In the past couple of days, heated debates on the regulation of feeding bottles and breast milk substitutes were in the air. As usual, I like commenting when things have calmed down because that is when reason prevails. I support the government, in fact, I urge you to institute even tougher breastfeeding regulations at your home for the safety of your children. This article will show you why.

First, formula milk is not a substitute for breast milk, it only tries to mimic breast milk but it cannot replace it. While formula milk is useful in instances when there is no option of getting breast milk, it should never be considered as an alternative to breast milk. It is not an option for working mothers to forfeit breastfeeding. It might cost more than you are earning in your job to treat conditions that the formula-fed baby may get later in life due to denying them the benefits of breast milk.

Research studies have shown that babies fed on formula have inflamed guts and disoriented composition of the good bacteria (microbiota) in the gut. The inflammation in the gut and negatively affected microbiota are risk factors for several illnesses including obesity, arthritis, and diabetes. So, just like drugs are useful to a sick person but harmful to a healthy person, formula milk is beneficial to a baby without access to breast milk but harmful to a baby whose mother can breastfeed.

Secondly, let me address the emerging trend of collecting mother’s milk into feeding bottles for the mother to be at work while the house help artificially feeds the baby. It is called artificial feeding. Artificial feeding affects the baby’s ability to breastfeed effectively.

Additionally, given the difficulties in properly cleaning the feeding bottles and their nipples, biofilms with infection-causing bacteria may form on them. The biofilms can be a regular source of infections for your child, hence making you a regular client for hospitals. The excess antibiotics your baby takes when treating those preventable infections is another huge problem for their health, a topic for another day.  

Then, let me mention something about pacifiers; the nipple substitutes middle-class mothers are giving to their babies to satisfy the need to suck. Pacifiers also interfere with the baby’s ability to breastfeed. Besides, the problem of biofilm formation also exists in pacifiers. Hence pacifiers can also be a constant source of infections for your child.

I support the Breastmilk Substitutes (Regulation and Control), 2021 because the regulations are about protecting uninformed mothers from getting consumed by marketers to believe that the alternatives can replace breastfeeding. The regulations specify that manufacturers should have labels clarifying the benefits of breastmilk. They also require the removal of exaggerations on the labels. For example, some labels exaggerate that formula milk is maternalized.   

My clarion call is:

To mothers: as long as you can produce milk, breastfeed your baby. Avoid shortcuts.

To fathers: provide for your families so that mothers don’t have to forego breastfeeding looking for money to cater to family needs.

To employers: create breastfeeding spaces and allow break times for mothers who must work while nursing their babies.