People magazine article

[Dimples_2005]

(pardon the typos, nak)

Reading the latest issue, article about families living in extreme poverty in mexican border towns. Families so poor, they live in homes built from cardboard boxes, wooden pallets, and plastic roofs. A picture caption described a baby whose mother couldn't afford formula, so a relief volunteer made arrangements for cartons of discounted formula. Made me sick, why not arrange for an LC instead?? Too late for that baby, obviously, but when a family has 7 children under the age of 10, there's probably no attempts at BF and the natural child spacing that goes with it.

Perhaps Nestle could arrange to build them a home not made out of packing material.

Tempted to write a letter to the editor, but I don't want to sound like I'm flaming those in poverty. It's the formula company's fault these people are living in filth because all their wages pay for artificially feeding their unintentionally large families.

[bri276]

at the risk of this comment being deleted some of the blame must fall on shoulders of an unnamed organized religion that bans the use of birth control.

yes, it bothers me immensely to imagine how many families could be saved the unnecessary expense of formula. that those companies benefit from such dire situations is beyond unethical.

[elmh23]

Yes but that same unnamed religion advocates natural family planning and esp. breastfeeding. I'd never heard of NFP until I was getting married and it was part of our engagement enrichment class.

[bri276]

still, for nfp to work both partners have to agree to it, and especially in poverty situations women do not always have the loving support of their partner, to say the least.

[miss_sonja]

Religion aside, I believe that the point of the OP's frustration and anger is that the mainstream answer to a poor mother with an infant is to throw cheap formula at her, rather than help her to nurse her baby. It's the old teach a person to fish thing--teach a woman to nurse (and make nursing a valuable thing in a community) and you'll have a community that can feed their children and move toward sufficiency. Throw formula at a mother and you encourage dependance on others.

[Viola]

I'm bugged by things like that too, and I find it hard to articulate what it is that bothers me.

I think it's that there are plenty less industrialized cultures around the world where breastfeeding is the norm. A sign of extreme poverty and privation would be a situation where children and mothers didn't have enough clean water or food to sustain them in life, their pregnancies or have an easy time breastfeeding. In this case, I feel that the lack of access to formula is held up as the startling example of the poverty that is supposed to spur us into action or understanding. It's worse even than the lack of adequate housing, and since I didn't read the article, I don't know how they addressed the issue of water access.

The USA is not supportive of the WHO code or the Innocenti Declaration, and formula manufacturers can actually affect governmental policy in regards to these things. So here we have women and children who are even more susceptible to harm by not breastfeeding than those in a wealthier country, and they are in part not breastfeeding because of their proximity to us. With the attitude in our country towards breastfeeding, the issue becomes focused on formula being a baby's right instead of breastmilk.

[REDBREAST]

The latest issue of People? Who is on the cover? I definately want to read that article!!! As usual it is the poor and oppressed folks that suffer the most at the hands of the rich and greedy!!! It is no surprise that these mamas are not breast-feeding, they are probably not given the support, resources and information to do so and formula is most likely pushed onto them. The people we should writ eletters to are the formula companies, hospitals and doctors that the women go to.

[Dimples_2005]

I think Kirstie Alley is on the cover, the article is about "Paper Houses" . . . sorry, going from memory here.

[velveeta]

Ugh. It is the same story all over Africa. Here is our generous gift of formula, which you can save even more $$ with by diluting it with polluted water! Great! Nestle, you are just so benevolent!

[gentlebirthmothr]

Originally Posted by Viola

I'm bugged by things like that too, and I find it hard to articulate what it is that bothers me.

I think it's that there are plenty less industrialized cultures around the world where breastfeeding is the norm. A sign of extreme poverty and privation would be a situation where children and mothers didn't have enough clean water or food to sustain them in life, their pregnancies or have an easy time breastfeeding. In this case, I feel that the lack of access to formula is held up as the startling example of the poverty that is supposed to spur us into action or understanding. It's worse even than the lack of adequate housing, and since I didn't read the article, I don't know how they addressed the issue of water access.

The USA is not supportive of the WHO code or the Innocenti Declaration, and formula manufacturers can actually affect governmental policy in regards to these things. So here we have women and children who are even more susceptible to harm by not breastfeeding than those in a wealthier country, and they are in part not breastfeeding because of their proximity to us. With the attitude in our country towards breastfeeding, the issue becomes focused on formula being a baby's right instead of breastmilk.

viola,