I am absolutely astounded that you have allowed Daphne Caruana Galizia’s article Land of the big boobies (TMID, 7 September) to be published in your newspaper.
Ms Caruana Galizia has made far too many errors to mention, and in fact each and every one of her negative comments and assumptions about breast-feeding can easily be proved wrong.
It appears that she knows more about breast-feeding than WHO, IBFAN, WABA, UNICEF, etc., and all the many other highly respected international organisations that have spent many years and tremendous amounts of money doing research and studies and have conclusively proved that breast-feeding both saves and improves lives.
This applies both in the “hot” countries she mentions, where whether a baby is breast-fed or not can often make the difference between life and death, and here in Malta, where babies suffer from allergies due to ingesting non-human milk, and are at risk of becoming ill through consumption of a non-sterile product. Also, human error comes into play, as in any other country.
All these problems are non-existent in the breast-fed baby.
Ms Caruana Galizia seems to find any bodily function performed in public unacceptable.
Bearing in mind that eating and drinking are also bodily functions, perhaps we should close down all bars and restaurants and perform these functions only in the privacy of our own homes!
If and when articles such as the one she has written are responsible for any mother opting to formula feed rather than breast-feed, which then ends in infant death or illness/disease, will her conscience, and that of the person who allowed it to be printed in this newspaper, be clear? I think not!
A quote from Unicef: “Babies who are breast-fed have fewer illnesses and are better nourished than those who are fed other drinks and foods. If all babies were fed only breast milk for the first six months of life, the lives of an estimated 1.5 million infants would be saved every year and the health and development of millions of others would be greatly improved.”
Sarah Cutajar
Mellieha