A mother who is having extreme difficulty breastfeeding asks about alternatives for breastfeeding.

Answer: Not being able to breastfeed one's baby can be extremely dissapointing. In the days of our ancestors, wet-nurses helped out. Sometimes, it meant sending our babies to a nearby village for months at a time! Nowadays, there are standard commercial formula preparations, but not all babies tolerate it well.

Other options include breastmilk donated from other mothers, however it can be difficult to maintain. Many of my non-breastfeeding famlies prefer using the certified raw milk formulas instead of commercial formula preparations. The concept of consuming raw milk from a cow or goat seems archaic, however the rationale is that human milk is also raw milk, and all raw milk is a living food that contains many healthy ingredients including enzymes and protein. In the United States, certified raw milk (i.e. cow) is produced under stringent rules and regulations and is superior to all milk which comes from dairies which produce milk for pasteurization.

The raw milk formula that my patients prefer comes from Sally Fallon's book, Nourishing Traditions. The information on Raw Milk Baby Formula, Goat Milk Formula, Fortified Comercial Formula can be found on the Weston Price Foundation website. These formulas take into account that human breast milk is different from cow or goat's milk, therefore it requires extra supplementation. Although there is quite a laundry list of ingredients, my patients tell me it is very easy to prepare. For more information about milk go to realmilk.com and organicpastures.com.