When a mother has her new child, she faces a tough decision: breastfeed or formula feed? Perhaps a combination of both? Many mothers have reservations about breastfeeding because of the time commitment and concerns over producing enough milk, but also fear that formula feeding could impact their baby's health. Are these fears warranted, or is formula feeding a safe and effective alternative to the natural method?
Texas A&M University
Research on breastfeeding and women’s health is provocative, but it is far from justifying a claim that not breastfeeding is risky to women.
The implication that children with siblings close in age do not receive "the focused attention [they] need" is unsubstantiated. Moreover, a variety of reliable methods of contraception are available for those who wish to delay return to fertility. Of course, each of these has risks that individuals must weigh in the context of their lives.
Evidence suggesting that formula produces more visits to doctors and emergency rooms suffers the same problem of selection bias that marks most of infant-feeding research: it does not take into account that women who breastfeed might behave in a variety of health-promoting ways that have benefits independent of breastfeeding itself.
Breastfeeding contributes to a reduction in global warming and deforestation. From an environmental perspective, breastfeeding has advantages over formula-feeding. But breastfeeding has other costs that must be calculated in the feeding decision.
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