ProMoM Inc. - Promoting the awareness and acceptance of breastfeeding.

The 3 Minute Activist
Mississippi Department of Health (December 17, 2020).

Ask the Mississippi Department of Health to revise their poorly worded statement that "Infants should be fed only canned baby formula" and that breastfeeding mothers need to take unspecified additional care to be hygienic.

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Mississippi Department of Health 570 East Woodrow Wilson Drive Jackson, MS 39216 Dr. Brian W. Amy Ms. Liz Sharlot The Mississippi Department of Health's statement on the website, http://www.msdh.state.ms.us/msdhsite/_static/23,2838,247.html that mothers who are breastfeeding need to take extra precautions before nursing in an emergency, is false, misleading and harmful. In situations like Katrina, any mother who is breastfeeding would have an advantage over a formula feeding mother. Not only would breastmilk be ready and available whereas formula would not, but it would be MORE hygenic than bottle feeding. Breastfeeding mothers don't have to wash bottles or nipples in contaminated water that could give the baby diarrhea. The montgomery glands on a mother's nipple secrete a cleansing substance that keeps the feeding clean. Breastmilk iteslf is also antibacterial. A breastfeeding mother not only would have a clean food to give her child, but she would also be providing the protective benefits of living white blood cells and immunities that kick-in in the mother's body as she is exposed to diseases. (For more information on infant feeding during emergencies see http://www.lalecheleague.org/emergencyfaq.html and http://www.bfmed.org/documents/WEB-ABM-Disasters-2005-PR.doc) Your statements are troubling because they imply that most babies are going to be fed canned formula and that breastfeeding moms are somehow special and need to take extra precautions, and your statements are also troubling because they make bottle feeding seem normal. Most shocking, the statement that infants should be fed ONLY canned formula implies that breastfeeding is not to occur. That is erroneous and needs to be restated. Any implication of formula as a first choice or a normal choice promotes the idea that nursing is not normal and is rare. Please change your wording. If more moms were encouraged to breastfeed and society understood how important breastfeeding is, we could avoid many diseases in our children, especially in emergencies! (http://aappolicy.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/pediatrics;115/2/496) Please revise your statements as soon as possible. Sincerely,
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The 3 Minute Activist Mississippi Department of Health (December 17, 2020).

The 3 Minute Activist
Mississippi Department of Health (December 17, 2020).