Editorial: Breast best but not for everyone

According to two recent studies, if you are not breastfed you are going to be 30 per cent dumber than the person sitting next to you and you are never going to be the Prime Minister of New Zealand.

One study into breastfeeding says it boosts a baby's brain development by 30 per cent and the other suggests it can increase a person's career prospects and social standing in later life.

Unbelievable. I'm all for breastfeeding, but to suggest that babies who are bottle fed will grow up with fewer job prospects and friends and less intelligence is ludicrous.

And while I say I'm all for breastfeeding, I would never presume to look down my nose at those who choose not to.

It is an entirely personal choice.

I've seen young mothers agonise over giving their babies a bottle. They are made to feel guilty, in most cases, over doing something about which they have little choice.

The people who moan about this are very likely to be the very same ones who balk when they see mothers breastfeeding in public.

It's the same with the hue and cry over selective caesarean sections.

Again is it really anybody's business but those involved?

There could be any number of reasons and so what if it is because the mother-to-be doesn't want to go through all the pain of natural childbirth.

All the mothers I have known always do what they think is best for their child and their family.

So next time you have the urge to pass judgment just remember - mother knows best.