But back to the task at hand. I recently had a baby. Those of you who know me won't be surprised to learn that I'm breastfeeding. I have a degree in Maternal and Child Health. I worked as a Graduate Research Assistant at the Carolina Global Breastfeeding Institute. My mom breastfed me when I was young, and she was a Public Health nurse for many years - promoting and supporting breastfeeding as part of her job. So for me, breastfeeding has always been the norm.
People may also be surprised, however, to learn that I'm not opposed to formula. Some women need it. Some women want it. And I'm not here to play the guilt game, although some people in the breastfeeding community think that guilt can be a powerful motivating tool. My own personal opinion? Moms have enough guilt to deal with already, and we should be focusing our efforts on making people feel good about themselves. If formula is right for you, great.
But there are those of us who really want to breastfeed. Which brings me to the title of my post. When I had my first prenatal appointment with this pregnancy, my OB's office gave me the option to sign up for marketing and promotional items from the major formula manufacturers (Enfamil, Similac). I politely declined. With my last pregnancy, 7 years ago, I didn't know I had the option to decline these items. Consequently, I received a "gift package" at my 32 week OB appointment that contained formula samples and coupons. I got a hospital discharge bag with more coupons and formula. (Why does this matter? See here.) And the free samples kept coming in the mail until I had accumulated nearly 20 cans without asking for them.
This time it's been different. I delivered at a different hospital, Durham Regional, with nary a mention of formula. My OB's office respected my wishes and I heard nothing about formula from them. I thought I had successfully hidden myself from the formula companies. Until last week. When I received this in the mail:
Free formula samples. How did they find me, you ask? I suspect Babies R Us, where I registered and gave my due date. But that's beside the point. Let's talk about why this is sabotage. 1. The product. The formula companies like to tout all of their different products. A newer offering, included in my gift box, is formula targeted specifically to newborns, to meet their unique nutritional needs. Of course, the Enfamil people neglected to mention another product that is also targeted to meet the unique nutritional needs of newborns: breastmilk. But where's the profit in that? (And if you think that this messaging doesn't matter, it does. I did some focus groups with women to look at the effects of formula advertising. Even the women commited to breastfeeding were left wondering whether their breastmilk had everything that a baby needs. "AHA? DHA? Does my breastmilk provide that? Changing nutrition to meet baby's needs over time? Can my breastmilk do that?" You know why the formula companies tout those things? To be more like the competition: breastmilk.)
2. The messaging. As a new mom, you're constantly questioning your decisions. Did I buy the right kind of diaper cream? Should I give my baby a pacifier? Am I doing this all wrong? Amidst all the confusion, it helps to know you're not alone. Clearly the marketing people at Enfamil know this...check out the ad copy on the left. The message? Whatever your choice, you're in good company. It's just that you're in better company if you formula feed. So don't feel bad if breastfeeding is just too hard. (After all, it's not like we formula companies help make it easy. Ha, ha! Go, us!)
In short, don't feel guilty about using formula. In fact, if you don't use formula, you're the freaky one in the minority. All those other women must know something that you don't. Just sayin'.
3. Perverting what's normal. If you've never been around a baby, let me tell you what they do. They eat. They sleep. They poop. They have gas. They get fussy. They spit up. They cry. All normal things. But to the formula people, these things represent opportunities.
Baby has gas? We can fix that! In 24 hours! (Next product? Formula to make sure your baby never poops! Except the diaper companies are fighting us on that one.)
There are similar formulas to ease spitting up, colic, etc. But what they don't tell you is that these special formulas reduce gas, spitting up, etc., when COMPARED TO REGULAR FORMULA. If your breastfed baby has gas (totally normal), you don't need to buy this product to fix it.
4. The timing. Finally, the issue that set off this post and required my poor husband to listen to a 5-minute long tirade...the timing of the whole thing.
This free gift of formula, complete with informative feeding guide, arrived a week after my due date. The "gift" was calculated to arrive when I was home from the hospital, sleep deprived, likely struggling with breastfeeding every 1-3 hours, and just plain exhausted. (Of course, the fine folks at Enfamil had no way of knowing that my baby arrived 4 weeks early. Still, all of the above re: sleep deprivation still applies.)
In other words, the formula was designed to arrive when my energy, reserves, and commitment to breastfeeding were at their lowest. When I was likely to need support. Oh, hey, free formula! There you are, with your helpful product and information. Like this statement about sleep:
Now, what I HATE about this is not the information. It's totally correct. Breastfed babies DO need to eat more frequently, because breastmilk is more easily digested. What I hate about this is that Enfamil presents this as a problem to be solved. With their product. And they invoke the American Academy of Pediatrics to do so. We all know that more sleep = better, right? And if the baby is eating every 3-4 hours instead of every 2-3 hours, they're probably more satisfied, right? Your breastmilk just isn't doing the job. Even the AAP thinks so. The not-so-subtle message that I get from this is that the AAP thinks your babies will sleep better if you just use formula. It's the answer to your sleep deprivation, worries, and anxieties. Thanks, Enfamil!
Like I said, my objective here is not to criticize moms who use formula. I'm glad formula exists for people who want and need it. But as a breastfeeding mom, I resent the formula companies deliberating trying to sabotage my efforts at breastfeeding. Because, make no mistake about it, breastfeeding is HARD. You worry about getting the latch right. You worry about whether the baby is getting enough. People think breastfeeding is gross. It's hard to find breastfeeding allies, even your pediatrician. You will, at some point, feel like your sole purpose in life is to have a baby attached to your boob. If you're working outside the home, it will be even harder - finding time to pump, maintaining your supply, etc., etc., etc.
I, for one, have a ton of support. My family and friends don't criticize my decision to breastfeed, even if they didn't make the same choice. I have my own office at work and the kind of job where I can pump while I'm on a conference call. My husband is incredible. (After my daughter's 1 month appointment, the doctor complimented me on her weight gain and "rolls." Tad's response when I texted him to let him know? "Awesome! Good job mom! And here is to all those midnight feedings!" I love him.)
But even with all the support, I sometimes get overwhelmed. When Tad brings a yowling baby to me 30 minutes after she nursed for an hour and drained me dry, I want to hide. When the same baby spits up enough milk to constitute one whole feeding, it seems like wasted effort. When I go back to work and have days where I don't pump a lot of milk, I'll feel anxious.
But when I look around for support, it will be there. The reality, though, is that I'm in the minority. And so I get mad at Enfamil, because when most women look around, the only "support" for breastfeeding they'll find is the formula sample they received in the mail. And the formula companies know it. They propogate it. They play to it. They COUNT on it.
To quote the Beasties: "Listen all y'all.....it's sabotage."
Yay! Pam's back! Whenever I have to write a paper, I end up checking up on all of my friends' blogs to see if there's something new, and here it is! Nice post by the way, it was really interesting.
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