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!

it is the truth that there are particular amino acids in breast milk that specifically build human brains. These can’t be found in other milks as our bodies make them specifically and they’ve not yet been able to synthesise them for formula. But there’s no evidence this directly links to intelligence, mostly because you couldn’t ethically do that study. So it’s possible but not proven.

I wasnt breastfed. I am currently unemployed. I have a PhD. All of these are true.

This makes me so sad that anyone makes new parents feel worse. There is way too much parental guilt without adding to it!
It’s lovely to hear so much support for you OP. I hope you are taking it in. You do whatever works best for you and your family. Parenting is a long road and things don’t always go as planned. That’s just life. Hug your baby and don’t give those careless words another thought.

Utter bollocks. Stealth boast but my formula fed babies both managed to get firsts from two of the top unis in the world and are both thriving in highly competitive careers.

The nurse does not follow up on every child she has ever seen, and monitored their feeding and their subsequent intelligence.

i bf dc 1 exckusively for the 6m till weaning. Then with food till 1.
they did get exceeded on all sats. Incl 120 on spag.

however they have asd and adhd. And very demand avoidant.
i did think she maybe gifted as she spoke extremely well very early. She could then do cvc work reading at 3 and chaoter books by 5. However she isbt gifted, is actually mostly hard work and has been activeoy disliked by almost all teacher and has few friends.
also had a lot of severe ear infections around age 3

dc2 also bf exclusively till 6m then weaned. And then bf until around 3.
she also seemed pretty bright. But again adhd signs. Though she gets along ok with teachers but does seem to have some social issues.

looking around their classes and year groups the brightest seeming kids
have dr parents...
or maths etc degree parents
teachers kids also do well because they work with them at home
so mainly genes
personality traits too though as
Calm, motivated, resilient, happy, friendly kids

objectively my dc was doing very well early on but other facrors like personality, provate school, good state school woth motivating rewards etc have made most difference

Bf can be really hard work (and some of the kids then dont sleep) so 'intelligence' probably just reflects that

Jesus Christ. I am a huge advocate for breast feeding, it has loads of benefits but she is talking total crap.

What has really pissed me off is you have chosen to share with her that you are struggling and instead of being empathetic and acknowledging your struggles and sign posting you to some support. She to make a comment to make you feel like crap but also spread false information. I think this nurse is in the wrong profession.

I hope you can get some support if you want to continue breast/ combi feeding. The association of breastfeeding mothers and the breastfeeding network are both brilliant. Everyone’s breastfeeding journey is different but from my experience it does start to get easier after the first 3 months.

I'd call that "discounted research"

Breast milk is better but that doesn’t make formula bad . Formula is great for babies too. It’s more important mother and baby are happy and bonding what ever that looks like.

yes I would complain, it was an inaccurate comment designed to create guilt.

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

When I was pregnant with my eldest in 2019 I went to an NHS breastfeeding class. The midwife said (this is a direct quote) "formula is cow's milk. Cows have large bodies and small brains and that's what babies who are fed formula will have". My jaw hit the floor.

Plenty of research to show that breast milk is better than formula health/nutrtion wise however like everyone said the intelligence link isn’t proven. She should not have made that comment especially when you expressed your mental health concerns.

Breastfeeding absolutely wrecked my mental health and I switched to formula soon after so if that’s what you need to do then so be it. Another poster mentioned about the food you feed them post weaning and that is a very valid point because that will matter more in my view as a healthy and varied diet will set them for life.

Nobody is telling her to continue, as you confirm you didn’t bother to read the replies.
Most replies are advising her to do what is right for her.
FF is how most babies are fed, I don’t get the angst, nobody cares.

this might make you feel better. But also explains why people might think like her. https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/jun/20/is-breast-really-best-i-looked-at-all-the-data-to-find-out

TLDR - siblings where one is breastfed and the other is not show almost no difference in intelligence.

