Quick Guide to Breastfeeding Challenges

Sorry, sorry... life has caught up with me! I really haven't been blogging much as I've been focusing on my day job, kids, Mama.Baby.Love and replying to email/text questions of breastfeeding/babywearing/cloth diapering moms.  I'm cleaning out my draft posts (yes, I have numerous!!)  and I found this post which I initially wrote as a comment to another page.  I can't remember if this comment was published -- yes it has been that long!  So I decided to edit it a publish it in my blog.

Not Enough Milk: Insufficient Glandular Tissue and Sheehan's Syndrome

I have had this post in my drafts folder for sometime now.  I came across this Healthland Time article which encouraged me to finally write and finish this post.  This pretty much sums up the problem that breastfeeding faces with the medical community:

That’s because lactation is probably the only bodily function for which modern medicine has almost no training, protocol or knowledge. When women have trouble breast-feeding, they’re either prodded to try harder by well-meaning lactation consultants or told to give up by doctors. They’re almost never told, “Perhaps there’s an underlying medical problem—let’s do some tests.” 

While breastfeeding is natural, I do agree that there are some moms who really CANNOT breastfeed.  Before, this wasn't an issue because wet nursing was prevalent.  Don't have enough milk? Send baby to your sister or neighbor.  But now, with our fast paced, urban lives, we often live far from family.  Adding to these factors would the concerns of the medical community on pasteurization plus the influence of formula milk companies that their product is equal to breastmilk.  As a result, more and more moms believe that they really cannot produce breastmilk.

Way back in 1989, the World Health Organization identified specific health factors which may interfere with breastfeeding.  One of those mentioned would be lactation failure.  I believe that true lactation failure does exist and is the condition called hypoplasia or insufficient glandular tissue.  La Leche League recognizes the existence of mammary hypoplasia and identifies several factors to look out for:

What are the visual markers of hypoplastic breasts? In a study of 34 mothers by Kathleen Huggins, et al. (2000), the researchers found a correlation between the following physical characteristics and lower milk output:

• widely spaced breasts (breasts are more than 1.5 inches apart) 
• breast asymmetry (one breast is significantly larger than the other) 
• presence of stretch marks on the breasts, in absence of breast growth, either during puberty or in pregnancy 
• tubular breast shape ("empty sac" appearance) 

Additional characteristics that may indicate hypoplasia are:

• disproportionately large or bulbous areolae 
• absence of breast changes in pregnancy, postpartum, or both 

Hypoplastic breasts may be small or large. It is breast shape, placement, and asymmetry that indicate hypoplasia -- not necessarily size. Normal-sized breasts that are lacking glandular tissue may be made up of fatty tissue that will sufficiently fill a bra cup.

In dealing with IGT, what is important is being able to identify the problem and manage it - without making the mother feel bad for not being able to breastfeed her baby.  This website is quite helpful in providing more information about IGT.

Aside from IGT, postpartum conditions may also lead to failure to produce sufficient breastmilk.  Another mom, Bunny Rufino, shared her inability to produce sufficient milk due to Sheehan's Syndrome.   The US National Library of Medicine defines Sheehan's Syndrome as tissue death in the pituitary gland due to severe bleeding during childbirth.  Among the symptoms of this condition is the inability to breastfeed - breastmilk never comes in.

Bunny shares how she was able to breastfeed her older child for 2 years and so much milk that she ended up donating her breastmilk.  However with her son, her breastmilk is not enough - even after pumping 7x a day. She had a complicated birth - almost dying from massive blood loss.  Her blood was unable to coagulate properly and she had to be transfused with 25 liters of blood. She had to stay in the ICU for 5 days and remained in the hospital for almost 2 weeks.

Upon discharge, Bunny was adamant and really wanted to provide breastmilk to her son so she did research and found out about Sheehan's Syndrome.  She went to her endocrinologist who confirmed that her pituitary gland was damaged by severe hemorrhaging during her son's birth.  This affected her hormones, including prolactin - the hormone released by the pituitary gland that stimulates breast development and milk production.

