Born in 1945, I was a bottle baby. There were no commercial formula products.

[hunter]

41. My mom and my wife were militant breastfeeders.

They probably would have killed or maimed any man that got between their hungry babies and their breasts.

They promote breastfeeding as well, but not with any sort of militancy. Both of them worked to end the automatic free distribution of formula to new mothers in their local hospitals, making lactation consultants part of the discharge process.

If a new mom doesn't want to or simply can't breastfeed their baby it's dangerous to send them home with free formula if they can't afford more. Discharge planners have to make sure they are set up with WIC and other social services so they can continue to receive formula.

The Bad Old Days of the twentieth century were damned bad. Babies died or suffered lifelong health problems because they were malnourished and more susceptible to serious infections.

Affluent white U.S. Americans have a lot of trouble seeing beyond their own limited perspectives.

WIC currently serves about half of all infants born in the United States.