Also "Formula-fed children have about twice the risk of vomiting or diarrhea during their first year."
Yes, that's bad. But it's not that bad. Try your best at breastfeeding, and if it doesn't work out, so be it. Better to focus your energy in being a good parent in other ways that you can excel at than dwelling on what isn't working for you.
Good advice, as far as I'm concerned. The decision to skip breastfeeding is irreversible if you stop producing milk, whereas you can always switch to formula. So it makes sense to try breastfeeding first and see if it works for you.
Make sure you get help. Breastfeeding isn't obviously easy, even though it seems like it should be. There are a lot of tricks need to get the baby to take it.
Don't give up easily. There is a reason formula samples are free in the early days, it doesn't take too many "just this once since it is on hand" events and mom is unable to produce any milk. Then you discover that formula is not cheap when it is too late.
That said, bottles are only slightly worse if at all. So if you need to use it, do so.
Yes, my wife had so many problems in the beginning. The newborn had to stay in the hospital for a week to treat an infection and there it was bottle fed. The milk wasn't going so the breasts needed massaging to clear the ducts and get it started. Then the baby wouldn't latch properly, she was also weak and sleepy from jaundice. We had to buy those little silicone nipple shields and that helped. It was a lot of struggle and my wife almost gave up on several occasions. But now after 11 months she's still breastfeeding and hasn't even used her breast pump or given formula ever. There is a friend of hers who pretty much gave up immediately and started using formula. It seems to be a trend, since we always get praised by our pediatrician and other doctors for continuing breastfeeding.
That was more an example of the SIZE of some of these correlations, rather than how bad diarrhea is. The effect is huge. Breastfeeding is more effective than a lot of medicines.
Yes, that's bad. But it's not that bad. Try your best at breastfeeding, and if it doesn't work out, so be it. Better to focus your energy in being a good parent in other ways that you can excel at than dwelling on what isn't working for you.