Do I laugh or cry?

I just sent the following email to a company called Remedy Health Media:

I was shocked today to find a magazine full of advertising sitting in the doctors’ lounge at (our community hospital) with my own name on the front (“Compliments of”).

The magazine contains, among other things, an article subtly undermining the health benefits of breastfeeding.

I don’t know where this came from, and especially how it acquired my name, but I respectfully request that it be stopped immediately.

I really don’t know whether to laugh or cry —  it is such an egregious thing to see my own name on a formula-advertising rag.

The article in question — “Choose Breast and Bottle Happily” —starts out with “both choices have pros and cons”, points out that “breastfed babies may be healthier”, outlines the AAP guidelines … & then goes on to say how stressful it is to breastfeed.

Of course it’s stressful to breastfeed — it’s stressful to have a new baby — and of course “nursing a baby requires a lot of energy, time, support and other resources that aren’t always available to new mothers.”

But does that mean that I’m going to personally advertise formula as a solution?

I don’t think so… but we’ll see if I get a say in the matter.

Kimberly Lee is a neonatologist and member of the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine.

Posts on this blog reflect the opinions of individual ABM members, not the organization as a whole.