Despite this condition, Bunny continued to breastfeed and supplemented with donor's milk.  She wanted to share to fellow moms that breastfeeding should not be treated with an all or nothing approach.  She emphasizes that proper support and treatment are necessary, especially from the mom's doctors.  Moms should not be left defeated and guilty that they cannot produce enough milk, when in fact it is not their fault but due to a medical condition.

As emphasized here, even if the mom cannot produce enough breastmilk for her child and needs to supplement, she should still CONTINUE to breastfeed and not stop.  It should be emphasized that any amount of breastmilk she can provide, no matter how little, is better than not providing breastmilk to your child at all.

Feed your Child Right

One of the things I am grateful to N@W for is that it has become a forum for me to meet friends and experts from different fields.  One of them is my breast-friend, Velvet Escario-Roxas who is an active breastfeeding advocate and well-versed in infant and young child feeding and nutrition.  Since a popular question at the forum is what to feed children and encourage them to eat healthy foods, Velvet decided to hold a seminar to share her knowledge and expertise on healthy eating.

Several N@wies banded together to organize the event.  We had sign-up sheets, name tags, etc.

Breastfeeding a Preemie: Stories from Michelle and Neva

I often see posts from mothers with preemie babies asking for milk at the Human Milk for Human Babies - The Philippines page.  I also hear a lot of stories about how a mom wasn't able to successfully breastfeed her baby because she gave birth prematurely.  I have 2 friends who recently gave birth to preemie babies but were able to successfully breastfeed them, despite additional challenges they had to face.  I am sharing their stories in hopes of encouraging moms with preemie babies to persevere and breastfeed their babies.

Unplugging the Plugs

I am prone to plugged ducts - particularly my left breast.  More so because I am a pumping mama and I pump about 4x per day.  Not more than one breastfeeding expert (Lita Nery, Nanay Ines, etc. etc) has told me that pumping makes me more prone to plugged ducts because a breastpump is not as efficient and effective as a baby in draining out milk.  However, I never learned the art of hand expression and I work outside the home Monday to Friday.  So to keep my babies well-fed, I rely on my pump.

Guest Post: Breastfeeding Challenges of a Doctor-Mom

I'd like to share this story from a breastfeeding mom who is also a medical doctor.  Dr. Myla V. Custodio is a mother of 5 and is an endocrinologist.  She is currently breastfeeding her youngest child.

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Being a medical doctor, I never bothered to research about breastfeeding until my 5th baby came.  First, I'm an endocrinologist and I studied about hormones.  I truly believed that it is only hormones that would affect milk supply.  I never considered the law of supply and demand and its effects on milk supply.  Secondly, I never had the luxury of a maternity leave.  For all my 4 kids, once I could tolerate the postpartum pains, I was already out of the house and started doing my daily hospital rounds.  I got so busy taking care of patients that I forgot that my babies need me more than anybody else.  To compensate, I co-sleep and breastfed them to the best of my abilities (although with mix feeding).  I also take care of them whenever I'm at home.  

Guest Post: Exclusively Breastfeeding Twins

For breastfeeding month, I want to share this inspiring story of my college batchmate, A.  A and her husband had long been praying for children and finally conceived twins through IVF.  During her early breastfeeding days, we were texting and I asked her to share her story.  What I was amazed with A's story was that she exclusively breastfed her twins! No glucose water, no formula milk, no donor's milk!  Thus, I wanted to share her story to encourage moms with singletons or multiples that it is possible to exclusively breastfeed your baby from Day 1 without supplementing.

NO! to formula milk donations

We are again in the middle of an emergency.  There have been several calls for donation and despite previous reminders about not asking for formula milk donations, here's another one:

I previously posted about why formula milk donations should not be accepted during emergencies and disasters but here is a recent and first hand sharing by Dr. Zeka Tatad-To:

Guest Post: Knowledge and Experience are the Best Tool

This is a guest post written by Dr. Anne Margaux Bautista-Quezada.  Anne is a General Practitioner and works full time at the Rural Health Unit in Malita, Davao Del Sur.  Anne has 3 kids - Reese Leila (3 yo), Kate Lauren (2 yo.) and Glen Marco (8mos. old).  Her husband, Glinard, is also a Physician and is currently reviewing for his Diplomate Exam in Surgery.  

