I am not normally an Angelina fan. However, I do appreciate her activism and the way she sometimes uses her celebrity to help people in third world countries. I am also not one to follow celebrity gossip, nor do I read W magazine. However, breastfeeding is important to me. It has been socialized right out of many North American women and I am impressed by Angelina's latest publicity move. This W cover is GREAT! It is subtle and natural and doesn't seem to make her into a sex object the way that many images of her have in the past. Breastfeeding benefits mothers, babies, and society as a whole and not breastfeeding is risky, contrary to formula company ads.
According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, not only babies and moms benefit from breastfeeding, but society as a whole benefits. First, the benefits to babies are due to the fact that the fat, sugar, water, and protein are balanced perfectly for human babies. It is also more easily digested. Breastfeeding as an infant may help prevent obesity later in life and IQ test scores are higher in people who were breastfed. Moms benefit from breastfeeding because they lose the “baby weight” more quickly, the uterus shrinks more quickly, bleed less after delivery, and have a reduced risk of breast and ovarian cancer. The time and money saved by breastfeeding can also be a great benefit, in addition to the bonding that occurs. The benefits to society as a whole include lower health care costs, less sick time taken by breastfeeding moms and less of a toll on the environment from bottles, formula production, and garbage.
There are also many risks associated with not breastfeeding, including health risks for new babies and long term health risks for mothers. The Breastfeeding Task Force of Greater Los Angeles explains that the phosphate load in formula is too high and that because of this, “formula fed infants face a 30 fold risk of neonatal hypocalcemic tetany (convulsions, seizures, twitching) during the first 10 days of life.” They also state that “formula fed infants are at a high risk of exposure to life-threatening bacterial contamination. Enterobacter sakazakii is a frequent contaminant in powdered formula and can cause sepsis and meningitis in newborns.” With the recent findings of melamine in milk products from China, the risks of formula feeding become even more apparent.
Infant formula is a $3 billion per year industry in the U.S. alone. We must also remember that infant formula is heavily marketed in third world countries where water supplies are not safe or reliable. While a mother’s body can process many bacteria in the water, a baby cannot. According to the World Health Organization, “1.5 million infants die around the world every year because they are not breastfed. Where water is unsafe a bottle-fed child is up to 25 times more likely to die as a result of diarrhea than a breastfed child.”
Some of the barriers to breastfeeding, according to the Breastfeeding Task Force of Greater Los Angeles, are “misinformation and lack of knowledge, personal attitudes, cultural norm, lack of support – by family, partner, hospital, and workplace, hospital practices and policies, formula companies’ advertising and hospital practices, and rare maternal or infant medical conditions.”
Angelina Jolie’s choice to appear on the cover of W magazine breastfeeding is a step in the right direction for the media to counteract the advertising of the formula industry. Perhaps some people will consider public breastfeeding more acceptable because of it, or maybe even a good option for their baby. Unfortunately, it will take a lot more public support of breastfeeding to make an impact on global health. Images like this one can create public awareness, acceptance, and promote activism.
Sources:
http://www.breastfeedingtaskforla.org/ABMRisks.htm
http://www.womenshealth.gov/breastfeeding/index.cfm?page=home
http://www.babymilkaction.org/
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