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1 May 2009
News that mothers at the DGH who choose to bottle feed, rather than breast feed, their babies will be refused bottles of formula milk is disturbing.
Mothers going in to the maternity unit will soon have to bring in their own bottles, teats and formula if they cannot, or choose not to, breastfeed.
The policy is aimed at encouraging breastfeeding but appears to be nothing more than a penny pinching exercise. Charging babies to feed? Whatever next?
Why are new mothers who can't or don't want to breastfeed being penalised? There is no doubt breast is best and gives babies all the nutrients they need to protect them from infection.
But some women simply cannot breastfeed for a variety of reasons and today's formula milk has so many vital nutrients, it is the next best thing. But more importantly, bottle versus breastfeeding is a personal choice.
Health education agencies and birth gurus alike never tire of stressing the benefits of breastfeeding. Mothers who have done it enjoyably for some time testify to the sense of satisfaction it brings. But many mothers never reach that stage, never getting beyond the first days, beset by problems that leave them, and their babies, in tears of desperation.
Whether bottle feeding is voluntary or has been dictated by circumstance, the medical establishment should not try to manipulate a woman's decision. Nor wrap it up so it doesn't look quite the money-saving exercise it quite clearly is.
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Friday 25 May 2012
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