Yes!
In a recent magazine article, Ms. Bundchen was quoted saying that breastfeeding should be the legal norm for all babies for the first six months of life.
Of course, this generated a storm of protest about "feeding choices" and whether or not we should listen to someone with her lack of credentials. Lost in the fabricated drama and controversy is the fact the we must listen if her advice and high profile can save babies' lives. I'm sure that this one famous mother's words will be heard and heeded by more mothers than we pediatricians can possibly reach. (Ms. Bundchen's statement that post partum weight loss is faster because of breastfeeding is very much in line with current medical literature and will certainly appeal to most new mothers.)
It's easy to misinterpret a forceful metaphorical statement about "chemical food"--infant formula--and the crucial lifesaving value of breastfeeding for six months. And, that's exactly what pundits did to turn this into an "us against them" issue. "How dare she . . . "
While it is tragic that a supermodel-mom dispenses better advice than many doctors and most governmental agencies, it's impossible to misinterpret what the World Health Organization says about these artificial (chemical) feeding options:
The protection, promotion and support of breastfeeding rank among the most effective interventions to improve child survival. It is estimated that high coverage of optimal breastfeeding practices could avert 13 percent of the 10.6 million deaths of children under five years occurring globally every year. Exclusive breastfeeding in the first six months of life is particularly beneficial, and infants who are not breastfed in the first month of life may be as much as 25 times more likely to die than infants who are exclusively breastfed."...
There is a common misconception that in emergencies, many mothers can no longer breastfeed adequately due to stress or inadequate nutrition, and hence the need to provide infant formula and other milk products. Stress can temporarily interfere with the flow of breast milk; however, it is not likely to inhibit breast-milk production, provided mothers and infants remain together and are adequately supported to initiate and continue breastfeeding. Mothers who lack food or who are malnourished can still breastfeed adequately, hence extra fluids and foods for them will help to protect their health and well-being.If supplies of infant formula and/or powdered milks are widely available, mothers who might otherwise breastfeed might needlessly start giving artificial feeds. This exposes many infants and young children to increased risk of disease and death, especially from diarrhea when clean water is scarce. The use of feeding bottles only adds further to the risk of infection as they are difficult to clean properly."
Moreover, not breastfeeding has been found to double the risk of SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome)
Read just one sentence above aloud:
"Infants who are not breastfed in the first month of life may be as much as 25 times more likely to die than infants who are exclusively breastfed."
No parent in America is allowed to let their infant travel in a car in the "second best" way possible: Car seats are the law in all 50 states. A breastfeeding law will not be passed soon, but there is a moral, ethical and medical imperative to get this nutrition information to mothers and families any way we can. Hyperbole is easy to ridicule but, in this case, the hyperbole will prevent the deaths of many, many babies worldwide.
The World Health Organization estimates that one-and-a-half million babies die from lack of breast milk each year. 1,500,000.
If Gisele Bundchen's magazine interview, comments and the resultant furor cause more mothers in developing nations to breastfeed, thousands and perhaps tens of thousands of babies will be alive a year, two years or five years from now who might otherwise have succumbed to diseases caused or fatally exacerbated by lack of mother's milk.
I certainly wish that this legal proposal/metaphor had been issued by the government, health insurers or the American Academy of Pediatrics. In lieu of those recommendations, the very intelligent suggestion of a really smart mom will have to do.
Follow Jay Gordon, MD on Twitter: www.twitter.com/JayGordonMDFAAP
http://dagmarbleasdale.com/2010/08/gisele-bundchen-we-dont-need-a-breastfeeding-law-moms-need-resources-and-encouragement/
Enjoy!
Dagmar
That said I will strongly support a woman's choice and legal right to breastfeed but will never condemn a woman for not doing so. Our society is not breastfeeding friendly and for some women this creates too many roadblocks for breastfeeding to work.
I wish the best to you and your family.
The posts I have made here are merely facts. Not meant to incite guilt, just putting the truth out there. I am NOT the enemy of people who don't breastfeed. I AM the person who will use formula when it is needed.
The name calling seems a bit high-schoolish. And I certainly DIDN'T realized I needed to be 30 pounds lighter to have a valid opinion or be "fertilized".
It's more of a commentary on how judgemental people can be. For example:
My wife was looking for pipecleaners (to clean the straws of sippy cups). First of all 90% of all pipecleaners now come pre glittered for crafting so all of them our out. Second of all nobody carries them any more, walmart, kmart, drugstores. As my wife was asking for plain pipecleaners many started lecturing her on smoking due to the fact that she had 1-2 kids with her. That she didn't smoke or didn't care if there were even pipes in the world went over the head of those people. She just wanted a product and was judged for it.
Between my experience, and reading articles on the net, we figured out what was wrong, but it took a week after they came home from the hospital to get the baby to properly latch on and nurse
As a physician, Jay Gordon knows that there are a host of medical reasons why a woman would be advised against breast feeding. They don't account for why so few women breastfeed, but there is still a significant portion of women for whom breastfeeding is not a reasonable options.
Yes, WHO says "Infants who are not breastfed in the first month of life may be as much as 25 times more likely to die than infants who are exclusively breastfed." But that is a worldwide statistic and one of the benefits of breastfeeding is that it can protect infants from water borne illnesses. This isn't an issue in the developed world where clean water is easily available, but it is reason why it is so disgusting that formula companies have pushed hard in the developing world. Not only do children miss out on the health benefits of breast milk, they are exposed to additional risks in areas where there water borne illness are an issue.
