Nurse said something strange about breastfed babies

[Chocolateegg123]

My 8 week old had her jabs today. The nurse at my GP surgery was taking an awfully long time getting down to business and kept faffing around such as explaining how to use a syringe for the calpol for about ten minutes. Then, she asked me if I was breastfeeding and when I answered yes, she asked how it was going.

I was honest and explained I’d found it hard and we had to combi feed etc but that my mental health had been really awful whilst breastfeeding and so I have considered moving over to formula.

She then completely matter of factly stated… “breastfed babies are more intelligent so if you can continue feeding her your milk you should.”

I was kind of taken a back as I didn’t think this was true but also is this kind of advice ok for a health professional to give? Whenever I have gone to a local breastfeeding clinic or spoken to a professional about my struggles they have never ever said anything like this?

I guess I want to know if I would be unreasonable to complain about this nurse? She has been unprofessional in the past when I went to have a vaccine during pregnancy and now this. However - is it true that breastfed babies are more intelligent? This has added to my guilt and anxiety over my breastfeeding journey now. Help!

So yep, the nurse is a pos and can be completely ignored. Sorry you experienced her bigotry OP.

Well there is definitely evidence that breastfed babies are more intelligent, but research is mixed as to whether this is a causal link.Some research studies have shown that even when factors such as parental intelligence and socio-economic differences are removed, that breastfed babies are still smarter , where as other studies have not!
The nurse wasn't wrong, as the evidence is mixed, so I'm not sure you have grounds for complaint.
Leaving intelligence Side, it is still an indisputable fact, that for many reasons, breastfeeding is best where possible.

You provided a news article, but several posters have provided many more links to a variety of other actual recent studies upthread. Have you read them? Are you going to address them all?

@ohnotthisagain2025

I suspect you're trolling here, but would you be willing to say what in your eyes makes someone a 'breastfeeding nazi'? Is it that they don't share your views on the benefits of breastfeeding? What makes them 'a nazi'?

I trained with a charity recently as a breastfeeding peer supporter, and I don't share your opinion on the evidence on breastfeeding and brain development/IQ. Does this mean I'm a 'breastfeeding nazi'? Would you be willing to point to anything I've said on this thread that you see as evidence that I'm cruel and hateful? Or is it just a term you've chucked at women in the past without thinking very much about what you're saying?

The women I trained with on the peer supporter group were mums of all ages and from a wide range of backgrounds. The thing we shared was that we'd all struggled with breastfeeding at one time. The other thing we shared was a willingness to give our time unpaid to help mums who were looking for support with breastfeeding. Would this qualify us as 'breastfeeding nazis'?

I've reported your comments by the way .

That is an interesting study and definitely a good way to rule out other factors.

I could not breastfeed (I did not produce milk!) and my son went to Oxford. Utter nonsense.

Repeating more loudly for people at the back (again) not a single study on the link between infant feeding and IQ has posited that people who were not breastfed as infants are unintelligent.

@Sp0rtB3rry

"Re the benefits of breast feeding on intelligence, it’s actually negligible which ironically is pretty obvious to anybody with a modiicum of intelligence"

Why is it 'pretty obvious to anybody with a modicum of intelligence'?

Experiences in the first year of life have an impact on infant brain development, which in turn may have an impact on cognitive development and IQ - breastfeeding is not the same as bottle feeding. Not the milk nor the actual act of feeding.

This study done by a team at a top US university suggested that the impact of infant feeding is identifiable with MRI. They looked at 133 babies ranging in ages from 10 months to four years. All of the babies had normal gestation times, and all came from families with similar socioeconomic statuses.

The study showed that the exclusively breastfed group had the fastest growth in myelinated white matter of the three groups, with the increase in white matter volume becoming substantial by age 2. The group fed both breastmilk and formula had more growth than the exclusively formula-fed group, but less than the breastmilk-only group.

“We’re finding the difference [in white matter growth] is on the order of 20 to 30 percent, comparing the breastfed and the non-breastfed kids,” said Deoni. “I think it’s astounding that you could have that much difference so early.”

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23721722/

Pointing to sibling studies from 2005 isn't necessarily the trump card you think it is. But if you want to argue that sibling studies should be the last word on this issue, this sibling study from 2025 points to breastfeeding having a positive impact on child development. “Breastfeeding Duration and Child Development,” appeared in JAMA Network Open on March 24, 2025 (Volume 8, Issue 3, article e251540).

I think the point I'm making is that just saying 'you're not just wrong to believe that infant feeding might have some impact on brain development/IQ/cognitive development - you're unintelligent' - it's like we're not allowed to have a difference of opinion on this issue without opening ourselves up to personal abuse.