A brand-new newborn. According to BFHI rules, he must maintain continuous skin contact with Mom and start breastfeeding within the first half hour. “Breast is best,” but current efforts to increase the rate of breastfeeding may be misguided. A recent article in JAMA Pediatrics by pediatricians Joel Bass, Tina Gartley, and Ronald Kleinman… read more "Efforts to Encourage Breastfeeding Like the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI) May Have Unintended Consequences"
Questioning the Evidence for Breastfeeding
Is breast best? Yes, but it’s really not much better than formula in the United States. The better you account for confounding factors, the more benefits of breastfeeding disappear. Six years ago I wrote about the evidence for breastfeeding. I questioned an article that claimed 900 babies’ lives could be saved… read more "Questioning the Evidence for Breastfeeding"
I Am Not Your Enemy: An Open Letter to My Feminist Critics
Note: The previous post is my usual weekly contribution to SBM. I am taking the liberty of posting this additional entry today on an issue that is peripheral to Science Based Medicine. If you are not interested in the recent squabbles within the skeptical movement, you will probably want to skip it.… read more "I Am Not Your Enemy: An Open Letter to My Feminist Critics"
Breastfeeding Is Good but Maybe Not THAT Good
An article entitled “The Burden of Suboptimal Breastfeeding in the United States: A Pediatric Cost Analysis,” by Bartick and Reinhold, was published in Pediatrics 2010 April 5. According to this news report, it showed that 900 babies’ lives and billions of dollars could be saved every year in the U.S. if we… read more "Breastfeeding Is Good but Maybe Not THAT Good"