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Author:Amy Tuteur, MD
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32 Responses to “Sobering thought”
Amy Tuteur, MD
Dr. Amy Tuteur is an obstetrician gynecologist. She received her undergraduate degree from Harvard College in 1979 and her medical degree from Boston University School of Medicine in 1984. Dr. Tuteur is a former clinical instructor at Harvard Medical School. She left the practice of medicine to raise her four children. Her book, Push Back: Guilt in the Age of Natural Parenting (HarperCollins) was published in 2016. She can be reached at DrAmy5 at aol dot com... More
I believe you, but where did you get that statistic? If I post this everywhere, homebirthers everywhere will demand a source or dismiss it. but they’ll dismiss it anyways. 😉 I am just interested to know where you got the stat.
Its right across the bottom of the graphic 🙂
A serious pet peeve of mine is when people quote the WHO for breast feeding statistics, but then I ask them their stance on VAX and they choose non or delayed when the WHO is VERY firm on vaccinations. If you quote them at me you better damn well have your entire family vaccinated on schedule. Or GTFO
They also always leave out the fact that WHO statistics are worldwide and include countries where it is very difficult to get clean water for mixing formula.
I agree with you, rh1985. However, it’s not a good counter-argument to the anti-vaxxers because they use the lack of good nutrition and clean water as a reason why kids in developing countries are more at risk for vaccine-preventable diseases than “first world” kids.
However, it might be a good idea to start where anon suggests starting, and if they give the argument I just stated in the above paragraph, you can then point out that the lack of access to clean water, formula, and nutritious early toddler food are key reasons WHO is so gung-ho about breastfeeding.
I have a habit of mentioning to them that unless they also vaccinate on schedule I won’t listen to anything they have to say from the WHO. Then I stop listening
That’s been a pet peeve of mine for YEARS. If you’re gonna quote the AAP and WHO chapter-and-verse on breastfeeding recommendations, you’d damn well better be following their recommended vaccination schedules. Otherwise you’re a hyprocrite.
Not really keen on the graphic. It seems more like a protest against suburban architecture than suggesting a homebirthed baby. Plus, it’s an adult sized coffin.
Perhaps a coffin-shaped birthing pool? A bit harder to photoshop, though.,.
It’s directly referencing this (ridiculous) picture that’s doing the rounds:
Wow. That’s really…offensive. If somebody were to post that on Facebook where I could see it, I’d cuss the living $hit out of them.
Agreed, it disgusts me.
Apparently understanding the difference between a causal and correlational relationship is too hard for these people.
I would ask them why, if they are so set on breastfeeding, they are mourning the death of that bottle.
Because a graphic of a giant boob in a coffin would just make everybody giggle. Though I am still mourning the ‘death’ of Angelina Jolie’s breasts. (No, don’t hate me – she was smart to do it.)
Really, shouldn’t it be a dead baby in a bottle-shaped coffin then? I mean, yeah, a dead baby would be like 1000x more offensive and emotionally difficult for viewers, but the metaphor holds better, and if you want to guilt us dirty bottle feeders into making our boobs work or forgoing our mental health meds or suffering through rape flashbacks or never-ending mastitis or simply not enjoying how we feed our babies, then a picture of a dead baby will be much more effective.
Oh, and I totally forgot about parents like you who use surrogates and/or (allegedly) lack the necessary equipment for breastfeeding. Or adoptive parents. Foster parents. Grandparents and aunts and uncles who raise grand kids and nieces and nephews. You should all induce lactation. No excuses. Some people can do it, so everyone must do it. Heck, we should all just induce lactation now, even if we have no children and no intention to have a baby just in case our mammary glands might be needed at some point. An army of wet nurses to fight the war on infant mortality, childhood obesity, diabetes, and breast cancer.
Good point, Jennifer. I heard of a grandma who induced lactation to provide a few oz of breastmilk to her adult son who had cancer. Why wait? Prevention is better than cures after the fact.
I hadn’t seen that pic yet. How horrid would it be for my NICU moms who were desperate to breast feed but were never able to produce to see that? How about the moms for whom breastfeeding is contraindicated? Oh that’s right you are supposed to not have kids if you can’t breastfeed them!
Well, NICU moms who can’t breastfeed are already subject to giant posters advocating b’fing in the NICU, as well as not being able to get the super special badges for their kids isolettes. And everyone seems to think THAT is OK.
It’s hard for me to hear that other NICUs do such a thing. Even Evergreen doesn’t do that and we were the first “baby friendly” in the US. I guess we aren’t as far off the deep end as I thought.
This image is hostile and it will not convince anyone to breastfeed. Shame on whoever is using this propaganda poster. Was this ‘art-work’ funded by special monies allocated for lactation promotion and education?
It won’t convince anyone to breast feed, but it will add to the tremendous guilt mommies who CAN’T breastfeed feel these days. It actually made me tear up a little remembering my sister-in-law sobbing because she couldn’t breastfeed. She had been convinced her son would be dumber, sicker and fatter because her breast had failed him. Now some poor woman out there thinks her baby is going to die before his first birthday because she doesn’t produce enough breast milk. This really pisses me off!
Honestly, I shouldn’t feel this way but I want to find the lunatic who came up with this and actually beat them up.
No, I think its the asshole “alpha” parent.”
That is one of the most offensive things I’ve ever seen. It might be more appropriate to stick a boob in there, since my son would be dead if I insisted on exclusively breastfeeding.
(Serious supply issues caused by son’s serious feeding issues early in life. Regulars on this blog have probably read a lot about my story posted under “SkepticalGuest” but a technical snafu has lead to me posting with the “Older Mom” handle and I have no idea how to change.)
What in the world is their source for their statistic??? That makes no sense at all.
The statistic makes perfect sense when you realize that eating formula doesn’t cause death. Poorer moms are less likely to breastfeed, and they probably had worse or no prenatal care, then all of the problems that go along with poverty after bringing the baby home.
Also babies with significant disabilities are more likely to be formula fed, whether because they can’t nurse efficiently (heart defects, cleft lip/palate), need higher calorie nutrition than breast milk, have allergies or milk protein intolerances that require specialized formula, or need to be tube fed. So babies that are more likely to die in the first year of life are also more likely to be formula fed.
That’s a really good point.
I was thinking that could be the case. I’d still love to see their original source, because either there isn’t one, or it is such a gross misrepresentation of the actual facts that it would completely destroy their argument, and highlight the fact that zealots are ok with basically lying. Even if it were true, this kind of information should be given compassionately, not in such a sensationalist, schadenfreude type way.
Fix the “in within” part.