Published
I am in totally agreement that breast is best. But also am a big fan of cultural competence. I am not too familiar with baby friendly hospitals, but it is my understanding that they only give formula on very rare occasions such as a sick baby. But what about respecting different cultures? A large majority of Hispanic women breast and bottle feed. Some American Indians believe that colostrum is dangerous to baby and will bottle feed until milk comes in, there are many other cultures that have different beliefs on breastfeeding than what Baby Friendly hospitals would "allow" (http://www.cdph.ca.gov/programs/BreastFeeding/Documents/MO-EthnicDescriptions.pdf). How do Baby Friendly hospitals honor other cultures?