This is the strong finish to a thought-provoking post by Susan Burger: “World Breastfeeding Week Sucks According to this Lactation Consultant”:

“[…] I’ve really had it with sensationalist attempts to fuel the mommy wars. All mothers are criticized for how they feed their babies no matter what choices they make. I’ve heard it all. The most severely nasty criticism is reserved for women who nurse their babies beyond a certain age. The most naive criticism is leveled against women who have problems that other women have not experienced and don’t understand. I see the moms who muddle through and do their best and come up with pragmatic solutions that are far more creative than the simplistic and rather silly arguments about breast or bottle or human milk or formula portrayed by the news media. There are many varied and nuanced options that are rarely mentioned.

I really hate World Breastfeeding Week because much of the media takes it as an opportunity to attack those who wish to support mothers who breastfeed rather than celebrate their efforts to improve infant feeding. Every year I hope I will not have to read more faux feminist manifestos that denigrate the value of women who enjoy their care-giving roles. I hope I won’t have to read more junk science fishing expeditions by journalists who deliberately exclude the wide body of solid research that does show that what infants are fed does matter. This year sets a new low with the addition of outrageously false claims that New York’s City’s Mayor has imposed a ban on formula that is going to deprive mothers of their rights. “

Check out the rest at Huffington Post..

[image credit: image by Isabel García Domeño, via Wikimedia Commons]

Categories: parenting

Tags: breastfeeding, feminists, infant formula