Pretending that the WHO quote is about Western women breastfeeding as a way to guilt women into breastfeeding is disgusting.
http://www.who.int/foodsafety/publications/micro/en/qa2.pdf
so much for 1st world countries with clean water, when the infant food itself is contaminated.
to conclude: Breast is not best, it is NORMAL!!!
giving your babies bovine breast milk is not normal, well, actually it is if you are a four hoofed, multi-stomached ruminate, but last I checked we are from the homo sapian line and our goal is not 1000's of lbs of growth in a short time span.
Thus, fanned.
had a reference book that she used to look up which medicines were safe for pregnancy and for breastfeeding.
How about the perspective of a health care professional -who happens to be male? How’s that for provocative? Anyway, I have worked in the medical field at the master's level in a primary care setting for 20 years with a special interest in preventative medicine and pediatrics. I am also a husband and a co-parent of two young children. BTW, I think my wife and women are awesome. What only a woman can do (create life!); carry, nourish and grow a human being for 9 months; then give birth; and then nourish that infant postpartum (breastfeed), etc. -- leaves me frequently in awe.
1) Although I am of course a vigorous advocate of the health benefits of breastfeeding for both baby and mom, I think a law making breastfeeding mandatory is ludicrous. But, I don’t think Gisele meant what she said in that regard literally. Still, it was insensitive to those moms who can not breastfeed, for whatever reason.
2) I certainly do not and will not criticize any mother who cannot or decides not to breastfeed. There are just too many reasons why breastfeeding is not realistic for many moms (especially working moms). Some moms cannot breastfeed for a variety of reasons: the type of work they do; a hostile boss at work; or a hostile or unsupportive boss, management, or even other employees at work; illness; medications a mother may be on postpartum; inverted nipples; etc.
3) That said, mother’s milk is the ultimate source of nutrition for newborns and infants. In addition, mother’s milk provides --profound-- immunological support for newborns and infants (formula does not). Those are simple facts. (Please check-out the links below, including two from the CDC.) Thus, if possible, breastfeeding should be attempted and actively supported by the mother's support team. But, no mother should be shamed or criticized for not breastfeeding (or stopping "early" or “supplementing” with formula, etc.). As for us (health care professionals), our job should be to simply supply the facts (and provide support when needed). Then, mothers make the decision.
4) I think employers should --actively-- support breastfeeding in the workplace. And I think it is, generally speaking, and albeit slowly in some quarters. Where it is not happening, it needs to change. As a man/husband/parent, I call on male bosses and males in general, to be more supportive of workplace policies that promote breastfeeding!
http://www.motheringfromtheheart.com/Benefits.htm
http://www.cdc.gov/breastfeeding/
http://www.womenshealth.gov/Breastfeeding/index.cfm?page=227
As someone who has been immersed in the world of medicine for a long time (40+ years), the evolution in thinking in medicine re. breastfeeding has been fascinating to watch. In the 1950s and 1960s breastfeeding was viewed by almost all MDs as 'old-fashioned' or 'backwards.' Formula was ‘modern.’ It is interesting to note that the vast majority of MDs at that time were male; including primary care physicians, pediatricians, and OB/GYNs (not a good thing!). Anyway, it is now well established that breastfeeding provides profound health benefits to the infant --and interestingly-- to the mother.
http://www.aap.org/breastfeeding/
http://www.aafp.org/online/en/home/policy/policies/b/breastfeedingpositionpaper.html
http://www.bfmed.org/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/05/breastfeeding-study-on-be_n_525180.html
The health benefits of breastfeeding are so significant/profound that ALL relevant national heath organizations have in recent decades publicly declared --vigorous-- support for breastfeeding: The American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP); the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP); the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG); the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine (ABM); and the Surgeon General of the United States, Regina M. Benjamin, MD (who is a woman).
BUT - I still say: No, breastfeeding should NOT be made law. The cost would be too high. A woman's body belongs to HER. Not to her husband, not to her children, not to the state. TO HER. SHE decides what she will do with it.
If breastfeeding was genuinely very distressing for a mother - survivor of abuse? - who are you, or Gisele, or the state or ANYONE to tell her what to do with her body? If a woman couldn't produce enough milk (I know it's rare) what then? Presumably she is "allowed" milk from a milk bank, or a prescription for formula... So who would police that, and how? And how very easy to abuse the system, when the prospect of a baby literally starving would be hanging over the conscience of whoever was in the position of deciding...
Most women don't NEED this law. They love their babies, know what they need and want to provide it. What they need is support, not the state telling them what to do.
Gisele promoting breastfeeding but rather suggesting that breastfeeding should be mandatory by law. Such a declaration shows her lack of knowledge and/or experience with other mothers who have struggled with it or simply cannot do it to have a thriving baby.
http://www.llli.org/WebUS.html
http://www.llli.org/mission.html?m=1,0,2
http://www.llli.org/purpose.html?m=1,0,4
http://www.llli.org/philosophy.html?m=1,0,1
Also, many La Leche League groups have listings in the white or yellow pages. Some are also listed in the free "blue" pages for nonprofit organizations, as well. If there is no listing under "La Leche League," look under headings labeled "breastfeeding" or "lactation." In some places La Leche League will be listed under "community resources" or "women's health."
(I am a parent and a heath care professional with a special interest in preventative health and pediatrics.)