The Problem with Breastfeeding: A Personal Reflection

by James Akre (Author)

2 customer reviews

ISBN-13: 978-0977226849

ISBN-10: 0977226840

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What is the problem with breastfeeding? Is it between mothers and babies, society and big business, or something else entirely? Who is winning the Formula War and whose side are governments on anyway? What is the role of the media here? Join James Akre on his unconventional journey toward a fresh perspective on breast milk and breastfeeding. Find out why he has concluded that It is not really mothers who breastfeed after all. The breast is best mantra is totally passe. The primary barier to more and longer breastfeeding is society wide ignorance. Health professionals have no excuse for not routinely backing breastfeeding. We need to return formula use to what it is at base an emergency nutrition intervention. We can turn things around within a generation, provided we make the right moves.

Product Details

Paperback: 201 pages
Publisher: Hale Publishing, L.P. (June 2, 2006)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0977226840
ISBN-13: 978-0977226849
Product Dimensions: 0.5 x 5.5 x 8.5 inches
Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,494,491 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #4431 in Books > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Women's Health > Pregnancy & Childbirth
- #6299 in Books > Parenting & Relationships > Parenting > Early Childhood
- #615657 in Books > Textbooks

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15 of 15 people found the following review helpful

A new classic book about breastfeeding.

By Nikki Lee on January 11, 2007

Format: Paperback Verified Purchase

The Problem with Breastfeeding is a little book in size and a mighty one in content. As a lactation consultant in practice for over 30 years, I wish that anyone interested in breastfeeding, or in infant health would read it for inspiration.

One thing that Mr Akre does well is to draw attention to inconsistencies when it comes to infant health. For example, health care pracitioners recommend that infants be put in car seats (because car seats save lives), that infants be immunized, that people not smoke around infants (because tobacco kills)..........yet when it comes to infant feeding, they say that women should choose breastfeeding "if the resources are available and they are capable of doing so"; if not, human milk substitutes are the next best thing. Meanwhile, the evidence is strong that babies die right here in the US because they were not breastfed, even though safe water, refrigeration, and antibiotics are readily available.

I see evidence of the lack of belief in breastfeeding in my clinical work; in hospitals, babies that are jaundiced are often removed from breastfeeding, and given human milk substitutes (aka formula). This makes no sense; if it is thought that the baby is ill, why take away its best food and give an inferior substitute?

I love Mr Akre's presentation of infant formula as an essential emergency food. We need lots of things on hand to deal with emergencies; those very same emergency items are not meant to be used routinely. We need formula the US for rare, occasional use, not as an every-day diet for babies.

Mr. Akre correctly states that the biggest barrier to breastfeeding is society-wide ignorance.Read more ›

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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful

Feeding formula is a sin!

By Sandra Berner on May 26, 2007

Format: Paperback

In a world filled with such luxuries as fine wine and gourmet foods, seeing babies fed with "alien," food alternatives such as formula is a sin when mother's milk--a natural course of feeding with health benefits for baby and mother--is free!

In James Akre's book, "The Problem with Breastfeeding: A Personal Reflection," his gospel is right on target about society being ignorant about the benefits of breastfeeding. By spreading the good word about breastfeeding in the U.S. and internationally, he is reinforcing what Mother Nature knows best: breastfeeding is "nurturing and nutritional" and there is no other better alternative! Why make "synthetic dream merchants" rich! Their products, as research shows, is tainted and not pure! I have read that chards of glass and other dangerous contaminants have been found in formula, which is alarming.

And Mr. Akre is right: society-wide ignorance can be turned around within a generation--provided we make the right move. So let's support breastfeeding so our children and mothers are healthier! This means a healthier society!

We can do so by supporting mother's choices to breastfeed, helping them get the right resources such as lactation consultants to assist them, and allowing them to feed their children in workplaces with private breastfeeding rooms, and in public without harassment, stares or glares! We can also gain paternal support by influencing them so! Grandparents and friends can also spread and support breastfeeding. It is the natural choice!

As a health writer and an adoptive mother of a newborn Guatemalan baby who is now 5-months old, I had no alternative but to feed my son Similac Advanced formula, a powder that mixes with water.Read more ›

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