So far 'breastmilk from a bottle' is winning handily over "formula from the breast" in this week's poll.
I thought you might want to know how the authors who posed this question answered it in The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding (review and contest). Here's their response:
There's no right answer, but in today's world, many women would automatically choose the product over the process because human milk gets all the glory. Studies of human milk are straightforward; relationships are hard to study. We have tons of research on the importance of a precious fluid that just happens to be delivered from your breast. But this book also celebrates the relationship - the heart of breastfeeding - not just the fluid. Breastfeeding is a connection as well as a food source, a baby's first human relationship, designed to gentle him into the world with far more than just immune factors and good nutrition. It's a way of mothering your baby - a relationship that develops feeding by feeding, building trust, closeness, knowledge of each other, and a deeply connected attachment that lasts long after weaning.
This is in a section entitled, "What makes this book different from other breastfeeding books?"
Do you get the impression is that the authors come down in favor of the breastfeeding relationship over breastmilk, if forced to choose? Your thoughts, please!
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