carries risks for baby. Mothers who get epidurals are very likely to have a perinneal laceration, whether episiotomy or natural tear, due to their limited range of motion during pushing. Babies born to mothers who received medication are not as alert after birth, which can cause bf'ing complications (I've had the fun experience myself of trying to wake up babies after medicated births to get them to the breast while nurses stand over me insisting that if my client's baby doesnt' bf in the next hour they're giving her formula...it makes my day, honestly).

So while, again, if I have to decide between medicated birth followed by bf'ing and non-med with ff'ing, I'd taket he med birth, it is incorrect to say that the effects of a medicated birth are "over in a few hours." They aren't, not by a long shot. Especially when you consider that mothers who receive medication are far more likely to require a c-section, which is a whole 'nother bag o' beans (and carries a 3-fold risk of death to mother and baby according to the most current research).

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-08-2005
Tue, 01-09-2007 - 8:32am
Well, to be fair, it takes time for what you're eating/drinking to make it's way to the breastmilk. There's a chance by the time that she breastfed her baby again it was gone. It's all in the timing.





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Miranda mama to Ricky (8), Kevin (5), Simon (1)

iVillage Member
Registered: 07-11-2006
Tue, 01-09-2007 - 9:16am

<>

FWIW, La Leche League, which is considered the world’s authority on breastfeeding has emphasized an unmedicated birth and health eating for decades.

http://www.lalecheleague.org/NB/NBMarApr97p36.html

seriously abridged:

>>Attend one or two La Leche League Series Meetings or read a few chapters of The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding and it soon becomes apparent that La Leche League is about more than breastfeeding as a method of feeding a baby...

Like many of us, La Leche League itself began with a focus on breastfeeding, but the Founders soon came to realize that breastfeeding was only the beginning of something much more enduring--mothering...

As more and more women applied for leadership during the early 1970s, a time of tremendous growth for LLL, the Board recognized the need "to define exactly what constituted League philosophy." ... with minor editing, those same ten concepts stand today as succinct statements of LLLI philosophy...

Concept #4 Alert and active participation by the mother in childbirth is a help in getting breastfeeding off to a good start.

...choices made during pregnancy and birth can affect breastfeeding. ...When a mother chooses to minimize the use of medications during childbirth (whether vaginal or cesarean), both mother and baby are awake and ready to initiate breastfeeding soon after birth.

Concept #7 Good nutrition means eating a well-balanced and varied diet of foods in as close to their natural state as possible.

Many women improve their diets during pregnancy and while nursing... Wanting to give wholesome food to their babies has led many mothers to improve the entire family's eating habits. One simple rule to follow is to eat a wide variety of minimally processed foods. This minimizes the amount of food additives and sugar that family members eat and maximizes nutrition. Just as human milk benefits babies, wholesome foods contribute to the family's well-being. <<

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iVillage Member
Registered: 04-05-2003
Tue, 01-09-2007 - 9:41am

Well, I guess what I was getting at was that if you are not affected initially, nothing is going to pop up later. You can correct me if I am wrong, but if you don't have an allergic reaction or respiratory distress or bfing difficulties, then the baby is in the clear. Formula is building bodies and brains, there's no way a person can be unaffected (whether seen or unseen) by that.

Debbie

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iVillage Member
Registered: 06-02-2003
Tue, 01-09-2007 - 10:40am

But what about the spinal headache? Those don't come on until later in many cases, granted not as late as the potential problems from eating formula but it's still after the fact. I also know women whose backaches didn't start until well after the birth of their child and their epidural. And I know some who had quite severe trauma done to their vaginal area because they couldn't push the baby out effectively because they couldn't feel anything due to the epi. They needed reconstructive surgery well after the fact.

-jeanine

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-06-2003
Tue, 01-09-2007 - 10:48am

<>

I'm wondering if there's the same degree of defensiveness in discussing childbirth vs. breastfeeding. Personally, having had both an induction and an epidural, I have no problem admitting I made the wrong choice on both counts, and I am slightly in awe of women who childbirth naturally.

Judging by the number of "how dare you judge me!" FF posts this board attracts, I don't think there's the same level of acceptance. People sincerely want to believe that formula is the standard and are very upset by any claims to the contrary.

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-17-2006
Tue, 01-09-2007 - 10:49am

Well, many of the "we" who pat mothers on the head re: childbirth are also the same "we" who pat mothers on the head re: ff.

Many of the "we" who go on about the risks of ff are also the same "we" who go on about the risks of medicated childbirth.

And of course there will be some crossover based on areas of interest/concern. :o)

ilve2read

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-05-2003
Tue, 01-09-2007 - 11:06am
Ahh, yes for the mom I can see lingering effects, but for the baby, it is more limited. You know at the very least in the case of meds during childbirth, the mom is directly affcted also. She is having the meds injected into her body, so she assumes a good part of the risk. Not that it makes it any better, but the baby isn't the only one bearing the brunt of the choice. *They* (the medical community) really do only stress risks to the mom most times. I don't think the forms I signed had any info about the baby. Being military I did have to take a class in order to qualify for an epi the first two times. But this last time, they didn't do that anymore. It was mom-focused, and the basic waiver that if something bad happened, it wasn't their fault.
Debbie

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iVillage Member
Registered: 06-02-2003
Tue, 01-09-2007 - 11:19am

But what if baby is too sleepy to want to latch on or effectively nurse? What if that lasts for a couple/few days, causing mom to throw in the towel especially if she's feeling pressure from others saying that she's starving the baby? That she should supplement? Usually with epis you need an IV. IV's can artificially raise the baby's weight gain via water weight. So after birth baby looses what looks like a lot of weight, mostly water, but since it's a big number mom and the dr start to freak and start supplementing with formula and heading down that slippery road. Without the IV and all the extra fluids chances are that baby wouldn't have lost quite so much weight and remained well within normal weight loss. Epis can also cause fever in moms which at times can lead to baby being taken for observation and perhaps a septic workup among other things which causes a longer than usual separation. Some babies do fine being separated from mom for a few hours or so and latch on and nurse with no problems. Other babies seem to need to be able to nurse right after birth and if they miss out on that they have a harder time later on.

-jeanine

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