There are a lot of mothers out there who passionately argue that breastfeeding is the best way to feed their young child. They argue that there are much more nutrients in it healthy for their baby than there is in formula. But our intuition, even if it is a mother’s intuition, is mostly always wrong. So studies have been preformed by scientists to see if our preconceived notions about breast milk being better than formula is accurate.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) did an experiment to see if breast milk prevents infants from getting diarrhea and/or ear infections. They had mothers tell them if their child was exclusively breastfed; high, middle, or low mixed breast-and formula-fed; or exclusively formula-fed. They accounted for many confounding variables such as maternal education, occupation, household size, etc. They then tested all of the different babies for diarrhea and/or ear infections and what they found was that the risk for an infant getting diarrhea and/or ear infections increased as the amount of breast milk they received decreased.
The conclusion was that while the more breast milk a baby received did guard them against diarrhea and ear infections, the baby did not have to exclusively drink breast milk to stay healthy. Babies can still be fed formula along with breast milk without any harm coming to the child.
While breastfeeding is the way people have fed their children for a very long time, that does not mean that formula is not a good second option. In fact, formula has been refined over the years to contain the same immune boosting and growth promoting elements found in breast milk. Mayo Clinic says that, when prepared correctly, formula does support babies with normal dietary needs. Breastfeeding, however, is said to have certain benefits when it comes to the convenience of it always being available and the plus of it being free. Breast milk also contains active infection-fighting white blood cells that protect the baby from certain infections and fatty acids that promote brain development.
Although there are many benefits for babies when it comes to breast milk, I suggest that mothers do what they are most comfortable with. If breastfeeding is something that she wants to do, thats fine. But if a mother decides to feed her baby with formula, that is her decision as a mother and it should be respected. Parenthood doesn’t come with a how-to guide and no one is perfect. Every mother wants what’s best for their child and what is best for one child in a mother’s eyes does not have to be the same as what is best for another child in their mother’s eyes.
Breastfeeding is the method of feeding for infants that has been done since the beginning of time.
The science and evidence is there to help mothers with whatever feeding decision a she makes and so it is simply up to them what they prefer to do.
Sources:
http://www.fda.gov/Food/FoodScienceResearch/ConsumerBehaviorResearch/ucm080399.htm
http://www.webmd.com/parenting/baby/your-babys-feeding-breast-vs-bottle
I can relate to this personally. I have a twin brother and my mom has told me how I refused to breast feed when I was a baby, but my brother did breast feed. Growing up, I was sick more than my brother was and my mom blames the fact that I only drank formula. I also suffered from allergies more than he did, which can also be contributed to formula as stated on http://www.babycenter.com/0_how-breastfeeding-benefits-you-and-your-baby_8910.bc. You could expand your article and include the benefits that breastfeeding has on the mother as well. You could look at http://www.askdrsears.com/topics/feeding-eating/breastfeeding/why-breast-is-best/7-ways-breastfeeding-benefits-mothers for some ideas, including weight loss and decreased risk of cancers for the mother.