Breastmilk vs Formula, a simple choice?

As I sat holding my newborn baby in my arms and thinking about my life choices I ran a quick search about how much extra protection breastfeeding provides newborns against viruses. I have a 1 week old that I’ve been working really hard to breastfeed and a 4 year old who came home with some sort respiratory virus the day after baby was born, right on schedule. 

I didn’t breastfeed my first child so the reality about how hard breastfeeding is is hitting me like a sack of hammers. I’ve been back and forth about it in such a short period of time, about whether I should consider formula. After all, my first, barely touched my breast other than a few times the first week when I very shortly tried giving him at least the colostrum. After all, I think the percentage of babies under two months of age fed with breastmilk exclusively in the US is somewhere south of 50% So, it should be more than fine to just switch to formula. Or so I thought?

New mothers, new parents in general, have more than enough pressure over their shoulders as it’s so it’s most definitely not my intention to pile on more nor it’s to pass any kind of judgement on anyone, specially new parents, trying to do their best. It’s more of an externalized internal struggle in the making as I learn more about the consequences of doing one or the other.

So, just when I was getting ready to break the brand new canister of formula that I got as a back up, after doing lots of research on brands, quality and safety, that five second google search kept me from it. 

It’s a more than less known fact that breastfeeding is best, both, for baby and mother. The world health organization stays “Breastfed children perform better on intelligence tests, are less likely to be overweight or obese and less prone to diabetes later in life. Women who breastfeed also have a reduced risk of breast and ovarian cancers” However, I wasn’t aware of the even deeper ramifications that a smilingly simple decision like breast vs formula could have. Protection against viruses ,SIDS chances, odds of developing life-long diseases, physical and neurological development, and the list kept going.  

I think healthcare providers should be required to provide way more in depth information about it instead of just asking about your choice. They should tell future parents about all the facts, in detail, and then let them decide. There should be an allotted time within the visit schedule to talk about it, no less than fifteen minutes. Because It’s hard to believe that so many parents would pay 300$ for a device like the owlet because they’re scared to dead of SIDS but they wouldn’t choose breastfeeding over formula, assuming the are reasonably able to, which offers a much higher protection against it, and that’s just one of the many benefits.