Last weekend, I went to Johnny's supermartket to have my weekly grocery shopping. When I asked the saleslady for ENFALAC for babies below six months, she told me it's no longer available in the market. She said there's a new law that requires buyers to show an Rx from their baby's pediatrician before they would be allowed to buy one.
"What?" that was all I uttered when I heard her answer to me.
What can I do? I ended up going home with ENFAPRO for babies 6 months and above -- anyway, Dani's turning six months by next week and she still has milk supply at home for perhaps a couple of weeks more.
Going back -- I wasn't satisfied with what the saleslady told me so I did my research. Then I read from the PDI this morning that the revised implementing rules and regulations (IRR)of the MIlk Code ban advertisements for breast milk substitutes intended for infants and for children up to 2 years old. Santos and Salaverria's report today on the PDI said that the use of breast milk substitutes causes obesity, diarrhea, asthma and even infant death. In short, the government, or the DOH in particular, wants to advocate breastfeeding as the exclusive way of nursing babies below 6 months. This would mean that mothers are then obliged to breast-feed for straight six months.
I understand that the milk code will cause billions of profit loss on the part of milk formula manufacturers like Wyeth, MeadJohnson, etc. On top of that, the revised code will give more restrictions on mothers who choose not to breast-feed. But the truth is simple: the mothers should be given the right to choose and the obligation to educate themselves regarding the advantages of breastfeeding.
No one, not even the government, has the right to impose on this matter. To breast-feed or to bottle-feed is a choice only a mother has the right to make.
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MY OWN CHOICE
As a mom with three kids (the youngest is a lovely 6-month-old baby girl), I never thought that milk formulas are better than breastmilk. I know from the beginning that I will do myself a favor and my baby an advantage if I breast-feed. Actually, I did it to my three children, but only for one month or less.
NO matter how many books about breastfeeding I've read, none of them had ever described exactly how it feels to breast-feed. It's a fulfilling task, definitely, but it is also a frustrating thing to do. It's so hard for me to make my baby suckle from my breast. And the "first time" I did it for each of the babies I had, was quite painful. I had to ask for my hubby's support and help in order to nourish my baby properly. I had to make sure I am fresh -- or had just taken a bath or at least clean-- before I breastfeed. Breastfeeding is not as simple as putting my breast in my baby's mouth. That is why, I usually give up after a month, especially I have to go back to work and leave the baby for 8 hours or even 13 hours a day.
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BREAST OR BOTTLE DOESN'T SPELL THE DIFFERENCE
The real problem that causes infant death, I think, is not the milk substitutes. Milk formulas have been here for long, but most children are fine. My eldest daughter, Steffi, was breast-fed only for less than a month. She alternately had S26, Promil, Bonamil, and Bonna until she outgrew the need to drink milk formula. But Steffi is very healthy, very smart and very intelligent in Language and even in Math. I think it's not because of the milk formulas. It's because she was nourished with my and my husband's guidance and support.
At the end of the day, it isn't whether the child was breast-fed or bottle-fed that matters but the kind of environment, support, education and love that parents give to the children that makes the difference.
I am not against breastfeeding but I am also pro-milk substitutes.
And I, definitely, am PRO-CHOICE. All mothers make choices as part of their being mothers anyway.
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