Stop calling breastfeeding ‘natural’ – it creates parents opposed to vaccinations

The label gives the impression that breastfeeding is healthier and better, say the authors, Jessica Martucci and Anne Barnhill from the medical ethics department at the University of Pennsylvania, who have launched a campaign to stop the positive use of the word ‘natural’.

Writing in the American Academy of Pediatrics’ journal, Pediatrics, they say the use of the term creates “unintended consequences”, such as being anti-vaccination. “Studies have shown that anti-vaccination sentiment tends to overlap with reliance on and interest in complementary and alternative medicine, scepticism of institutional authority and interest in health knowledge, autonomy and healthy living practices,” they say.

“If doing what is ‘natural’ is best in the case of breastfeeding, how can we expect mothers to ignore that powerful worldview when making choices about other health practices, like vaccination?”

(Source: Pediatrics, 2016; doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1542/peds.2015-4154)

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