--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: in a middle-class US suburb, medical…" description: "\"“in a middle-class US suburb, medical costs for artificially fed babies were fifteen times that for breastfed babies.”\" — Gabrielle Palmer" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ef0/gabrielle-palmer-891_quote_in-a-middle-class-us-suburb-medical-cost_1107201.jpg" --- # in a middle-class US suburb, medical costs for… ![“in a middle-class US suburb, medical costs for artificially fed babies were fifteen times that for breastfed babies.” quote by Gabrielle Palmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ef0/gabrielle-palmer-891_quote_in-a-middle-class-us-suburb-medical-cost_1107201.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ef0/gabrielle-palmer-891_quote_in-a-middle-class-us-suburb-medical-cost_1107201.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ef0/gabrielle-palmer-891_quote_in-a-middle-class-us-suburb-medical-cost_1107201.jpg) > ““in a middle-class US suburb, medical costs for artificially fed babies were fifteen times that for breastfed babies.”” [Gabrielle Palmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabrielle-palmer/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Artificial feeding dramatically raises infant medical expenses compared to breastfeeding. **In simple terms:** Bottle feeding costs more medical care. Key Takeaway Consider breastfeeding when possible. Themes health economics parenting public policy Mood concerned informative Type analytical advocacy When to use this quote - new parents - policy debates - insurance planning Key Concepts cost disparity infant nutrition healthcare utilization Questions to Reflect On - What barriers prevent families from breastfeeding? - How can policy reduce cost gaps? A Different Perspective Breastfeeding may not be feasible for all families. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet ## Related quotes > [“An exclusively breastfed child can die, just as an artificially fed child can survive, because of a range of risk factors, but this does…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabrielle-palmer/an-exclusively-breastfed-child-can-die-just-as-an-artificially-fed/) [Gabrielle Palmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabrielle-palmer/) > [“A Chicago study of 20,000 infants, all from poor families, all under the supervision of local welfare clinics, revealed that at nine months of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabrielle-palmer/a-chicago-study-of-20-000-infants-all-from-poor-families-all-under/) [Gabrielle Palmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabrielle-palmer/) > [“It is important to remember that it is still only a minority of the world’s population that can be artificially fed from birth without…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabrielle-palmer/it-is-important-to-remember-that-it-is-still-only-a-minority-of-the/) [Gabrielle Palmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabrielle-palmer/) > [“It is now known that even in a rich country, a millionaire’s baby who is artificially fed is less healthy than the exclusively breastfed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabrielle-palmer/it-is-now-known-that-even-in-a-rich-country-a-millionaire-s-baby-who/) [Gabrielle Palmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabrielle-palmer/) > [Medical costs are soaring because our health-care system is totally screwed up. 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P. J. Abdul Kalam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-p-j-abdul-kalam/) > [One of the biggest reasons for higher medical costs is that somebody else is paying those costs, whether an insurance company or the government.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/one-of-the-biggest-reasons-for-higher-medical-costs-is-that-somebody/) [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) > [Obamacare's terrifyingly cumbersome, competition-hostile apparatus for controlling medical costs is one of its most obvious flaws.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heather-mac-donald/obamacare-s-terrifyingly-cumbersome-competition-hostile-apparatus-for/) [Heather Mac Donald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heather-mac-donald/) ## More by Gabrielle Palmer > [“The BFHI was designed to protect and promote exclusive breastfeeding, but its provisions always included the acceptance of medically indicated replacement feeding. When this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabrielle-palmer/the-bfhi-was-designed-to-protect-and-promote-exclusive-breastfeeding/) [Gabrielle Palmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabrielle-palmer/) > [“Babies who do not sleep ‘through the night’ alone in a cot, as soon as possible after birth, are seen as a ‘problem’.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabrielle-palmer/babies-who-do-not-sleep-through-the-night-alone-in-a-cot-as-soon-as/) [Gabrielle Palmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabrielle-palmer/) > [“a midwife’s role was to work with nature, whereas a doctor was trained to seek out its defects and remedy them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabrielle-palmer/a-midwife-s-role-was-to-work-with-nature-whereas-a-doctor-was-trained/) [Gabrielle Palmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabrielle-palmer/) > [“a product presented as ‘closest to mother’s milk’ might actually include potatoes, fungi and beans, depending on the price of course.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabrielle-palmer/a-product-presented-as-closest-to-mother-s-milk-might-actually/) [Gabrielle Palmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabrielle-palmer/) > [“It is difficult to insist on breastfeeding because nurses and physicians are eager to have the infant show the greatest possible gain.”12”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabrielle-palmer/it-is-difficult-to-insist-on-breastfeeding-because-nurses-and/) [Gabrielle Palmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabrielle-palmer/) > [“In some countries, pumping has become the default method of expression, and hand expression has become an afterthought. It would be safer if it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabrielle-palmer/in-some-countries-pumping-has-become-the-default-method-of-expression/) [Gabrielle Palmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabrielle-palmer/) > [“The parts of the brain which influence social and emotional relationships do not develop automatically but in response to the way a baby is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabrielle-palmer/the-parts-of-the-brain-which-influence-social-and-emotional/) [Gabrielle Palmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabrielle-palmer/) > [“Breastfeeding mothers, sleeping by their babies in three-sided cribs with the open side joined to the adult bed, respond quite differently from mothers whose…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabrielle-palmer/breastfeeding-mothers-sleeping-by-their-babies-in-three-sided-cribs/) [Gabrielle Palmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabrielle-palmer/) > [“In the same way, breastfeeding is seen as a woman’s topic. 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