Anne is from my hometown, Davao City and graduated from the Davao Medical School Foundation.  She became a Licensed Physician in 2007.  Aside from being a full-time doctor and mom, she also blogs at Diapers and Stethoscope and owns the online shop The Shop Next Door where she sells baby products. 

It is quite refreshing to read about the experiences of doctors.  We are a doctor-centric  society and we usually believe everything our doctors say.  I am happy that Dr. Anne was willing to share her own experiences - failures and successes in breastfeeding.  Read on. 

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Guest Post: Breastfeeding is Compatible with Surgery

Today's guest post is written by Christine Yusingco-Zubiri, a fellow N@Wie.  She shared her experience about continuing to breastfeeding despite undergoing breast surgery and I asked her to share it as a guest post in this blog.  I do admire her determination and hope that her experience will inspire pregnant moms or moms who are having difficulties during the early days of breastfeeding to continue to breastfeed. 

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Christine is a mother of two, who has had had her share of breastfeeding issues, from low milk supply, cracked nipples, mastitis, to latching problems. She is a working mother and her pump has been her bestfriend for quite some time. It was so hard to find information on mothers who had to have breast surgery while breastfeeding that she decided to share her experience.

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I had this lump on my left breast since I was around 20 years old. At that time it was still small and pretty much moveable and palpable. My mom brought me to a surgeon who said that it’s common for young women  to have lumpy breasts. A few years later I  consulted with an OB GYN who, after doing a clinical breast exam, concluded that it is most probably a fibroadenoma. I didnt bother to have it checked again but continued to do a self breast exam every month or so.  

On Breastfeeding Number Two - Redux

Welcome to the Milk Mama Diaries Carnival (February).  For this month, we focus on back to basics.  Participants will share advices - either the best breastfeeding advice they received and/or the best breastfeeding advice they can give to new moms.  Please scroll down to the end of the post to see the list of carnival entries. 

The best breastfeeding advice I received during the early days of nursing N was that it will get better and to take breastfeeding a day at a time.  And this advice was also most helpful during my experience with nursing baby E.

Early in my pregnancy, I wrote about my worries about breastfeeding baby E (nicknamed Flower at that time).  S and I were joking about how I had to live up to my blog (being a breastfeeding mom with Baby E) - otherwise I would have to rename it!
Baby E came on 21 December 2011 at 39 weeks and 2 days.  Labor and delivery was uneventful and although my wishes for a delayed cord clamping were not met, we were eventually put skin to skin and he latched within the first 30 minutes.  I kept him roomed-in during my entire hospital stay and nursed him round the clock.

Guest Post: Busting Those Breastfeeding Myths and Beliefs - Part 3

This is Part 3 of a series.  To complete the series, read Part 1 and Part 2.
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Dr. Calibo, noted pediatrician and supervising health program officer of the Department of Health-National Center for Disease Prevention and Control’s Family Health Office, explains the medical evidence (or lack thereof) behind more folk beliefs or pamahiin on breastfeeding/motherhood:

Pamahiin No. 1: Pregnant women should avoid slippery foods (e.g. okra) because these would cause the uterus to slip.
Dr. Calibo: “No basis for this. Vegetables are vital sources of fiber and other nutrients. The uterus is safe inside the abdominal cavity.”

Guest Post: Busting Those Breastfeeding Myths and Beliefs - Part 2

This is Part 2 of a series.  Click here for Part 1.  Part 3 next.
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Belief No. 5: One breast contains the “food (or rice)” while the other one contains “water.”
Dr. Calibo: “Both breasts contain the same nutrients and composition.”

Belief No. 6: As a mother, I need to “mix feed” because my baby is not satisfied with whatever he/she is getting from me.
Dr. Calibo: “Contrary to this belief, the mother’s breasts adjust to the needs of the baby as he/she grows. Unlike milk formula that is the same all throughout, breastmilk is a dynamic substance that automatically adapts to the age, physiologic and nutrition needs of the baby.

