I have only just read this article. I have a few thoughts so Ill talk about them below.

Firstly, I think every mother wants the BEST for her baby. I agree that in a normal, problem free situation, breast is best. But having said that, would a drinking, smoking, drug using mother on a poor diet have the best breask milk to give her baby?

I have a almost 2 year old boy. I wanted to bf him, and I found it dreadfully difficult. I was a new mother, in a maternity ward with some midwives who mustve just assumed I had the knowledge, not just talking bf here, talking other things as well. I had plenty of mw's show me how to do breastfeed, but they each had their own technique. I found this confusing and I got frustrated. I have stange nipples. I wouldnt call them inverted, but the nipple doesnt stand out unless its cold etc. My son had trouble attaching. Some midwives would tell me he was attached and others would say he wasnt when I was doing what I thought was right. The first night we bought him home, he cried all night, I was in tears, and in a dreadful state of mind, I had had depression for about 4 years before having him, so no surprise when I developed PND. There were a number of factors that contributed to it which I wont go into here, but all that, on top of me not knowing how to breastfeed properly made life extremely difficult. In the end I rang the hospital and told them I was having trouble. They arranged for a mw to come out and see me. She showed me how to attach him and by that time I had sore, scabby, painful nipples from him being attached wrong. I think that was the first time he was able to have a proper feed, when she was there to attach him. She even showed me how to express. She also told me that day that "this baby is hungry" and he had in fact lost more than the normal 10% of his birth rate. I cannot begin to tell you the anguish that caused me. I put him on formula that day. I will admit with a bit more education and the skill and confidence to attach him properly and Im sure we wouldve been fine. I kept him on formula, and have had no problems since.

Next baby I will give breastfeeding my all. I have only just found out that such a thing exists to "suction" your nipples to make them poke out so that bubs can latch on. A small pump that you use before you are ready to feed bubs. I will be armed with one of those. I will also get a mw to come see me again if I am having problems, and I will get her (or someone) to come again if Im still having trouble. I feel second time round that I am in a better place to be successful.

Having said that, I too am on 300mg of Effexor daily and worry about this being passed on to my baby. In reality, once I stop bf the baby will have withdrawals from the medication, this worries me. Also, I worry that I will have to reduce my dosage. Knowing myself like no one else does, I can honestly say that having me depressed and not medicated enough is far worse than having a baby formula fed. These are the things that need to be sorted prior to the baby's arrival, and me making an informed decision.

Lastly, one of the benefits of bf is the increased immunity. Im not trying to cause trouble, I do agree that within the right environment breast is best, but I have a friend who exclusively bf her bub and she was always sick within her first year. My son has been and is incredibly healthy. Surely there is something in that, other than me being "lucky"?

Oh and I dissaprove strongly of 3rd world Dr's being paid by the formula companies to promote formula feeding. That is despicable!