Just ignore her and do what works for you. It also is bollocks (and I say that as someone who BF all children exclusively for the first 6 months and then carried on BF until 2.5-3 years). None of mine are geniuses, both have SN and one has severe learning difficulties.

But this isn’t a petty little comment. It’s inaccurate and insensitive. Imagine how many other mums she’s saying this to - some who will be really struggling. The OP should absolutely complain.

@Chocolateegg123 with DS1, I found bf really difficult and very painful. I had infective mastitis and then a breast abscess. The community midwives and hv were overbearing about breast feeding. When I was struggling my hv actually said "well bottle feeding mothers put themselves first and breastfeeding mothers put the baby first." I needed permission to stop and that comment pushed me into PND and another week of agony - breastfeeding with drain from the abscess taped over my shoulder.

I gave up bf after 8 weeks and was heartbroken and unwell and felt a complete failure who was letting down my baby.

DD was much easier to feed and I had learnt more about it. I fed her for 8 months.

They are grown up now and all of the following is true.

DS1 limited breast then formula:
Bronchiolitis, eczema, asthma, repeated ear infections.

DD breast until 8 months
Bronchiolitis, eczema, asthma, repeated ear infections.

DS took a first from Oxford, has a PhD and has already published a 4* monograph.

DD took a first from Cambridge and is a teacher.

The best thing about breastfeeding is that the DC don't remember it. They remember their first graze and mummy's arms, their favourite dinners, scoring their first goal, coming last in a race and knowing they are loved and mum is always there to mend grazed knees and broken hearts.

I know a lot of people who were dedicated to bf and then once weaned fed their dc absolute shite the years post bf are equally if not more important.

Report her - she is peddling nonsense.

Sorry haven’t rtft but she’s probs referring to this or similar? https://www.bbc.com/news/health-31925449.amp

“Dr Bernardo Lessa Horta, from the Federal University of Pelotas in Brazil, said his study offers a unique insight because in the population he studied, breastfeeding was evenly distributed across social class - not something just practised by the rich and educated.”

The nurse was probably thinking of this study. They found that breastfeeding can increase a baby's IQ - dependent on their genotype. It's an interesting paper.

Breast-feeding and FADS2 polymorphisms on IQ: Evidence of gene–environment interaction

Authors:
Avshalom Caspi, Terrie Moffitt, et al.

Journal:
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS)
Year: 2007
Link to article

---

🧬 What They Found:

The benefit of breastfeeding depends on a baby’s genotype, specifically the FADS2 gene.

FADS2 helps convert precursor fats into DHA (docosahexaenoic acid), a key fatty acid for brain development.

Babies with the “CC” or “CG” version of the FADS2 gene got a 6–7 point IQ boost if breastfed.

Babies with the “GG” version didn’t show that IQ benefit from breastfeeding.

Yes there is a link & it’s always be known. She should have worded her comment more carefully but this is in no way cause for a formal complaint - is it really worth all the expense to the NHS & the grief and stress you will cause to her? Sorry you experienced this though.

@Driftingawaynow and @AmyFl

Yep, I reckon the practice nurse has read those research papers in full, alongside the papers that indicate infinitesimal difference. I reckon she's discussed them with Lactation Consultants and paediatricians and they have mutually concluded it's acceptable to make the comment she made to vulnerable mothers who are struggling to breast feed.

Well done both of you 👏 👏

My mum has 3 pure formula fed children. One is a solicitor, the other a GP and the third a social worker all with masters degrees and who have passed their eleven pluses. Absolutely no correlation at all.

Yes it is if it prevents the grief and stress such silly and ill judged comments make to new and vulnerable mothers. Let's put the mother at the heart of best practice for a change.

Yes it's true. Breastfeeding is better all round. Do you have a problem with facts? Cow's milk is also for calves, while we're stating facts.

That is not how statistics work. You don't just pluck out a random example that shows the opposite. You look at the data overall. I'm a social analyst.

@skinnyblonde what an unempathetic comment to a new mum who is feeling vulnerable and sensitive and has done her very best.

Fed is best.