If a mother decides to “mix feed,” the needed stimulation for her breasts to continue receiving the suckling action of her baby will be diminished. This will then be perceived by her brain that there is not much demand by the baby.

Breastmilk production is affected by the baby’s suckling and the proper positioning of the baby on his/her mother’s breasts. The interaction of these two factors sends signals to the brain to produce the hormones oxytocin and prolactin responsible for milk ejection and milk production, respectively. Mix feeding is not helpful to the breastfeeding mother.”

Guest Post: Busting Those Breastfeeding Myths and Beliefs - Part 1

I'm quite lucky to have my officemate Margaux offer to write this article about busting breastfeeding myths.  She was able to rally the expertise of Dr. Anthony Calibo, a pediatrician who has made breastfeeding his number one advocacy.  Margaux has divided the article into 3 parts and throughly tackled the myths and beliefs through a Q&A with Dr. Calibo.  Read and learn.

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  Have you ever been told by well-meaning relatives not to breastfeed when tired from a day’s work? How about not to breastfeed when you’re anxious or stressed, lest the baby “suckles” your sadness or worries?

            A lot of Filipinos, especially those who still believe in such concepts as usog,pasma and kulam, still pass on a myriad of beliefs (pamahiin) about breastfeeding. Dr. Anthony Calibo, supervising health program officer of the National Center for Disease Prevention and Control’s Family Health Office (Department of Health), said that thesepamahiin are still prevalent and actually affect breastfeeding efforts in the country.

            “Some of these beliefs specifically affect exclusive breastfeeding rates,” Dr. Calibo, a pediatrician at St. Luke’s Medical Center and a diplomate of the Philippine Pediatrics Society, says.

            He explains: “When families (mothers and their relatives) give other substances aside from breastmilk or start breastfeeding at an inappropriate time, exclusive breastfeeding rates drop.”

Guest Post and Giveaway: Nursing Twins!

This article was contributed by MedelaMoms Maricel Cua and Beng Feliciano. The exclusive authorized distributors of Medela in the Philippines, these mommies walk the talk! MedelaMom Maricel breastfed her now 6 year old daughter for 2 years and 7 months before she self-weaned. Firm believers in attachment parenting, the Cua couple never had a yaya and are now homeschooling daughter Lia. MedelaMom Beng breastfed her 4 year old son for 2 years and is now breastfeeding her 20 month old twin daughters. Quite the attached parent herself, MedelaMom Beng, together with lawyer-husband Jim, make it a point to dedicate quality time with their 3 children and are homeschooling their 4year old son, Nico. You may reach them for any queries, breastfeeding, parenting, or otherwise (!) at medelamoms@gmail.com or send them an sms at 0917-5614366. Landlines are 964-7331, 725-3723, and 738-6272
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The Blessing of Two

When we first heard we were expecting two

We asked, “Why did God trust us this much?”

Would we know what to do?

Imagine this:

Double plea for cuddle,

Twin call for breastmilk,

Would they at least take turns

Or at the same time, demand’s to the hilt?

Fast forward…

Now they are here,

At 19 months of age

At the breast, is where they still stay.

Summer on the left, Carly on the right,

Yes, that picture is quite a sight!

Truthfully, there is magic with these two,

With each other, the tricks, games, ideas and fun

Kindle laughter and amazement, thru and thru.

Add big brother Nico who nurtures them at heart

And Daddy Jim who treasured them from the very start.

Carly and Summer, we are all enamored by you.

Before our very eyes, it is revealed… the blessing of TWO.

--- Mommy Beng

The best way to prepare for breastfeeding multiples is to prepare for breastfeeding multiples (I can’t stress this point enough!). So here’s a straightforward, no non-sense advice (mommies with multiples don’t have time to beat around the bush, … hahaha)

1. Secure or prepare a check list of breastfeeding needs. Below is mine.

• A positive mindset (yes! I can breastfeed two!) with supportive family and loved ones.

• Knowledge of the various latching positions (I think this would vary for mothers).

