Breastfeeding advocate says myths are formulated
Kelowna’s Ingrid Tilstra believes if people understood the difference between breast milk and formula, more would be determined to breastfeed their babies.
Tilstra is a lactation consultant and has been a volunteer for 28 years with the La Leche League, a non-profit organization that educates and advocates for breastfeeding.
Tilstra said it’s not news to her that commercial milk formula is not the same as breast milk.
“I would encourage you to read the ingredients on a formula label,” she said. “It’s really quite terrifying.”
According to the La Leche League website, human milk is designed to meet the developmental needs of human babies and protects against illness. But, they say, exploitive and misleading marketing from the global formula industry has propelled that industry’s growth over the past 20 years to an estimated US$55 billion per year, according to a July 2022 article in the Lancet, a peerreviewed medical journal.
Parents normally want the best for their children and the commercial milk formula industry leverages that sentiment by suggesting formula is a solution for normal infant behaviour such as fussiness, gas or not sleeping through the night.
Most people want to breastfeed, said Tilstra, but only 30 to 35 per cent make it to the World Health Organization’s recommended six months of breastfeeding.
“Our breastfeeding rates are low not because women don’t have enough milk, but because they are getting bad information,” she said.
A study on the health and nutrition claims of 757 formulas published in the British Medical Journal in February 2023 found manufacturers made common claims such as formula supports development of the brain, strengthens a healthy immune system and supports growth and development.
Most products, however, didn’t provide scientific references to support those claims and those referenced were not supported by strong clinical trial evidence.
One of the most common reasons women move from breastfeeding to commercial milk formula is because they misinterpret common baby behaviours as signals they are not producing enough milk.
Tilstra said human infants have small stomachs and human milk is digested effectively, so in the first six weeks especially, babies are going to want to nurse all the time. That doesn’t mean the mother doesn’t have enough milk.
“That lack of understanding often leads to supplementation and once you start down that road unless you get some help to back it up, you’re likely going to end up not breastfeeding,” she said.
Tilstra would like to see more support for breastfeeding, something she claims is lacking at Kelowna General Hospital.
“If someone is having an issue in the hospital, their baby won’t latch, they’re immediately handed either a nipple shield or a bottle or both,” she said. “There’s no actual help.”
When asked about support for breastfeeding in the Kelowna area, Ashley Stewart with Interior Health advised that across the region perinatal nurses, specialized frontline nurses with enhanced skills and training to support new moms breastfeeding, provide breastfeeding support to all new mothers while in their hospitals.
There are obstetric nurses with lactation training at the hospital and public health nurses in the community who can provide information to new families.
Maternity care nurses who have completed a certified breastfeeding course provide postpartum home visits within 48 to 72 hours post-discharge and support any identified breastfeeding concerns from the mom. The nurses can also do follow-up home visits if the mom/baby are experiencing significant breastfeeding challenges.
There are also breastfeeding clinics at the Rutland Health Clinic and West Kelowna Health Centre.
Tilstra said pediatricians could be better informed about lactation and breastfeeding.
Tilstra encourages people to educate themselves by attending La Leche League meetings virtually or in person.
To find out more about the La Leche League Canada and access its free resources, go online to lllc.ca.