Will Formula Feeding Harm My Baby?

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For some women, the choice will be clear: they are medically unable to breastfeed or financially unable to formula feed. But most women and their families will struggle to balance multiple considerations. While some mothers will enjoy the kind of intimacy that breastfeeding makes possible, others will choose not to have their bodies constantly available. Some will manage easily with a breast pump; others will find the mental and physical demands of combining work with breastfeeding to be onerous.  Some women belong to families and social networks in which breastfeeding is welcome while others live in personal, social, or political communities where breastfeeding is not encouraged. Race, class, and other social locations are likely to exert powerful influence over how the feeding decision is made.

Women might choose to breastfeed for various reasons: they find breastfeeding more convenient than bottle-feeding; they do not want to support formula manufacturers; they believe, for religious or cultural reasons, that mothers have a unique obligation to their babies, which includes breastfeeding; they want to shrink their “carbon footprint” and help the environment by reducing formula production. These are all legitimate motivations, but they should not be cloaked in language about the medical dangers of infant formula.

If, in the future, science demonstrates that breastfeeding has serious health advantages, then public health officials, women, and their families will have to determine whether the benefits of breastfeeding override its costs. In the meantime, in the overwhelming majority of cases, either breastfeeding or formula-feeding is a healthy option.