• Medela Purelan 37g- Even “seasoned” breastfeeding moms will experience the drying effect (and eventually the pain that results from it) of a newborn’s suckle. Best to have lots of Purelan. Applying it will be like drinking water, especially in the beginning. First step to not give up on breastfeeding is to have immediate remedy for the expected pain.

• A high powered Medela pump.

• Medela Freestyle pump- mom will need the extra hands to comfort baby or babies. Plus, hands free pump can allow the mom to momentarily close her eyes to rest. At the start, mom may feel exhausted from birthing experience

• Medela Pump In Style Advanced

• 2 pairs Personalfit shields- all the suckling that the breasts will take may result to greater pain to some so pumping is the ideal option and then mom can let breasts rest (while shifting to cup feeding meantime). To avoid further pain, use the right fit of shields

• A pair of extra connectors with membranes (for Freestyle)

• 10 Storage bottles- just for what it is… milk storage

• 20 pcs. Medela Pump and Save Milk bags (initially) - don’t be surprised if all of a sudden, with all the breast stimulation, mom finds herself with lots and lots of milk! Enjoy that! Have at least one box of Pump n’ save bags.

• 2 Medela Advance Softcup feeders and 10 cup feeders- it is ideal to latch babies at the same time but just to be prepared for the tough times (if for some reason it will be impossible to latch at the same time), be ready to cup feed until both infants have established their latch. The advantage of cup feeding is that dad, other family members or caregivers can give feeding support.

• Extra ice pack- at night, mother can already store pump milk in the cooler carrier (best to have 2 ice packs to let them survive through day/night) if a refrigerator is not available in the room.

• 30 pcs. Medela Bra pads- be prepared for the leaking!

• Sterilizer

• Drying rack inside an enclosed bin

• A separate bin/ basket for all the dry accessories

• Nursing pillow

• Nursing bib/cover

• Nursing wear (more of home wear since you may not find yourself outside the house for quite a while)

• Comfortable intimate apparel

• Comfortable wrap (for those delivering c-sec). Mamaway’s binder is heaven sent. Unfortunately, I only found this when I wasn’t using the wrap anymore. No sharp Velcro edges like the ones I initially used and gave up on since they scratch my babies’ skin.

2. Prepare EVERYTHING in the checklist in advance (while you can still walk and not if and when you are being wheeled in everywhere.... I was on a wheelchair during the latter part of my 3^rd trimester). Buying at the last minute or when babies have arrived may be stressful and may lessen milk output.

3. Make a set-up of where you will breastfeed, system of how all the items used will be used, cleaned (by who, etc.).

4. Talk to parents of multiples who are well adjusted with multiples.

5. Invite and welcome the support of loved ones and hired help.

6. Pray. Know the guardian angels of the children and ask for their help.

When all have been prepared…let go of everything and focus on the arrival of the two (bring out the camera!). Whatever happens, know that you will more than survive having to take care of two. Just remember, what you sow, you reap. Happy breastfeeding!!!

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MedelaMoms is also sponsoring this week's giveaway, especially for parents of multiples (expecting or already breastfeeding). The prize will be 20 Pump and Save Bags, packed by 2's.  You can purchase these bags at The Medela House or get a chance to win them through Rafflecopter below.  Please note that this contest is open only to parents of multiples.  

Guest Post - Vegetable Wars: How to Get Your Kids to Eat Their Veggies!

Are you having trouble getting your kids to eat veggies? Then today's guest post written by Anne Mercado would be a perfect read!  Anne is a mom who is passionate about raising happy, healthy and smart children.  How? With a glass of information, a pitcher or two of love and patience, and of course, a bucket of humor.  She believes that though parenting is challenging, it doesn't have to be boring.  You can catch her at Green Eggs & Moms.

I was lucky that for N, eating vegetables was not an issue. We did make some effort and made her food quite presentable so she would be happy to eat the veggies.  We also involved her in the food preparation process which I think accounted for her hearty appetite.  If you do have a picky eater, read on and get some tips from Anne.  For further reading, you can also check out this book from Elizabeth Pantley - The No-Cry Picky Eater Solution.
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Vegetables are the enemy!!!

