Guilt « Breastfeeding Medicine
- Just like anti-smoking and back-to-sleep campaigns, medical evidence supports the unambiguous medical recommendation that all mothers breastfeed. Yet, if I strongly recommend breastfeeding and discuss the well-studied health risks of formula with a new mother, I have crossed the line and will be responsible for her guilt should she formula feed. As an aside, doesn’t every psychologist hold to the truth that no one else can make a person feel (fill in the blank) guilty, sad, happy and so on? Aren’t we responsible for our own emotions? More importantly, why is an unambiguous medical truth forbidden or at least restricted when the topic is breastfeeding?
- Modern formula is appropriate or even ideal in certain circumstances. In cases of adoption, galactosemia, maternal street drug use, and other scenarios formula is a critical and lifesaving medication. But like any medication it should be used only when there is a clear indication. And like every medication there are risks. In fact, formula caries a wide array of very serious, undesirable, risks.
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