Ethical Issues In Breastfeeding

Controversy around Newborn Breastfeeding
In 2000 BC breastfeeding was a norm and was used as "wet nursing" (Stevens, Patrick & Pickler, 2009). According to Stevens, Patrick & Pickler (2009) Breastfeeding was used as a method of safe infant feeding since bottles or formula use did not exist. Wet nursing was defined as, "a woman who breastfeeds another's child" (Davis, 199 3, p. 2111). Wet nursing was used when "mothers were dying from childbirth or lactation failure" (Stevens, Patrick & Pickler, 2009). Ever since bottle feeding and formula use has been discovered, there has been a lot of controversy around which method is the safest for infants. Years ago, in an article written by Hila Spear, Penny, a young mother who gave birth

Consequently, there have been many ethical dilemmas regarding nurses not supporting patients' decision but rather forcing them to breastfeed without providing efficient education around it. The aim of this paper is to expand on the ethical issues around mothers who want to formula feed rather than breastfeed. In addition, explores the nurses' role in this decision and viewing the patients concerns around this issue. This paper also touches base on what nurses are expected of in terms of values and ethical responsibilities as a part of ethical practice (Stephany, 2012). The Canadian Nurses Association (CNA) Code of ethics will also be used as it discusses the ethical considerations. Along with guiding us in understating that "multi-faceted components of care, sound moral principles and the values and ethical responsibilities as laid out by the Canadian Nursing Association (CNA) Code of Ethics, are all considered as crucial and relevant to ethical decision making" (Stephany, 2012, p.

Nurses too have a rewarding job that is also stressful at the same time. They are responsible for giving patients their medications on time, making sure patients have a fast recover and also making sure they are meeting the patients' needs. Alongside, they are obligated to alert the doctor if a patient deteriorates. With that being said, nurses also have 4-6 patients each shift that they are responsible for. As much as nurses have the passion and empathy for their patients, they are also trying to match their timeline of duties throughout their shift. When it comes to post-partum care, there are a lot of teachings, skills and monitoring to accomplish which is sometimes hard to fit into one shift and patients only stay in the hospital for about two to three days depending on their labour experience and well-being. Patients agreeing with breastfeed helps prevent diseases and illnesses in the future for both mom and infant. Therefore, Ross-Cowdery et al. (2016) realized that "Although many women know that breastfeeding improves infant health outcomes… we hypothesized that informing pregnant women of the maternal health effects of lactation would strengthen their intentions to breastfeed" (p. 235). If health care professionals continue to educate patients before they go through labour, there may be a chance to increase the number of mothers breastfeeding and that will prevent poor