This blog was originally titled Who says that formula doesn't kill!
However I have considered the comment below by Lonely28 I have re-titled it.

The following quote is taken from this press release here

The WHO in the Philippines estimates that 16,000 babies die every year because they are not adequately breastfed, with the marketing activities of companies like Wyeth, Abbott, and Mead Johnson contribute to this extreme level of infant mortality. Bottle-fed babies and those fed foods other than breast milk make up 90% of those that die under the age of six months.

Wyeth gives out ‘gifts’ to health workers in the Philippines. Further, according to Alex Padilla,
Undersecretary of the Ministry of Health in the Philippines, “new mothers have often been given infant formula by doctors and midwives in the hospitals, on commission from the milk formula companies.”

“In our view the gifts are thinly veiled inducements handed out in the hope of increasing product sales with a disregard for the health of babies”, said Dr Mark Zirnsak of the Uniting Church.
“I call on my fellow Australians to put pressure on Wyeth, Abbott, and Mead Johnson to see the court case in the Philippines dropped. This could include avoiding the purchase of products sold by these companies, where possible, until they stop their evil plans”, said Fr Brian Gore, Regional Director of Columban Mission in the Philippines who was imprisoned under the Marcos regime.

I am strongly opposed to the methods used by the formula companies. That is part of the reason I was so upset by the attacks on MummaBears blog recently. Ok so some people have to give their babies formula. I am not attacking or criticising you.

I acknowledge that formula is better than the alternatives (eg cows milk, or condensed milk) for infants under the age of 12 months, WHEN BREASTMILK IS NOT AVAILABLE.

but

• I think it is a big shame that more women aren't better supported to continue breast feeding.
• I think it is a shame that breast milk banks aren't available use by women who are unable to produce breast milk for their baby's.
• I think it is a shame that when I sat down to breast feed my daughter my three year old nephew asked " Aunty Kim where is the bottle"?
• I think it is a shame that "Australia lags behind the rest of the world with breastfeeding. Only one in three Australian mums continue to breastfeed babies until six months of age well under national health recommendations and world average breastfeeding rates"
• I think it is a shame that so many women are afraid to feed in public or have been asked to stop breastfeeding in public.

You can find information to back up the original title here. But it is not my wish to upset mothers who use formula. Only to inform people of the irresponsible practices of the companies who market the product.
While many of you would like to believe that formula is an innocent harmless product there is much information out there to suggest that this is not the case. If you want to read more on this topic have a look here.

This post is from from my other blog here

I have been trying to do baby sign with Natalya but it is harder than I thought it would be. Try signing to a baby while you are holding her!

Try remembering to sign when you have been getting up to a baby all night!

The one sign I have been fairly consistent with is milk. It is made with both hands and looks like you are trying to milk  a cow.

On Saturday Natalya did a one handed version of it that Haydon and I both agree was an attempt at the sign. It can be hard to tell what is an ...

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Last night I substitute the carrot for pumpkin in my carrot and ginger soup recipe. Tonight to add a little variation I have added a few king prawns and some snow peas. Served with fresh bread from the bread maker. The cooking bug continues.
Haydon isn't home tonight - he is working so I will try to resist the urge to make sweets. That butterscotch pudding from the Quick and Easy food group is really simple to make and eating it is addictive!

I just changed Natalya's nappy again. In addition to the usual number of wet nappies today we have had 5 crappers and one of those was a real change all the clothes bum blowout!

Her record, not that I usually count (she may have actually done more) was 8 in one day. That was 4 bum blowouts - change the clothes etc and 4 pooey but contained ones and then a few wet ones on top of that. We counted that day because we had a 5 hour drive from Rotarua to Palmerston North.

I recently got out my old bread maker that I hadn't used since before I left my first husband more than 5 years ago. The instruction book had fallen apart and the recipes lost and then At one stage I lent it to my mum but got it back with the wrong measuring cup.
In the end I emailed panasonic and they said it was a 1988 model. My ex bought it new in 1991 just after we got together (I was very young back then!). Anyway they didn't have the original recipe book but they did have an electronic copy of the updated book that was released in New Zealand.
Since getting the book I have made
a few loaves of white bread, spicy cheese bread, raisin bread (I used mixed fruit instead) and pizza dough from their recipe book. I also got brave enough to try making Syrian bread from a recipe I found on the internet (it is a flat bread, you make the dough in the bread maker and then divide it and flatten it and cook it in the normal oven.
As well as the bread maker I have been getting back into some old and new recipes
I had lost my Quick easy Zucchini Soup recipe and recently caught up with an old friend I had given the recipe too. She has adapted the original recipe to and fries fresh onion in butter instead of using flakes and she uses cream instead of milk powder . She couldn't remember the original quantities so I decided to try using the onion in butter but still using the milk powder and just winging it for the quantities.
It works and is very tasty. Haydon really likes it.
I recently found a recipe for a quick easy risotto in the microwave. I only made my first risotto last year.
Tomorrow night I will try the butter scotch pudding from the quick and easy food group on Minti and later next week I will try Chelinkals yogo pudding recipe from that group.
I do like my food and it is good to get cooking again!

This post is from from my other blog here

Yesterday morning both Natalya and I woke up with coughs. It was annoying but not too bad. Then last night about 10ish Natalya’s cough got really bad and had a very disturbing pitch.

My husband Haydon is a registered nurse. In fact he has spent the last few days manning the Accident and Emergency department for the morning shift. When he heard her cough last night he became concerned by the pitch that it may be whooping cough.

So off to the emergency department we went. Just as we were waiting to be let in throught the late night entrance Natalya coughed ...

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This post is from from my other blog here

She is not letting me have a night off to sleep. I keep having to hold her both during the day for her to sleep and often at night too. Last night she actually slept in her cot but I still had to get up umteen times to feed her and change dirty nappies.
I have also been baking. Pizza dough and bread in the breadmachine and also my mums eggless Mocha Date Cake.
Natalya got the all clear from the neurologist.

The washing never ends, neither does the housework. Must admit I am not getting as much done as I would like ...

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