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Milk
Breast milk: more than 400 nutrients but no melaminePosted by Jeremy Goldkorn, September 20, 2008 12:37 PM
 Xiao Wu aka Yanhong Wheeler Yanhong Wheeler is a Chinese writer who returned from living in the U.S. and became a bestselling author of books about child rearing. Known to her readers as Xiao Wu (小巫) or Wee Witch, Xiao Wu's books challenge many of the conventions of Chinese parenting. She is a fierce advocate of breast feeding and the Beijing representative of La Leche League International, an international organization that promotes breast feeding. She answered a few questions by telephone about breast feeding in China and the effects of the melamine milk powder scandal on Chinese attitudes towards mother's milk. Danwei: When did Chinese mothers start using milk powder in preference to breast feeding? Xiao Wu: In the early to mid 90s. Before that that there was no domestically made formula and very few people had enough money to buy imported formula. With the emergence of a middle class, people could afford it, and it became a status thing, showing off like "our family can afford imported formula". Now there is also pressure from the grandparents, who want to play a part in feeding their grandchildren and prefer formula because they can do it all on their own. They encourage their daughters to use formula in the mistaken belief that it's more nutritious. Many Chinese women also worry that breast feeding will cause their breasts to sag and then their husbands won't find them attractive. Which is not true: breasts sag after pregnancy and with age, not from breast feeding. Danwei: What is your reaction to stories such as the recent Southern Daily article translated on Danwei saying that 9 out of 10 Chinese mothers do not have enough breast milk? Is that true? Xiao Wu: Nonsense! It's the other way around. 99 out of 100 women have enough milk, less than 1% of mothers have problems, but it's so rare. We're mammals. All mammals feed their babies with their own milk. There are more than 400 nutrients in breast milk that no milk powder can imitate. But no melamine. Danwei: Do you think the melamine milk scandal is going to change Chinese women's attitude to breast feeding? Xiao Wu: For the really smart ones, for people who connect the two together. But there are pediatricians and health care professionals who say outrageous things in the media in support of baby feeding formula. The milk formula companies have big marketing budgets. Links and Sources
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Comments on Breast milk: more than 400 nutrients but no melamine
If the Chinese government is smart they will take this opportunity to push breastfeeding as the best milk source for babies in China, otherwise Chinese mothers will just switch to imported milk powder and more babies will continue lose out.
In my experience it is mainly poor families (can't afford the status symbol of powdered milk) that breast feed and only when Mum and Bub are growing up together in the same city (many poor countryside or smaller city families have had to leave the baby with the Grandparents as they work in bigger cities).
Either way the Chinese government must improve the protection of children if it wants the one child policy to continue, along with its ruling position.
i applaud xiao wu and LLC's efforts.
it's vital that people get informed about breastfeeding and la leche does a wonderful and very difficult job. as xiao wu and my personal experience say, breastfeeding is undermined by a network of media and health care professionals who promote formula and advise new mothers accordingly.
on day one, i worriedly asked my doctor at the hospital if i would have enough milk and he replied, 'don't worry -- you'll buy some.'
i specifically asked the nurses to not feed sugar water to my baby between nursing sessions -- but they did, making her not feel hungry when she was brought to me. i put a stop to that by insisting that my baby is next to me at all time.
i was given free samples of this and that and was bombarded by advertising for formula, bottles, cleaning equipment and pacifiers in parenting magazines and on television.
i was made to feel uncomfortable by others when trying to feed my baby outside my home.
it's sad that it takes something like this milk scandal tragedy to shake up people into thinking more carefully about what they're feeding their babies.
this is what happens when
1. people don't understand their true nature -- how ridiculous is it that we need to be reminded that we are mammals.
2. we allow large businesses to control fundamental aspects of our lives.
formula and milk from other animals do not help build human bodies and human brains. if you want to grow a cow, feed it cow's milk. a human baby needs human milk.
In Australia it's poorer women who breast feed less, as poorer women are often less educated and probably are under financial pressure to return to work sooner.
I hope if anything good comes out of this debacle, it's that breast is best and that there is support for breastfeeding mums.
I went to a hospital that was really supportive of breastfeeding. The midwives came in every day to teach me how to breastfeed my child. It's really not easy when you first begin. We are taught here that breast is best for the first six months.
Chendu woman looks for clients to sell her breast milk to (Chinese):
link
This young lady is very intelligent. Women have breasts to feed their children,they were not originally just for men's gawking at. In these days it seems too to be quicker and more "PROFITABLE" to kill people,than to take precautions for safety,especially while producing goods that people will ingest, it is especially more of a true crime while the health of children are involved. As long as a female is well and takes of herself,her breast milk is the best source of nourishment for a baby and young children. I am the mother of four,and,all my children were breastfeed,it wasn't fashionable,but i wanted my children to get the best nutrition,they are healthy,intelligent adults now. keep up the good work. they can put breast milk in bottles and refrigerate it so no problem.
I would just echo the other comments that endorse breast feeding.
Cows' milk is not made for other species, and has been linked with all sorts of illness.
http://www.drmcdougall.com/misc/2007nl/mar/dairy.htm
Also, the consumption of human milk is associated with higher IQ levels, and I find it a bit sad that the average mainland mother would feed substandard food to their child when his/her brain and body is in the most need of nutritious food, and then a few years later, the same parents will spend a fortune on the child's education. What a waste!