This is probably what you think your toddler or pre-schooler screams in her mind when you tell her to eat veggies. To be honest, I don't have the slightest idea on what goes on in her tiny little head. Although, I do know this: there are ways to getting kids to like veggies, and hopefully stuffing themselves silly with this nutritious food.

Get your battle gear ready because here are awesome ways to win the veggie war!

For the purpose of this post, the term enemy shall refer to kids. From personal experience, I know that veggies are friendly folk; kids on the other hand may not always be.

Barriers/Myths vs. Extended Breastfeeding

Welcome to the Milk Mama Diaries Carnival (November). For this month, participants share their experiences on extended breastfeeding. This includes tips to moms with young babies, as well as barriers and myths which discourage extended nursing. Please scroll down to the end of this post and check out the other carnival participants.

My daughter, N, weaned at 3 years and 5 months. If you read my early days in breastfeeding, I wouldn't have thought that we would go beyond 2 years of nursing! I've previously shared about the challenges and the highs and lows I had in nursing a toddler. For this carnival, let me focus on the myths and barriers against extended breastfeeding faced by moms.

STEP UP for Breastfeeding

Did you know that the Implementing Rules and Regulations of Republic Act No. 10028 or the Expanded Breastfeeding Promotion Act of 2009 has been signed last 22 August 2011?  You can download a copy here.  The IRR was published on 28 August 2011 and will be effective on 12 September 2011.  This means that establishments are now required to have lactation stations and workplaces must set up their lactation programs!

After the successful launch of the Breastfeeding Welcome Here Program, UNICEF, WHO, DOLE, DOH and ILO has another exciting project in the works! Remember my series of posts on setting up a workplace lactation program? Well, the consortium has made things even more easier with their S.T.E.P. Up for Breastfeeding Program!

Guest Post: Breastfeeding is the Only Way

Welcome to the Carnival of Breastfeeding for July! This month's theme is "Breastfeeding the Special Needs Baby".  I asked Pittipat M. Chupungco to share her story about breastfeeding her second baby, Janina who was diagnosed with Apert Syndrome. She originally shared her breastfeeding story in a February post in her blog. Janina has recently undergone syndactyly release and Pittipat updated her story to include this recent development.  Read their story below.  Thank you, Pittipat for sharing!  Please scroll down to read the entries of the other participants.
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The moment I found out I was pregnant, I did not think twice about breastfeeding my baby.  That was never a question for us.  When my eldest child was born, it was then that I realized that breastfeeding was not as easy as it seemed.  In spite of the challenges, we persisted and thankfully, succeeded.
When Janina was diagnosed with Apert Syndrome, our immediate concern lay on her chances of survival since very few doctors knew about the Syndrome.  Janina had breathing and cardio issues and had to be kept in the high-risk NICU.  Later on, when the doctors assured us that children with Apert Syndrome could live normal and healthy lives, we were able to get our bearings and focus on the long road ahead of us. 

Guest Post: It's all about marketing

Today's Guest Post is by Clarice Talavera-Avinante, a fellow N@W and breastfeeding mom. Clarice is also an events organizer and you can get more details about her services by visiting her website. In one of my posts, Clarice left a comment/email that she previously did a market study on the claims made by formula milk.  Because of the study that she and her then-boyfriend (now husband) conducted, they made a resolve to breastfeed their babies.  Read on to learn what they found out:

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When I was in grade school, there was a TV commercial of a formula milk showing a likeness of a baby slowly being scuplted. All the while the importance of taurine in the development of sight was narrated in the background. Towards the end of the commercial, the eyes of the sculpture were attached. It was a beautiful baby.

It was such an enticing commercial that I wondered about the importance of taurine and made me believe that that particular milk was THE milk babies should consume. Such was my curiosity that I asked one of my uncles about taurine. It turns out that he, too, was so enticed by that commercial that he researched on the importance of taurine. He told me that taurine was, in fact, essential in retina development but the good (or bad?) news was that we (and babies, too) needed very minute amounts of it and that it was actually abundant in animal protein (that's meat of fish, beef, etc.) So as long as you eat properly, you can get it. That was the first time I realized that commercials are able to make you believe what they want you to believe without outrightly lying.

