Emily Oster on Breastfeeding - minimal benefits.

[IamOvercome]

I am pregnant with my first and am an economist so I was recommended books by fellow economist Emily Oster. The books don’t give advice. They review the statistical studies underlying pregnancy advice and whether they are any good or not.

It’s been such an eye opener. For example it is pushed pushed and pushed some more that breast is best. But when you review the evidence there is minimal evidence for benefits of breastfeeding for babies. The strongest evidence is actually for mothers that it can marginally reduce chance of breast cancer in later life.

Same with not introducing babies to bottle to confuse them when breastfeeding. Literally no concrete evidence for it.

Yet this is all pushed as clear cut facts by midwives and other health professionals.

Solidarity, @Twizbe. I feel you.

I agree too about women in history. Although the comment above about family sizes and spaces is interesting too. I would say that this is because wet nursing was common at this time amongst more wealthy families. And it would be the wealthy families who would be more likely to be remembered/recorded for history purposes.

No, nothing to do with the rich using wet nurses. Ordinary families are recorded from the 1841 census onwards. And ordinary families produced lots of children born fairly close together.

To be fair with wasn't talking about 100 years ago when milk substitutes might still have been used and co sleeping (in the west) perhaps wasn't as common, I was talking cave people days or at least pre industrial revolution (poorer women might have had the pressure to to get back to work straight away meaning leaving their baby for someone else to feed.

And regarding tube to get periods back, I'm in an older baby Facebook group with thousands of members and they other do polls in when people got their periods back and between 12-18 months is by far the most common, some even stating much longer times.

*times to get periods back.

*often do polls!

Sorry.

Here is one of the polls

For me it wasnt about statistical benefits!

I'm a mammal. I've got breasts right their for feeding babies. I had a supportive family. I wanted to do it, I enjoyed doing it, it felt right - it's a very nurturing physical thing.

I understand many people can't do it or don't want to and that's absolutely fine for them. For me it was a positive and enjoyable thing.

No, nothing to do with the rich using wet nurses. Ordinary families are recorded from the 1841 census onwards. And ordinary families produced lots of children born fairly close together.

It's been common since the Victorian era to a)supplement breastmilk as early as 12 weeks b) try and spread feeds out c) discourage night feeding.

My periods only ever came back a month so after I stopped feeding at night . Around age 10m or so.

@OfstedOffred

No, nothing to do with the rich using wet nurses. Ordinary families are recorded from the 1841 census onwards. And ordinary families produced lots of children born fairly close together.

It's been common since the Victorian era to a)supplement breastmilk as early as 12 weeks b) try and spread feeds out c) discourage night feeding.

Yes, and perhaps early solids weaning too?

www.nct.org.uk/baby-toddler/feeding/early-days/benefits-breastfeeding
The NCT trains breastfeeding counsellors and they know every last detail about breastfeeding. Read the above link for benefits.

There is probably very little research on breastfeeding because there is no money to be made. The idea that it doesn't have many benefits seems counter intuitive. Evolution is amazing!

@NurseBernard

Breastfeeding gives you a respite from periods - but 12-18 months seems far-fetched to me.

Surely, in days gone by, women has more kids closer together, than by modern standards.

It’s no good going by one’s own circle - that’s meaningless in the grand scheme of things. As I say, I EBF’d for 6 months + (breastfed for longer) with both DC and got my period bang on 5 months both times. Also co-slept with DC2 (was too terrified to with DC1, and more chilled with DC2).

Period free for about 22-24months between each kid. It was fab! Then my fourth one couldnt breastfeed due to serious medical issues but i expressed (and still express) for her. Got my periods back after a few months but then quite a big gap and only very recently has it returned regularly (she is 20months).

I could only dream of such a respite.

To be fair, I was ‘glad’ it came back relatively quickly after DC1 as we wanted a small age gap and started TTC when he was 7 months old. But I’d have loved no period for ~2 years.

Now tapping my fingers, willing meno to rear its head!! 😆

@Twizbe @SpaghettiNotCourgetti Snap! I fed my first for 10 months, 2nd for 2.5 years, co-slept, no formula. The first time either of them slept for 5 hours(which didn't last!) seemed to trigger my periods to come back at 8 weeks. Soooo irritating. Would have been lovely to have had a break from periods!

@gogohm
The Lullaby Trust states that it is safer for your baby to sleep in a separate clear space near you but provides some guidance for co-sleeping because they recognise some people will still do it. That doesn't mean it's safer though.

