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MEDIA: Channel 4 Documentary placed on Mon 28-Jan-08 16:33:11
Ever thought of cross feeding?
Channel is developing a documentary called Wet Nurse. It's a fascinating subject and we aim to make an informative, compassionate and fair documentary exploring the need of a wet nurse in today’s modern society.
Wet nursing is back in fashion and this is because of health scares about formula milk, increase in plastic surgery with women who have breast implants often being unable to feed their own child and women making a lifestyle choice: they don’t want to breastfeed nor want to use formula milk – and gay couples who have adopted but don’t want to use formula milk and for obvious reasons can’t breastfeed.
I’m particularly keen to speak to women who are or would use a wet nurse - or - women who want to or are cross feeding
We want to know as much as possible about this complicated issue so get in touch and tell us your thoughts!
You can email anna.edwinson@granadamedia.com or call directly on 020 7261 3375
I posted this on the other thread - here it is again
Hey, Anna, how about you make a programme about the woeful lack of information and support available for women with regard to breastfeeding both antenatally and postnatally?
And, also, you could look at formula manufacturer marketing in this country and the shockingly underhand ways they make their product known and seen to be indispensable by health professionals and parents alike? This undermines women massively, because the very people who are meant to be supporting them to breastfeed have been bombarded with misinformation and scaremongering by companies who have a profit interest in infant nutrition.
And when you consider that 90% of the women who stop breastfeeding within the first six weeks wanted to continue - and cite poor support as the reason they stopped - well, I'm amazed there's a seeming conspiracy of silence in the mainstream media about it, frankly.
Feel free to email the contact address on this site -it's to me - and I'll give you all you need to know if you're interested?
Oh Hunker, stalk her, that;s the kind of programme that needs to be made, not some form of 'Oh, look at that freak letting someone else baby breastfeed from her' which I assume this will turn out to be.
I too would feed someone elses baby btw, not as a job for payment though, as a friend.
I would love to see a documentary about wet nursing, however I know C4 will make it into a freak show rather than a sensitive and thought provoking piece of journalism
like i said on the thread which was pulled (and a pity it was pulled - it was MN at its most ascerbic and funny, sigh)
i wonder how many MNers would touch C4 with a bargepole after the Bringing up Baby debacle.
and while you are at it, have a look at this video for hunker. It is about Indonesia but the tactics used in the UK while a bit more sophisticated - all undermine bfing in similar ways.
Kiskidee, thank you very much for posting that. I'm watching it atm.
That poor woman, losing her little twin son like that, after the doctor sent her home from hospital with formula Reminded me of this photo and the story behind it
Do you know, I'd love to be involved in an informative documentary or programme about b/feeding or cross feeding.
However, I dont trust C4 to not make the participants look like freaks or weirdos. I've heard about the interesting editing that goes on when Bringing Up Baby was on.
Interesting line on that clip - "every one of these producers is in competition to see that every infant born gets infant formula" - well, yes, that's the point of marketing products.
But why is it OK to screw about with the sole source of nutrition for babies in this way?
The world's gone mad - there's far more emphasis on whether you buy a Bugaboo or a Maclaren and what colour to paint the nursery antenatally - and not nearly enough emphasis on how important it is likely to be to have spent time thinking about how you'll feed your baby.
Formula manufacturers play into that, sending glossy info to expectant mothers (Bounty packs, Emma's Diary, etc), having heavily-branded and advertised forums for them to chat about their pregnancy concerns, etc - where, no doubt, employees of the companies hang out to dish out the "don't let anyone make you feel guilty if you can't breastfeed" message...a key part of the marketing strategy now that they can't advertise infant formula openly.
I was talking to DP about this last night, and he was a bit 'You what?you'd feed someone elses baby?' then when I asid imagine if someone we were close to was ill or something so couldnt feed their baby but wanted to bf, he was in total agreement that it would be a good thing to do, was quite surprised actually, he's a bit squiffy with a lot of things.
I just really hope this programme shows positive role models and not crazy women like the majority of the documentaries lately.
Piffle - tell us, tell us! I'd love to hear your amazing story (although how to tell it now without if being paraded as part of the freak show...?) Hunker - that link. I hadn't seen that picture before. I burst into to tears.
