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“Breast is best”. This well-known slogan is meant to convey that babies should be fed exclusively with breast milk. The mantra is so ubiquitous it is widely assumed to be uncontroversial – even though many of the tenets of breastfeeding ideology are in fact contested.

While few would deny that breast milk has some health benefits over formula milk – including protection against infections such as diarrhoea – there is debate about their extent, and how they should be weighed against the mother’s well-being if breastfeeding goes badly, not to mention her right to do as she…