A formula for confusion

多倫多公共衞生部一個研究指沒有接受免費配方奶的媽媽比有接受的媽媽高3.5倍成功餵到人奶, 若妳有心餵人奶的, 請向免費配方奶說不!

報告: http://www.toronto.ca/health/breastfeeding/environments_report/pdf/summa...

新聞:
http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorials/article/781378--a-formula-for-...

Telling new mothers that breastfeeding is the healthiest option for their newborn and then sending them home with free samples of infant formula has always been a mixed message.

But now, a study of Toronto hospitals has found that these samples – courtesy of companies seeking to promote their products – actually contribute to reduced rates of breastfeeding.

A Toronto Public Health study, released this week, found that almost 40 per cent of new mothers were given free formula when they left the hospital. The mothers who were not given samples were 3.5 times more likely to be exclusively breastfeeding two weeks later.

There's a myth that because it is natural, breastfeeding is easy. It's not.

Hospitals need to do more to prepare mothers for the possible difficulties they'll encounter and give them the support they need to be successful; and the general public needs to be more supportive of mothers breastfeeding in public.

In light of the study's broader findings – by six months only 1 in 5 mothers are still exclusively breastfeeding – Toronto's medical officer of health Dr. David McKeown is urging hospitals to adopt "comprehensive" breastfeeding policies.

Certainly, sending new mothers home with a "just in case" package of formula, as many do now, does not cover it.

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