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“They robbed me of that experience with my child”
Dear Activist, About four years ago, an antibiotic-resistant infection changed the life of Nicole, a mom from Kensington, Maryland. This situation could happen to anyone and is becoming increasingly common. But we can fix it. And you can help. Tell your lawmakers to pass legislation to save antibiotics for medicine, not factory farms. Nicole leads what she jokingly calls a “pretty crunchy” lifestyle. She grows her own organic vegetable garden, sticks to local and organic meat and limits the amount of processed foods in her pantry. After three-and-a-half weeks of breastfeeding her newborn baby, Thomas, she developed mastitis. “Sometimes the milk duct can get infected and it’s very painful,” Nicole said. “You’re supposed to work through it… but it got worse and worse. On a scale of 1 to 10, the pain became a 30.” Nicole received antibiotics from her OB/GYN, but it quickly became apparent that they weren’t working. A team of doctors from different hospitals and offices soon discovered that she had antibiotic-resistant MRSA in her breast. The infection was spreading rapidly, and everyone was concerned that Nicole’s C-section incision would soon become septic as well. Nicole was stunned by the whole situation. By far the scariest part of Nicole’s infection was learning that it had spread to her breast milk, putting her newborn at risk. “It was devastating to me. The worst part of this whole thing for me was being told I couldn’t breastfeed anymore. It was worse than the pain. They robbed me of that experience with my child.” It took over four months and a lengthy stay in the hospital for Nicole to finally beat her antibiotic-resistant infection. The unfortunate reality is that she is not alone — 2 million Americans experience antibiotic-resistant infections every year, resulting in at least 23,000 deaths. And these infections can affect anyone, no matter who you are or how you live. This public health crisis is preventable. We can solve this problem. Factory farms are a breeding ground for antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Every single day, factory farms are feeding their animals regular, low doses of antibiotics to make them grow faster and to prevent disease in filthy, crowded living conditions, creating superbugs that are resistant to antibiotics. In fact, the factory farming industry uses a whopping 80% of the antibiotics sold in the U.S. They’re allowed to play by their own rules when it comes to antibiotics, while we suffer the consequences. That’s why Food & Water Watch has launched this campaign to stop factory farms from abusing antibiotics. Our members of Congress won’t act unless we spread the word and build public pressure to convince our lawmakers to pass federal legislation to save antibiotics and save lives. People like Nicole shouldn’t have to go through that kind of ordeal and miss out on some of the most valuable and rewarding experiences of their lives just so factory farms can cut corners and turn a bigger profit. Thanks for all you do, Miranda Carter |
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