The evidence the Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative actually makes any positive difference is very poor and there is increasing evidence of harm - from babies being readmitted because of it (1 in 17 EBF babies are now readmitted), poor maternal mental health caused by it and some baby deaths. It also costs hospitals to implement it, as well as the costs of treating the problems it causes.
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8476409/

jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/article-abstract/2546142

That doesn't mean it's safer though.

The thing is, that once again, for most of human history, women will have co-slept with their babies.

If it’s no longer ‘safe’ it’s because our social constructs have moved us away from it. Not because it’s inherently unsafe.

Not so long ago, it would not only have been safe, it would have been the safest option.

The only definite thing about periods and BFing is don't depend on it for contraception

Combi-fed and no night feeds after 8 weeks for me = no periods until 11 months
Once they did restart they tended to cause a dip in supply for a few days, which is no big deal at that stage as I was only BFing twice a day.

I think there's a lot of misinformation given about breastfeeding to expectant mothers. One of the biggest misconceptions I had is that it's solely the mother's choice whether or not to continue breastfeeding. I never imagined my daughter would have such a strong opinion on how she was fed. (Maybe that's just my daughter's personality.) If my daughter hadn't been so insistent I probably would have switched to bottles at 6 months and I did try. But she would never take a bottle. And now here we are a fortnight away from her turning two and she's still being breastfed. And it's not because of any of the reasons given to me at my antenatal appointments. It's because that's what my daughter decided and because it was easier to whip my boob out at 3am than get up and go through all the rigmarole of making up a bottle when I'm really tired. And because it's the option that works best for me and my daughter. Everyone has different lives and they have to do what's best for them. I think a happy mum and a happy baby is best. A fed baby is best too whether that's by breast or bottle is unimportant.

And throughout history babies have died in their millions. But now we know how to make things safer.

In countries where co-sleeping is the norm it's often on mats on the floor etc not our squishy mattresses.

It's up to each family whether they co-sleep and hopefully they get informed how to make it a bit safer, but I found the pressure to do it (especially in relation to BFIng) was intense. I did hold out though - DD is now 6yo and has never slept in our bed. She slept perfectly happily in a Next2Me by my side of the bed until 6 months, then went into a cot in her own room.

For what it's worth breastfeeding hasn't stopped my daughter from getting sick. She seems to be getting a bug every other week ATM. Granted they don't make her too unwell, but she still picks things up all the same. And as for my daughter I can tell she's getting other things from it other than nutrition. It's definitely a comfort to her.

That ‘nipple confusion’ is bs needs reiterating for all new Mums.

I think there are 2 key points to add to this being:

1. It's not ethical to run research studies on infants (or new mothers) so gaining the type of data evidence in a volume valid for publishable conclusions is extremely difficult. Any available data is often a secondary outcome from a different primary cause and not in controlled study environments.

1. You need to understand why the breast is best phrase was coined at all - and research the Nestle formula scandal from 1981 in which an estimated 68000 babies died. And ongoing studies into benefits of formula are funded by the same profiteering corporates and unmatchable by the NHS or charities. Nobody profits from breast milk after all.

We have to consider the data that is absent and why, alongside what exists.

Both similar and different here: still breastfeeding 2.3 year old daughter, periods returned at 12 moths, bit with a short luteal phase initially. That went back to normal gradually, we started TTC 7-8 moths later and the second baby is due in June.

We are co-sleeping now, but didn’t until 7-8 months old. Before that she was very happy sleeping in her Snuzpod, which actually was always 50cm or so away from our bed. From about 6 months she would stay in our bed at about 6.30 an for a last couple of hours’ sleep. At 7-8 months we tried to move her out of the Snuzpod into a bigger cot in our room and she was having none of it. We’ve co-slept since, but she’s beginning to spend the odd night in her cot now (of her own initiative).

@Somethingsnappy

There are some countries, where breastfeeding and cosleeping are ingrained in their culture, where SIDS is relatively unheard of. The rise in risk in this country is because we have a culture that includes smoking, alcohol and drugs. Deaths that occur as a result of falling asleep on a sofa or armchair for example, are all grouped together with other cosleeping deaths, which also include alcohol related deaths etc. As a result, the statistics are highly biased. If parents learn about, and follow safe cosleeping practice, the risk of SIDS is not considered to be increased at all.

Exactly this!

@WhatNoRaisins

This topic always turns nasty. We should be questioning why do many people have trauma and baggage when it comes to infant feeding and why we are being pitted against each other

❤️ so true