After all, all the food we eat is basically from other animal and vegetal species; something doesn't have to come from the human body to be good food for humans.

But I'm curious: why were the two options presented in the article either use a (cow-milk-based) formula to feed your baby, or get him/her a wet nurse? Don't American women like to breast-feed their own babies? (I noticed that this was rather rare among the women I met will very small babies, but I didn't really understand why. Was it the pressure of keeping their careers afloat? And what, by the way, do they do with their milk, if they don't breast-feed their babies?)

Yes, breast is best, but c'mon . . . these tactics do amount to shaming women into desired behaviors, under the mask of a "public health issue." I can't imagine what the equivalent campaign would be for a men's public health issue.

If the AMA and other associations are serious about promoting breast feeding, here are but a few more pragmatic ways to do so, ideas that focus on the institutional barriers to breastfeeding rather than shaming individuals:

1) Promote workplace protection for breastfeeding mothers, including time and places to breastfeed or pump without penalty and enacting better childbearing leave policies that give women the time and support to develop breastfeeding habits;

2) Establish tax credits and other incentives for companies that provide quality, affordable onsite childcare so that women can continue to work and breastfeed; and

3) Provide insurance coverage for breastfeeding education, lactation consultations and nursing support services.

It's much easier to rachet up the pressures on individual mothers, however, than it is to look at institutions and policies that inhibit breastfeeding rates.

Tactics like these are not about promoting breastfeeding; they are slick public relations ploys designed to vilify women who make the "wrong" choices by associating them with activities perceived to be disgusting. These tactics are wrong, wrong, wrong, but they are all too common. Women seem to be unable to acknowledge that choices other than their own are acceptable.

Parenting is hard enough, and involves enough guilt, that women attempting to heap guilt, approbation, and now disgust on other mothers should be ashamed of themselves.

Anyone who has actually seen a calf nurse would be quite distracted by their previous image. A calf has its legs within an hour or so after birth. When they nurse, they lunge and butt at their mothers' udders hard. I often wondered how cows stood it.

Of course the human breast is best because the immunities acquired are to the diseases of humans and not cows. However, not all women can produce enough milk to nurse through the first year, not all women who work are able to manage the logistics of nursing or pumping.

I cannot understand why anyone would object to wet nursing. Different women have different immunities. I would think that the best health outcome would be for babies being nursed by two or three mothers.

Women are not imaginative enough sometimes in solving their problems. For instance, a mother who worked at night could trade nursing duties with a mother who worked in the daytime. Both women would be better rested and their babies better fed.

Other animals nurse and willingly trade baby sitting not only with their "friends" but sometimes even with other species. However that calf nursing photo is just ridiculous. Ouch!

It's very difficult to say that breastfeeding is the better option in terms of nutrition and bonding without implying that formula is a worse option nutritionally and propping up a bottle (which not everyone does) is a worse option relationally. I don't think we need to soft-pedal information about the benefits of breastfeeding to avoid implying a relative judgment about formula and bottles. The judgment is valid. All other things being equal, breast is best.

All other things rarely are equal, and the choices are rarely so straightforward. For example, quitting a job to facilitate breastfeeding exclusively may not be in the best interests of that infant over the long term, or even over the short term if a mother cannot maintain her own nutrition and her sanity. It would be nice if we could all say, "Do the best you can within the realities of your life" and then give women credit for doing just that. It would also be nice if we didn't need other women to make the same choices in order to validate our own.

Many women would like to nurse their babies but can't for work-related reasons. People still have to make a living. Not many workplaces are accomodating to women who want to nurse or pump on the job.

Many families must have two parents working two jobs in order to survive. Moreover, single mothers have little choice but to leave their babies in the care of others when they work.

What happens to the milk when the mother's don't nurse? Production of milk depends upon the baby continuing to nurse. When the mother doesn't nurse, the milk production ceases.

I was all for breastfeeding until my milk didn't come in. It happens folks and more often than you think. My baby was getting nothing or close to it and screaming for food. My sister was there and told me to feed him a bottle. I did, he slept and we are all happy ever after.

I pumped for about 2 months and then let that go since my son was primarily bottle-fed. Oh well. There are so many other things to worry about, mothers should not sweat this one. Your baby will be just fine.

"Many women would like to nurse their babies but can't for work-related reasons. People still have to make a living. Not many workplaces are accomodating to women who want to nurse or pump on the job."

Well, yeah. And pumping sucks, besides. Is there anyone who enjoys pumping? It was pumping that really made me feel like a cow.

1. Our culture privileges motherhood over all the other choices that women legitimately make.

2. We still have issues with our own mothers.

3. Women are often hiding their true selves and their blunt opinions of men. Of note is how women sometimes talk about men when no men are around. If spouses/boyfriends are unsupportive, that anger often has to go somewhere. A woman makes an easier and sometimes a less dangerous target than a man.

4. Our culture makes us insecure mothers. Wherever we turn, there is advice, expert opinions, and ultimately blame for how our children fare.

The above are just a few theories. Don't ask me for proof. We are all entitled to our opinions.