Imagine this

Imagine this. Imagine that science had invented a new "dream product" to feed and immunize everyone born on Earth. Imagine also that this was available everywhere, required no storage or delivery and helped mothers to plan their families and reduce the risk of cancer. Then imagine that the world refused to use it. The "dream product" is breastmilk, available to us all at birth, and yet we are not using it.

.... That statement was a press release from UNICEF statement to the European Parliment Development Committee.

In many, many U.S. states, the rate of ever breastfeeding is less than 60%. In only 4 states, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Utah, is the rate of breastfeeding at 6 months over 50%. (2003 National Immunization Survey, Centers for Disease Conrol and Prevention, Department of Health and Human Services)

Formula has never been as good as breastmilk and never will be. Just like cigarettes though, huge corporations market breastmilk substitutes, a product which negatively influences health. In some third world countries, very rarely can a mom find clean water to mix with the formula. Yet, Nestle (the very same Crunchbar maker), a huge formula corporation, hands out free samples, which the moms may use with the unclean water. Baby-killing diarrhea is the result. Or, if the baby doesn't die, then the mom must purchase formula with the few pennies in her pocket, perhaps from collecting trash, after her "supply and demand" breastmilk has diminished. Breastmilk is only produced while a baby continues to nurse.

Affordable health care starts with breastfeeding. What would you think if the cigarette companies handed out free samples at a hospital? Or mailed them out to new moms? Using formula increases the chances of diarrhea, respiratory infections, urinary tract infections, allergic disease (eczema, asthma and wheezing), and diabetes, costs $1200 - $3900 per year, and increases the probability of obesity. Kaiser, a large HMO, experienced $1,400.00 less in health care claims for every infant breastfed a minimum of 6 months.

Mothers who breastfeed decrease their risk for breast cancer, ovarian cancer, and hip fractures. Breastfeeding costs about $57 per year, the cost of a couple of tablespoons of daily peanut butter. Antibodies to colds and other infections in the mother's envirnment are passed from the mother's milk to the baby. Breastfed babies are at a lower risk of SIDS - Sudden Infant Death Syndrome and may have better brain develoment and dental health. There are no factories or packaging to breastmilk which may damage the environment. Child desertions go down at hospitals with a high breastfeeding rates. Diapers from breastfed babies smell much better than formula-fed babies.

Imagine being a cold, hungry, crying baby and you get to be held close to your mom, skin to skin. For the last nine months you have never been apart and cuddling close like this lets you hear the same rhythmic heartbeat over and over again that you have listened to for your entire existance. Physically and mentally, in all developmental stages, you are tied to your mother as nature intended. Dad isn't left out, he just has a different role. He is the backbone of the family, providing the needed support for a new mom recovering from the major life event, birth.

Imagine being a mom, able to continue your body's natural ability to care for this tiny piece of life which grew inside you and for which you worked so hard to bring into this world. Imagine knowing that you are protecting your baby from getting sick and from so many of the other dangers of the world. Imagine being able to go back to sleep 10 minutes earlier because you didn't have to get up to prepare a bottle, all you had to do is wake up when your baby does. Imagine not having to wash any bottles - just take a shower.

Breastfeeding is not something you know completely instinctively. Breastfeeding is a natural process that can be very easy to learn, but at times requires learning, dedication, patience, and support from your partner and others around you. Breastfeeding is such a joy which some mothers hate to give up as their babies wean themselves. While sometimes formula is the right choice, these times are so few and far between. Breastmilk really is a "dream product."

Breastfeeding or formula is not a question of convienience. It is very much a matter of life and death, health and illness. I want so much to breastfeed my own babies. I am looking forward to that special bond between a mommy and her child. But right now, that's not my calling. I humbly ask God to grant me these opportunities sometime in the future.

Source: http://www.babyfriendly.org.uk/health.asp
plus things I've read in my mom's medical journals over the years.