I am writing about the issue in caption. I read both articles by Ms Caruana Galizia regarding breastfeeding. This controversial journalist shows how ignorant and arrogant she can be when she writes about breastfeeding. It is a pity that we have people like her to misinform the readers. No wonder we lag 20 to 30 years behind our north European counterparts on this issue! In Malta, consumer groups are far from empowered and that is why Ms Caruana Galizia could be so abusive. She would not publish such rubbish in north European countries without having a massive reaction. Beside being arrogant, she is equally pervasive to compare suckling a baby in public to having sex in public!

Ms Caruana Galizia appears to be oblivious to the fact that mothers in Norway, Denmark and Sweden breastfeed their babies for a very long time. They do this even in posh restaurants and not, as she tries to make her readers believe, “outside a hut somewhere very hot”. Maybe Ms Caruana Galizia, although claiming to be possibly the sharpest kid in class, has forgotten her geography.

When stating that it was right to ask a woman to breastfeed her baby in the lavatory, this must be because she must be used to have her dinners in the lavatory, or else she must have forgotten all the hygiene principles, which she claims she has! The baby has the right to be fed in the same place where we eat or have we forgotten about the rights of the child? Where are our principles or is it only lip service when it comes to the rights of the child!

The writer seems to be unaware that a number of babies also die in developed countries because of infected formula and there were times when batches of formula had to be withdrawn from shelves for this reason. Not long ago, babies were dying in Israel because of the formula they were being given.

Ms Caruana Galizia states that the baby does not care whether the milk comes from the nipple or out of a rubber teat. Of course, the baby has no choice since it is the mother who decides whether to give human milk or cow’s milk to her offspring. Mothers are known to choose the best for their infant if they have the right information.

It is very pathetic to label mothers who breastfeed for two years as “strange maniacs”. No wonder the stigma on mental illness, and this from a person who should know better.

The taxpayer is forking out more money to pay for our healthcare. Recent research published in the Lancet, found that bottle-fed babies face a higher risk of dying from heart disease. Ironically, today we are celebrating World Heart Day. We first increase the incidence of heart disease because we do not trust what mother nature has provided for our offspring, and later on in life we pay to try and correct these induced health problems. There must be something wrong with the reasoning of some of us.

Lastly, I do not blame Ms Caruana Galizia for not breastfeeding her three sons since she might not have had the right information about the importance/benefits of breastfeeding the human infant. She made an uninformed decision, possibly through no fault of her own. Today, mothers are given as much relevant information as possible, but it is then up to them to decide what to do. One cannot withhold information on the pretext that the mother may feel bad if she decides not to breastfeed her baby. Here, I would like to ask Ms Caruana Galizia to refer to the documents issued following the UN World Summit for Children in 1990 and the Earth Summit held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 1992.

Margaret Abela

QORMI