Fast forward 15 years, I totally forgot about that TV commercial. I conducted a consumer research study on the marketing practices of formula milk companies. Since I didn't know anything about formula nor about breastfeeding, and of course, like any good researcher, I tackled the project without any bias.

I interviewed pediatricians and pediatrician's secretaries (They are the ones who keep samples of the goodies distributed by the milk companies' sales reps. Hahaha!), inspected in-store advertising, watched numerous TV commercials, scanned print ads, interviewed Milk Code experts, etc.  

Aside from delving into the usual marketing tactics (getting an endorser, distributing stuff with the  milk's logo, paying stores to be put in eye-level shelves, etc), I analyzed their claims. I was not a chemist nor a biologist nor a medical doctor so I didn't study the contents of the milk and if they had what they said they had. Just their marketing claims. 

The buzz word during the time we conducted the research was DHA. A very popular series of commercials during that time implied that the intake of their milk resulted to gifted kids. It was so popular that adults were jokingly referred to as "Promil Kids" when they were being smart. :) So I researched on DHA and learned that its addition to formula milk was so important such that the pricing tier depended on its presence. The cheapest milk in the market didn't have it. The middle-market had DHA-precursors (essential fatty acids LA and  ALA which will be converted to DHA and other fatty acids by the body). And the top of the line (i.e., most expensive milk brands) had DHA and EPA. My interest was piqued and I researched more (I mean more than what was needed in the study) and learned that DHA is indeed very important in the development of the brain. 

During this time, my then-boyfriend (now husband) asked me which of the milk brands I would give to our future kids. It was a an easy question; of course I would give the most expensive brands with ready-made DHA and other fatty acids. Of course I'd want the "best" for my babies! Who wouldn't want their kids to be gifted?

Since I'm guest posting here, it's obvious that I am now into breastfeeding. :) So what made me change my mind? Well, two things clinched it. First, I talked to an uncle and told him about the study. (Yup, the same one who researched on taurine. He's really into the health stuff.) He made me realize that bottomline, infant formulas were developed to substitute for breastmilk. I am ashamed to admit that I was shocked. That never occured to me. Cow's milk was something I grew up with. I had no breastfeeding models (mothers personally known to me who breastfed) so it was a fact of life for me that you get your milk from a can. I do not recall seeing anyone breastfeed except for one mother who breastfed her crying child in the jeep I was riding. So when my uncle told me that formulas are just substitutes, my perspective changed. Why give a substitute if I can give my future babies the real thing? My uncle even told me that until now (or until then, rather), in fact, research was still being done on the makeup of breastmilk because it still had "ingredients" and nutrition that had not been discovered yet which they still need to imitate. So the reason why they added DHA into formula was because breastmilk already had DHA. I honestly thought that research had made them realize the importance of DHA that was why they fortify formula milk with it. As it turned out, they were still just imitating breastmilk. So as long as the mom eats well, giving your babies DHA for optimal brain development was a no-brainer (pun intended).

Second, and this really clinched it for me because I love green mangoes, I learned that a good source of DHA is bagoong*. BAGOONG!!! Why buy expensive milk when you can give the optimal nutrition to your baby by eating bagoong and giving him your breast? LOL!

It was funny when you really think about it. You'd realize that as long as a good slogan was thought of, sales would come in. Another milk brand's slogan was about the calcium you can get from their milk. When you stop for five seconds and actually just think about it, all milk are rich sources of calcium. You don't need a special milk to get calcium.

It really is all about marketing. And yes, commercials can make you believe what they want you to believe without outwardly lying. As weird as it is, doing a study on infant formula made me realize the power of breastmilk. I sought my boyfriend's support as early as then as I promised myself that I would breastfeed. And I am happy to say, he's still supporting me up to now and I am still keeping that promise. :)

* bagoong - salted shrimp paste