Re: [sue already battled with] Northridge Church

My reply to another mom who doesn't attend northrigde




Re: [sue already battled with] Northridge Church
When Nicky was nine months old, I started using the nursery. He did
well the first time. The second time they asked me to bring a
bottle the next time. The third time I brought one of my last
bottles of expressed human milk. I was advised that it was a bodily
fluid, and they offered me free formula to replace the milk. I was
told that formula was safer. I was in tears.

Went into the main hall and used the free phone to call hubby enough
to settle down and drive. Many people were concerned until I
explained the issue, seeing me crying in the hall. They mostly
nodded and said safer, policy...

So I went to mothering.com for information to include in a letter.
I wrote a letter to the church and attached the CDC and OSHA links
directly to their sites which state that it is not a hazard.

In the mean time, other moms looked up northridge and sent many
vitriolic emails and phone calls about this discriminatory issue.
Northrigde called me, before I contacted them. They wanted to know
what website this came from, and what I said. I gave them the site,
and pointed out that people were angry about policies posted on the
churches site. Anita Weldon, head of discovery island stated that
the policy was due to a baby being fed the wrong bottle, and the
months of testing and doubt that the parents were forced to endure
by their pediatrician. I stated that bottle mix ups should be
controlled through proper labelling, and not a possibility. I
informed her that the wrong bottle of formula can kill a baby with
servere allergies and is much more dangerous than a bottle of human
milk. I also pointed out that only doctors should advise a feeding
change that large, and church should not. I also asked them to stop
handing out free formula to breastfeeding moms. They did not budge
at all.

I am very concerned about this matter. If a lactivist like me can
be affected so much by their callous attitude, imagine this...


A mom has been going to church, she has a baby and nurses it for six
weeks. At six weeks, you qualify for their free daycare during the
service. You look forward to spending an hour being spiritual alone
in church service. You prepare the human milk bottle, the baby bag,
the baby, you go to drop them off, and you hear from this trusted
source of information that formula is safer, and breastmilk is a
bodily fluid. They offer you the free formula to replace your
precious expressed milk, and you feel shame.

Thank you for reminding me that I should persue this issue further.

Sue