Thursday, February 14, 2008

Mommy's Magic Milk

So I was reading this article here: http://www.sciencealert.com.au/news/20081102-16879.html
that basically says this scientist discovered that breast milk contains stem cells, and that these cells are responsible for further genetic development in the infant outside of the womb. This can explain why infants fed breast milk tend to have higher IQs than their formula-guzzling counterparts. The article went so far as to state that individuals who are formula-fed will NEVER reach their full genetic potential as adult human beings because they were deprived of the vital role breastmilk plays to a developing child's system. I'm a total lactivist, so naturally I wholeheartedly approve of news clippings that state that basically people who feed their children formula are dooming them to ride the short bus of life. There are so many unknown constituents being discovered in breastmilk that it drives home the fact that formula is liquid crap, completely empty filler calories. Yes, formula companies are savvy enough to make sure they advertise that hot "new" vitamins and supplements like Omegas and DHA are in their products, hoping to make people believe their rat poison is at least equally good as what babies are supposed to be drinking. Now I know I'm going to get flamed by women who say, "but I COULDN'T breastfeed!" I have to say that my position on that is similar to my view on "emergency" c-sections in this country. There are way too many "emergency" c-sections being performed that are absolutely unnecessary medical procedures. Sure, I concede that some women just can't breastfeed. They are in the very minute constituency, way less common than those who claim they couldn't do it. I mean, if the percentage of women who can't breastfeed is really as high as everyone claims, I think the species as a whole would have been in a lot of trouble back in the days before formula. People in this day and age of drive-through fast food, ATM machines, and on-demand television are conditioned to take the path of least resistance in everything. That includes taking the perceived "easy" way out of birth (yes, it's called "labor" for a reason. I would pick a natural birth any day over major abdominal surgery, especially factoring in the recovery time and pain!) and the "easy" way out of feeding their children. Again, the "easy" way isn't so easy, when you consider that every time baby needs to be fed mom or dad has to sterilize a bottle, mix formula, make sure formula is at the right temperature, and THEN finally get to feeding. In the meanwhile, I will be almost done feeding my daughter and I didn't have to get out of bed in the middle of the night and almost kill myself tripping over the dog to get to the kitchen while the baby wails because she's AWAKE and hungry. Hooray for booby milk!

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