Apr/May 2001

Energy Crisis or greed crisis?
Jackie alan Giuliano, Ph.D.

US Science And Technology Policy
A New Century, A New Framework
Jill Chopyak

An Ounce Of Precaution: The "Precautionary Principle" Versus "Risk Management"
Donella Meadows

The Pain of the World Passes Through Us
Gaea Yudron, MRET

Plastic Softeners in Food & Water Linked to Reproductive Disorders
Rachel’s Bi-weekly

Political money: Like A Big Water Balloon by John Darling

Congress: The Real Pros At Quid Pro Quo
Arianna Huffington

Citizen Protests Continue: Worldwide Opposition
Kayla M. Starr

Fiddling While Rome Burns
Blair Bobier

These Mountains & Rivers as Home:
The Work of the Siskiyou Field Institute

Let the Children Move
Jon Bredal, MA

Breastfeeding: A Simple Choice
Pamela Jorrick

Monthly Prayer by Peter Moore

The Future of Energy Medicine
Richard Gordon

Shock: How It Limits Our Lives, What We Can Do About It
Peggy Rubin

Cosmic Calendar by Salina Rain

BACK TO TOP

Breastfeeding: A Simple Choice
By Pamela Jorrick

With Earth Day approaching, many of us are thinking about our impact on the Earth. Breastfeeding is a simple family choice whose impact reaches far beyond single families It is not usually looked as an environmental issue, but it definitely affects our global community. Many new parents hear about the health benefits of breastfeeding for babies and mother. Most however are not aware of the damage to the environment that can be caused by choosing not to.

The health benefits of breastfeeding for both mother and child are finally being endorsed by the mainstream medical community, and are slowly being accepted by society. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends breastfeeding for at least one year, and the World Health Organization recommends breastfeeding for two years. Breast milk provides natural antibodies, and breastfed babies are healthier with fewer instances of ear infections, allergies, diarrhea, childhood lymphomas, sudden infant death syndrome, and diabetes.

Breastfed babies also receive the important benefit of frequent close contact with their mothers. Babies need this frequent touch and closeness. At birth, a newborn’s eyes can see only 8 to 12 inches which is about the distance to their mothers face while they are nursing. Babies also conveniently fit in the crook of the arm which is exactly the spot a mother holds them to nurse. Tests have shown the developmental benefits of skin on skin contact and it is even recommended for premature babies to help maximize growth at many hospitals. While bottle feeding allows a mother to prop a bottle and walk away, this is not the best thing for the baby. They were designed to have that special bond that nursing can create.

Mothers who breastfeed benefit as well by reducing their risk for ovarian cancer and pre-menopausal breast cancer. Breastfeeding also burns about 500 calories a day, reduces postpartum bleeding, and delays ovulation.

The switch back to breast milk in a society that has been primarily bottle fed with artificial breast milk for the last few generations is not an easy one. Unfortunately, despite all of the advantages it can provide, only 64 % of new mothers are breastfeeding upon hospital discharge after child birth, and the number drops to a mere 29% by the time the baby is six months old. And while research points to the many health benefits of breast feeding, in addition to having potential health risks the use of infant formula also has economical and environmental impacts.

Everywhere that infant formula is used, some source of fuel is also used to heat it. In Third World Countries, where wood is already in short supply, it is the primary fuel used to heat the formula. In areas where burning trash is the method of disposal, plastic bottles, nipples, and formula packaging are also burned, adding significant amounts of poisons to the air.

As formula companies market "convenient" disposable bottles and plastic bag inserts, which are used once and thrown away, in addition to meaning less dishwashing for parents it also means a lot more plastic in our already overcrowded landfills. Plastic bottles and nipples can take hundreds of years to break down.

There are tremendous amounts of waste involved in bottle feeding packaging and paraphernalia. According to the World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action, the 550 million tins of infant formula sold in the United States alone every year would circle the Earth one and a half times if stacked end to end. Artificial baby milk and its accompanying paraphernalia also burn vast amounts of energy in production, and delivering them to consumers, sometimes thousands of miles, uses additional fuels.

Contaminants such as salmonella, high levels of lead and even glass particles mixed in with the powder have triggered infant formula recalls in recent years.

Some concerns have been raised in the media recently about possible pollutants in mother’s milk from the environment. La Leche League International states "The research shows consistently that even in a polluted world, breastfeeding offers advantages which far outweigh the risk of possible contaminants … the focus of scientific concerns should be directed towards removing such chemicals from our environment not, not casting doubts on the only unprocessed source of perfect nutrition for infants—human milk." It is also only logical that contaminants in humans would also be in cows and their milk, which can’t offer any of the species specific health benefits of human milk for human babies.

Exclusive breastfeeding also delays menstruation for many months for the new mother, saving large amounts of paper used in sanitary hygiene products. It can also act as a natural birth control method and child spacer. This is especially important in Third World Countries where women may not have access to other forms of birth control, and skyrocketing populations are of serious concern.

It costs almost $1000 to bottle feed a baby for the first year of life. Much of this cost is picked up by our government through "nutrition" programs like WIC. Although WIC is working hard to promote breastfeeding to new mothers, millions of dollars are still being spent annually on infant formula.

For adoptive parents, and the rare cases of medical conditions which prevent breastfeeding, organic supplements are available, such as Baby’s Own Organic from Nature’s One. Although it cannot offer all of the benefits of breastfeeding, it is an alternative without pesticides or the risk of genetically modified ingredients.

Breastfeeding has always been the perfect source of nutrition for infants. Science has not yet been able to reproduce what Mother Nature gave us, and likely it never will. Now the reasons to breastfeed our children are overwhelming, but still there are those who will be uncomfortable with the idea. The next time you see a mother breastfeeding, congratulate her on doing the best thing for her child. Don’t buy bottles for new baby gifts, but encourage new mothers to breastfeed instead. Breastfeeding is far from being the norm that it should be, but every family counts. Supporting and promoting breastfeeding in our families and communities will have a significant impact on our children, our planet and our future.
Pamela Jorrick lives in the mountains of Humboldt County with her husband, children, and animals. She works from her home in Maple Creek and can be reached at (707) 599-3081 or on the web at www.mamasnature.com.