Comments on: Breastfeeding Goes Against Big Pharma Vaccines

By: Tinamarie Bernard

Tinamarie Bernard — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 17:52:24 +0000

Anyone aware of the inner workings of big pharma know that political agendas influence decisions to varying degrees with results that don’t always bode well for the public health. They are stock holder driven companies as much as advocates for R&D. These pressures rise all the way to the top and beyond the corporate world; hence the accusations that the FDA and CDC, among others, are subject to making decisions at times counter to the publics best interest.

What’s more, we are dealing with mothers in poor countries who may not have access to same educational materials, and could misinterpret what is being asked of them by those suggesting/advising/pressuring them to stop breastfeeding under these circumstances.

Turning a blind eye to the medical concerns of vaccinations – remember, ALL meds have side effects – is irresponsible. Dismissing naturalpathic concerns isn’t panicking – it’s saying, let’s look at the whole picture.

Until we can reconcile allopathic with holistic medicine, we are only getting part of the picture. Advocating for science and for nature benefits us all.

Stopping breastfeeding seems like an irresponsible suggestion when the resources exist in our world to ensure proper sanitation, food, hygeine, and water which are shown to benefit an entire community. Some have suggested that these are equally essential to the eradication of diseases as much as vaccines. Why millions are living in poverty and diseased regions sans proper medical care occurs for man reasons beyond the scope of this comment, including the age old adage: follow the money….

For the record: I worked for over 11 years for big pharma, have a degree in the sciences, and am hardly what someone would label an ardent environmentalist (yes, I write for Green Prophet, I know, I know). What I am is someone who refuses to believe something is good for me just because an imperfect institution tells me it is. Nor am I a member of the La Leche league or any other breast feeding advocacy group.

By: Patti

Patti — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 02:04:32 +0000

Did you even bother to read the CDC source article? It says nothing about stopping breastfeeding. Nothing. It says that delaying breastfeeding after immunization might be helpful but they need to evaluate that. Therefore, this is much ado about nothing. No one is saying to stop breastfeeding. They aren’t even saying to delay breastfeeding. They are saying they might look into the idea. That is it.

So, stop panicking.

By: Bryony Parrish

Bryony Parrish — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 22:00:58 +0000

Leaving aside any issues with vaccination – the article seems to discuss the short-term, passive immunity provided by breast milk as equivalent to the long-term immunity provided by vaccination, which is rather misleading. After all, the antibodies and other immune factors present in breast milk will only benefit the infant at the time they are breast feeding and not later in life (unlike vaccination).

And returning to vaccination, each vaccine and its side effects would need to be considered individually, but there has been irresponsible reporting on vaccinations (MMR being a case in point) and so parents finding the benefits of vaccination controversial hardly carries any scientific weight. Saying that, I agree that any case for stopping breastfeeding would need to be weighed very carefully against its disadvantages, especially in developing countries.