Why is it that women...?

Because the last 50 years of society has brain-washed them that way. Women (especially American woman) have had it beaten into them to not educate themselves about birth and their bodies.

Women have been trained to think of birth as an illness and breast-feeding as icky and unnecessary.

It's an f'in disgrace.

The people who trot out crap like "birth is dangerous" are WRONG.

The people who say things (like the girl above) like "formula never hurt anyone" are also wrong. Formula use is linked with a large range of things from learning disabilities to asthma and allergies later in life.

In the words of Elizabeth Gene "Women should not feel guilty if they are unable to breastfeed, but they *should* feel guilty if they are unwilling to do so, and they should be intellectually honest enough to know the difference."

Yes, you can always say things like "My child was a formula-fed c-section and he's just fine!" But how do you know your baby wasn't supposed to be Einstein and you ruined it?

because that's how we are brought up. We have been conditioned to think since we where little that doctors where very very smart people, we somewhat put them up on a pedestal, so when women get told that they "need" to do this or that then instinctively think, okay well he's a doctor so he must be right and this MUST be done. Im not saying that there aren't times when medical procedures like induction or csection are needed BUT a lot of the time they aren't immediately unnecessary. Many women through their pregnancy have their baby time filled up with things like doing the nursery, shopping for cute baby clothes...material things that don't really mater and can be done later. Women need knowledge during their pregnancy to have the best possible outcome for their birth.

KNOWLEDGE IS POWER

Unfortunately many women are too afraid about birth so they avoid anything to do with it whatsoever or just don't care enough about it all. More and more women everyday accept their traumatic birth and go on to believe silly things like "my baby was just too big" " my cervix wouldn't open" " i was too small for my baby" when actually these things could have been prevented with some knowledge to have an outcome of a beautiful birth that makes them confident for anymore of their births in the future not terrified and riddled with worry.

Birth is wonderful, we just need to get knowledge and know how we can make it the best possible. Without being so scared out of our wits about the pain and already having their minds set on being numb from the waist down. Our bodies are amazing things. You aren't dying, the pain cannot be stronger than you because it is you. We need to learnt to relax more and let our bodies do what they are meant to do.

I don't really like it when people judge "all women" on some things that "some women" do, but regardless, I am pretty much the woman you are talking about. And this is what it comes down to- choice. We have a choice to follow what advice we want and what advice we don't want to take. Also, there are many factors- most that are unrelated to medical reasons why I choose not to breastfeed.

Formula feeding has never killed anyone, or harmed them for that matter.

because how you feed your baby is a personal choice! some women dont feel comfortable breastfeeding their child, some women cant breastfeed their children due to medical complications, or being on medicines that cant be taken while breastfeeding..

thats why formula is made - for mum's who decide not to breastfeed..

whereas i dont think having an IV is a personal choice.. its a medical necessity. Doctors do know best to an extent, but doctors are wrong more often than not in my opinion!

The doctor knows best when it comes to medical things. However, it seems like people now don't see breastfeeding as a medically neeeded thing. So, they think it's their choice... which it is, but medically speaking it is best to breastfeed. Some women just don't want to have to bother or they NEED to go back to work asap and can't do both...

well most mother's will tell you to Breast Feed, MOST DOCTORS WILL SAY THE SAME I did breast feed my children, but my sisters didnt and there is nothing wrong with neices, they are the same as every other child! i think doctors get paid to tell you breast feed! or maybe it is so that the hospital doesnt have to give you formula wile you are there. lol hope this helped.

My doctor didn't pressure me into anything when it came to my birth experience. I did my research and made educated decisions. I also made an educated decision in choosing my doctor and shopped around instead of grabbing the first person in the phone book with an opening.

Not all women are helpless sheep. Not all doctors are pushy.

Any doctor who says "you need to breast feed" to the mother of a healthy infant is giving unsound medical advice. He/she may say "Breastfeeding has more advantages than formula," but saying "you need" is just plain false. The majority of us who were bottlefed are living testament to that.

Get off your high horse and think.

Edit: to the brilliant doula beneath me - "But how do you know your baby wasn't supposed to be Einstein and you ruined it?"

Well, I'm pretty sure you weren't in the running. Let me guess, you were bottlefed?

Because breastfeeding is NOT a necessity, there are other means, and it depends on the families circumstances. For example my wife is expecting twins and we have our 3 year old nephew living here, we are going to bottlefeed them simply because it's more convenient for our family, breastfeeding twins would be way too difficult, and my wife is also diabetic. Don't judge, why do you care about how other peoples kids feed anyway? As long as they are fed who cares how?

Well probably because those are potentially life threatening things and we are not doctors. We put our trust in our doctors to do best for us and baby. But, breastfeeding is not a matter of life and death and a lot of women work - it's hard for them to breast feed.

By the way Jenn, not everyone can breastfeed. I couldn't. I didn't have my milk come in well enough and had to rely on formula.