re: What does a "lactation consultant" do?

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What does this tell us? That babies who are born at 27 weeks don't have mothers with enough milk production? Having worked in the NICU I can tell you this is a big part of it. But a lot of mothers still came by to breast feed and pump. Formula is great, but you can't replicate the immune system that mothers milk provides. Fwiw, I don't have kids and don't really have a dog in this breastfeeding fight. I work in the medical field and strongly believe that women should breastfeed if at all possible.

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My observation with this involves calves nursing. I've seen orphaned calves feed a regular diet of formula vs calves who are allowed to nurse for , say 8 months. The difference is like night and day. The calves that nurse are incredibly more healthy than the orphaned calves.

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Not so sure unscientific is the word you're looking for here

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Unscientific is the word I was looking for though perhaps I may be mistaken in its use. I usually do not consider these studies scientific because there have been no real control groups in any studies I have looked at. That being said, there may be newer studies I am unaware of.

In terms of genetics, unless these these genetic (even if it is the presence of genetic triggers associated with IQ increases rather than actual differences in the genes, which I think is more likely) differences are noted in siblings, I'm not sure if that can be conclusive (how much is breastfeeding vs genetics passed on from parents).

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There are still lots of important antibodies in regular breast milk.

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There are but the bulk of the benefits are during the period when colostrum is produced, that is when the benefit is substantial vs marginal (though I do believe marginal may be underselling the benefits a little, but I was not the one who stated that anyway)

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Babies in the nicu get formula. That is all you need to know. Breastmilk is better, but formula ain't far behind.

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What does this tell us? That babies who are born at 27 weeks don't have mothers with enough milk production? Having worked in the NICU I can tell you this is a big part of it. But a lot of mothers still came by to breast feed and pump. Formula is great, but you can't replicate the immune system that mothers milk provides. Fwiw, I don't have kids and don't really have a dog in this breastfeeding fight. I work in the medical field and strongly believe that women should breastfeed if at all possible.

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Not all babies in the NICU are premies or low birth weight babies, though most are. But not all babies in the NICU are formula fed either. Some moms go to the NICU to breastfeed, depending on the baby and many do pump. I haven't worked in a NICU but my youngest spend time in there (she was born with SVT, c section about 2 weeks early). She looked like a giant in there, my wife breast fed as best she could and pumped. But, as I discussed earlier, she has some issues that made that difficult plus she had to leave the hospital before our daughter so some supplementation with formula ended up happening.

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Fwiw, I don't have kids and don't really have a dog in this breastfeeding fight. I work in the medical field and strongly believe that women should breastfeed if at all possible.

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I actually agree with you but I have seen my wife on the receiving end of the condescension and I think that is what most of the negativity in these posts is aimed at.