Breast milk is an important aspect of keeping a growing baby healthy. It provides nutrients that protect against illnesses, diseases, infections, allergies, obesity and more.

Many health organizations like the Centre for Disease Control (CDC) recommend breastfeeding as a healthier alternative to formula feeding your child. It’s more natural and lacks the synthetic chemicals that are used in baby formula.

Studies have also shown that breast milk is easier for babies to digest than formula, but there is no evidence that it’s inherently dangerous.

Some women choose not to breastfeed for a multitude of reasons. For adoptive mothers, who are unable to lactate, baby formula is a good alternative.

Biological parents choose to feed their babies a mix of breast milk and formula, even when the mother is capable of breastfeeding exclusively.

The CDC advises that babies be breastfed for the first six months of their lives. 60% of babies are breastfed until they’re six months old, and 25% of those babies are breastfed exclusively.

Those guidelines are simply advice, and at the end of the day, women have the right to choose how they feed their newborns.

One woman was horrified when her choice was taken from her… by her baby’s childcare provider.

A woman who has chosen to remain anonymous, wrote to Dear Prudence on Slate.com, where readers can ask for advice.

She explained her situation as a single mother of an adopted baby. She is unable to lactate, and so made the decision to formula-feed her daughter.

“I am a working mom as well, and found a home daycare provider who seemed amazing—she has two kids of her own (one a little older than my daughter) and has run this home daycare for five years or so.” – Anonymous mother

The mother recounted a moment where she had been put off by a comment the care provider made on the first day, when she pulled out the formula bottles when dropping her child off in the morning.

“You feed her that slop?” – care provider

The woman brushed it off because she was used to hearing opinions from other mothers about the formula, so she let it go.

Two months later, she got off work early and went to get her daughter.

She went in through the side-door without knocking and started the sign-out process to collect her child. One of the daycare assistants tried eagerly to engage her in conversation, but the mother wasn’t in the mood for a conversation, and just wanted to see her baby.

“When I got to the area of the house where my daughter was, I about fell over. The daycare provider was NURSING MY BABY!” – Anonymous mother

Naturally, she was horrified by what she saw and stormed over to get her child.

The provider wouldn’t apologize, and said that she was saving the baby from formula chemicals. Not only that, she went a step further, and said the mother should thank her for doing it over the last two months!

She got her baby back to safety and asked Prudence what to do. Should she report the woman? Put her on blast on social media? Contact the other parents who use that daycare to warn them?

Prudence responded with as much shock as you and I are feeling:

“Oh my GOD. That is my first thought, it’s just: Oh, my GOD. If this isn’t worth reporting her to a supervising agency, I don’t know what is. […] This is a huge breach of trust, a total violation, and absolutely worth reporting. Please do it.” – Prudence

When you leave your child at daycare, you’re handing over the most precious thing in your world, and putting trust in the care giver. What this woman did was a total violation of that trust, and definitely warrants being reported.

Who knows what other decisions she’s been making without the knowledge of the other parents!

Hopefully this woman took Prudence’s advice and reported this daycare worker to stop her from doing anything like this again.

Please SHARE this with your friends and family.

Source: Slate, CDC