Merry-go-round of Mothers’ milk

Today, children are being born in a pre-packaged world. Everything is available in packages including the baby food. In some cases, child is exposed to artificial food in the very first week. Gone are the days of wet nurses, but the formula milk is there to help mothers who either could not breastfeed their babies or choose not to do so. In Europe and America during the early 19th century, practice of feeding babies mixtures based on animal milk rose in popularity. And it also initiated the debate on its health and environmental concerns.

As paediatricians became increasingly concerned about the quality of such foods, medical recommendations such as Thomas Morgan Rotch's "percentage method" (published in 1890) began to be distributed, and gained widespread popularity by 1907.These complex formulas recommended that parents mix cow's milk, water, cream, and sugar or honey in specific ratios to achieve the nutritional balance believed to approximate human milk reformulated in such a way as to accommodate the believed digestive capability of the infant.(source: Wikipedia).This also reinforced that the human milk is best suited for the human babies . Not to miss the planet they are born into!

Formula milk has its impact on child’s health and on earth’s environment. Other than exceptions, when mothers can not feed their children due to health reasons, formula milk has helped nobody. In any case, the percentage of women who physically can't breastfeed is VERY small. It has been promoted to all mothers since late 19th century. An advertisement for artificial infant milk, by Nestle, appeared in the ladies’ home journal was way back in 1895.

We (read market) have always been cleaver to come up with options, which have helped the consumers less than their producers. Our desire to look for solutions has, mostly, given us new set of problems to solve. Formula milk came as solution to wet nursing and gave us unhealthy children. It has been recognised since the advent of manufactured infant milks that infants fed on such products suffer more illness. They are denied the benefits of auto immunisation of mother’s milk. It also introduced children to the world of rubber and plastics through feeding bottles. Contamination of formula milk (Even in developed countries with refrigeration, clean water and sterilising equipment),impact of packaging involved and its impact on environment……..the list of disadvantages is long. To tackle the situation new solutions are being worked out.

Scientists are trying to come up with a substitute for formula milk, as it’s now widely considered a less healthy substitute to breast milk. According to the Telegraph, scientists have recently introduced 300 GMO cows that produce milk genetically similar to breast milk.

When the world is still debating the impacts of genetically modified food (both for animals and humans), health concern associated with the use of breast like milk from these GM cows is not clear so far. Going by our past experiences with such experiments, it wouldn’t be too presumptuous to say that the emerging solution/s to this self generated problem can again lead us to a new level of troubles. Wouldn't it make more sense just to breast feed in the first place in stead of going Marry-go –round with mothers’ milk?

To see a world in a grain of sand

And a heaven in a wild flower,

Hold infinity in the palm of your hand

And eternity in an hour.

- - William Blake, “Auguries of Innocence,” c. 1803