Rush Limbaugh and Breastfeeding !!!

Today, I let out a great big happy whoop in my car before I could help it.  Rush Limbaugh had just read from an article on a study done by Notre Dame.  It went something like this:

"A new study that may provoke controversy suggests social practices and cultural beliefs of modern life are preventing healthy brain and emotional development in children.  The hypothesis was recently presented at an interdisciplinary research symposium at the University of Notre Dame.
Life outcomes for American youth are worsening, especially in comparison to 50 years ago,” said Dr. Darcia Narvaez, Notre Dame professor of psychology, who specializes in moral development in children and how early life experiences can influence brain development.  Ill-advised practices and beliefs have become commonplace in our culture, such as the use of infant formula (emphasis mine), the isolation of infants in their own rooms or the belief that responding too quickly to a fussing baby will ‘spoil’ it,” Narvaez said."  (Study Contends Some Child Care Practices Hinder Development By Rick Nauert PhD Senior News Editor).

Rush spent a few minutes discussing the implications of the study.  I got the impression that he was thinking that the close contact of mother and baby which occurs with breastfeeding was the key higher intelligence in the child.  I pulled into the parking lot of Macy's and sent a quick email to the show's email address.  Once I got home, I sent a second email:

Risks of formula feeding include: lower I.Q. scores, higher incidence of asthma, juvenile onset diabetes, ear infections and accompanying surgeries for repeated infections -- with occasional loss of hearing -- certain cancers like leukemia and lymphoma, a weakened immune system, adult onset G.I. disease (Crohns, ulcerative colitis, etc.), atopic disease/allergies, and so on.  And, that's just for those who consume formula.  Women who do not breastfeed have a higher chance of developing breast, ovarian, and uterine cancer, osteoporosis, rheumatoid arthritis, and other issues. 

Each year, 900 babies in the U.S. DIE because they were not breastfed.  Around the world, the number grows to about 1.5 million.  The negative impact to our economy in health care costs, lost productivity, and payment for formula for WIC is measured in billions and billions of dollars EACH year.

I could go on and on.  Instead, I will refer you to Core Curriculum for the Lactation Consultant, third edition, by Jones and Bartlett Learning (Publishers), Chapter 22, written by Marsha Walker RN, IBCLC.

Please consider expanding your comments of today.  The 2012 Position Statement from the American Academy of Pediatrics states that this is a health care issue, and no longer just a life style choice.  Yet, many, many expectant mothers are never provided with factual information on the risks of formula feeding so they can make an INFORMED choice.  It would be interesting to investigate WHY this is the case.  

I am not going to hold my breath, but I think it would be GREAT if he would spend a little time on this subject.  So, if any LCs or breastfeeding advocates happen to see this post and are so inclined, you can sent a short note encouraging him to delve into this topic.  His email address is elrushbo@eibnet.com. 

Now, as believers, we know that moral development of our children goes WAY beyond how they are fed or how much human contact they receive as infants.  I believe that the God-designed method of nourishing and nurturing our children through breastfeeding and "direct" mothering goes a long way in promoting optimal physical and emotional development of our little ones. 

However, once the bond has been established, and the baby has grown so he or she can begin to absorb instruction (and this, I think, is quite early, so teach away!), there is much training to be done.

When children are taught via language or actions that there is no God, or that He is irrelevant in their lives, they grow to believe there is no point in behaving in ways which require self control.  After all, there is no one to whom to ultimately answer, now or after death.  It becomes "all about me". This is what we see in today's society.

Breastfeeding is the first method to nourish and nurture a baby. The brain can grow as it should grow  and be able to learn as it should learn.  The "heart" grows in love and opens to the teachings of his parents. The development of a loving relationship with that baby is necessary for that little person to even desire to listen and learn from the parents.

The parents must be diligent to teach and train each child in the "nurture and admonition of the Lord" (Ephesians 6:4).  "When I was a boy in my father's house, still tender, and an only child of my mother, he taught me and said, 'Lay hold of my words with all your heart; keep my commands and you will live'". (Prov. 4:3-4)  

By these words the father did not mean he would let the child live (and not "take you out" like Bill Cosby says), but that the child would truly live a more blessed life.

Sounds easy, doesn't it?  Of course it is NOT! It takes much prayer, sacrifice, and relying on the Lord to make US into the type of parents necessary to train our children.  Even then, we will fail at times, but God won't.

We know that outward morality is not the ultimate measure of one's spiritual condition.  It is not the goal which believing parents seek for their children.  Just as we are born once, physically, we must be born again, this time spiritually in order to be a member of God's eternal family. Just like our first conception and birth, God "owns" our second birth, yet we also bear responsibility.  Therefore, parents have the responsibility to teach their children about man's sinful nature and how God has solved man's biggest problem -- sin-- through the work of His Son, Jesus Christ, including His substitutionary death on our behalf.  (Calvinists and Armenians, please continue on.  I will not bog down on this matter at this time.  Thank you.) 

God is always sovereign and in total control of the lives of each person He has created.  We can trust in His love for us and our little ones when we are weak and fall short in our roles as parents.  We also can rejoice when we see how He blesses when our hard work is revealed in right thoughts and actions in the lives of our precious little (and big) ones.

Rush Limbaugh did not go into all the spiritual implications of parenting.  If he had, and did so according to Scripture, I might have done more than let out a whoop!  Still, I was so very glad he mentioned the link between breastfeeding and NORMAL physical and emotional growth.

That's it for this post.  I will be discussing the factors which are found in mature human milk which make it perfect for human babies . . . hopefully in the next post . . . unless I hear something else about breastfeeding on the radio or TV!