It's one of those "I don't want to think about it in one go, I must think about it in tiny nibbles and then think of something else and know all the time I am going to try to make things better somehow" stories, Astrophe, isn't it? and yes,
<waits eagerly for piffles story> I think cross feeding, as it actually invovles using your body (rather than donating iyswim) is similar to the surrogacy type situation, I'd like to think that it would be shown as sensitively if this programme goes ahead as surrogacy would be.
ok Briefly (you wish) I was 23 ds1 was 5 mths and my best mate Jude had a 4 mth old dd - we both bf. Now we were each others support a single mums so we used to sit each others babies while we got ahircut or did a shop or whatever. Just an hour here or there. one day Jude was going out for haircut and left her dd with me. Unknown to me, she was hit by a car on a pedestrian crossing and had a ruptured spleen. When she did not turn up after 2 hrs, her dd was howling and I had little option but to feed her myself, I could not have ff her as had no money, no bottle, no knowledge and her mum was dead set against formula as was I. It felt weird, not quite right as it does with your own, but not wrong. So... when her dd had settled I waited another hour and then rang the salon, who told me she had not turned up. I panicked and about 15 mins later the phone rung and the cops told me she was in surgery and intensive care. I explained re the baby and they said could I keep her overnight, I said erm yeah no worries. So just did it again and again. Went to see Jude next day, was struck that she would ask what ahd I done and I was suddenly really frightened that she'd freak out. She didn't actually and was really amazed and chuffed. Thanksfully she was fine and in mormal ward the next day, and able to feed again after changing meds. Taht's it really
Channel four should do a programme on mothers who are planning to rbeastfeed during pregnancy and then see just how much help they get from HCP's, including nonsense HV's M/W's GP's etc to show how disgraceful the information is that is out there, then get the mothers the needed help through the volunteer programmes to show just how little support there is.
They could easily produce a programme with such shock value it got a lot of viewers, something like 'The true face of a breastfeeding focused government'.
There are what? about 9 ante-natal threads on MN at the moment, with a good deal of motehrs on them intent on breastfeeding, wouldnt be too hard to find ones willing to show the realities of it.
I wish to God I'd seen someone in the state I was with DS when he had a growth spurt at six weeks so I knew it was normal.
I started this thread so I might as well join in. My aim with this documentary, is to explore if a wet nurse is needed and wanted in today's modern society. I fully understand the wariness attached to such a controversial subject but unless we talk about it – it will stay taboo. I can assure you that talking to me doesn’t mean you have to be on television. I just want to find out as much as possible in order to make a truly thought provoking film that will change the way we look at cross feeding.
Can I ask your opinions and views on breastfeeding Anna? I'm sure you are aware of the uproar the bringing up baby programme caused and how it seems many of the so called documentaries shown on channel 4 (amongst others) could be wonderfully factual programmes and highlight issues in todays society which definitely need highlighting but with either careful or poor (depending on your viewpoint I suppose) editing they become a freak show.
IMO wet nurses/cross feeding are just as relevant in todays society, especially with more peopel coming across the facts surrounding breast/bottle feeding, but until other issues are confronted it will be nothing more than something 'weird' people do.
views regarding GMTV's poll called 'extreme breastfeeding which was then pulled from the show, a good example of the 'freaks' that feed past two, with things like that to go up against in the media wetnursing/cross feeding has a long way to go before it will eb saeen as normal.
I'm from Sweden so I think breastfeeding is the most natural thing in the world. I think wet nursing however, is a complicated issue. What about the the bond between wet nurse and baby? Can you guarantee that the milk is not contaminated?
However, breast milk is proven to be the best so a wet nurse could make a valuted comeback to modern society.
If you should wet nurse or extract milk - I think depends on the individual. Basically, I haven't got a problem with it but then again, I haven't got any kids. It might change?
Annae, have you seen the Posy Simmonds cartoon in which a mother feeds another mother's baby? It's one of her Guardian ones from the 1970s and is reproduced in either Very Posy or Pick of Posy. (It's very good - it's on the theme of mothers always worrying about their choices and being too ready to be made to feel inferior. A stay-at-home mother is babysitting a working mother's child while the working mother goes to a business lunch, and she feeds the child, then the working mother gets very upset because she thinks the stay-at-home mother is trying to make her feel inferior because she couldn't breastfeed.)
Another interesting thing I read recently about wetnursing was in the Lawrence Stone book 'The Family, Sex and Marriage in England 1500-1800'. Apparently infant mortality used to be twice as high among wetnursed children as children nursed by their own mothers.
Interesting, Kathyis... Maybe wetnurses would always feed their own children first, and take less time over ensuring the other baby was satisfied? Maybe I'm too cynical. What do other people think?
IIRC that's what people thought at the time Frisby. It could also have been to do with wet-nurses being likely to live in worse accommodation where they would be more exposed to disease.
It's not clear whether or not there are any lessons for us today if we were to reintroduce wetnurses - there are so many factors that have changed.
I love all the stuff about having to choose a wetnurse of good character because her moral qualities would be imbibed with the milk - I wonder how that would play out today, whether you would try really hard to find someone you felt shared your values, even though we know there is no truth in it.
I'd. Be interested as to how it would work practically speaking. When would the wet nurse be available? In today society she would presumably have her own young child/ren so sleeping in would be difficult. I think practical rather than other difficulties cause the idea to be taken less seriously. Fwiw I would consider it as far as it goes. I love feeding.
I'll be very interest to see this when it is finished, It is yet another subject related to breastfeeding that can be heavily edited whit an agenda. I do hope not.
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MEDIA: Channel 4 Documentary placed on Mon 28-Jan-08 16:33:11
