Antibreastfeeding?

[Redebs]

Having just browsed some of the 'Help articles' on here, I'm shocked at how Mumsnet is discouraging breastfeeding.

There's one on how normal it is to wean off the breast at two months because of all the 'problems you will have'.

There's one on 'combi feeding', which is about giving formula feeds to breastfed babies - the surest way to reduce your milk supply in reality.

There's another one about packing dummies and bottles in your hospital labour bag. This is definitely going to interfere with newborns getting colostrum and learning to latch. If a baby needs anything, the hospital will provide it in reality.

I know some women choose to formula feed, but these are insidious, supposedly helpful, undermining tactics aimed at new mothers trying to breastfeed. Most of these are sponsored by the baby bottle manufacturer MAM.

If formula companies were promoting this, they would be, rightly, in contravention of advertising rules.

All medical and scientific advice is to give exclusively breastmilk for the first six months and to continue to at least twelve months or longer.

I mean, you absolutely did. Back when you busy misunderstanding how statistics work.

Cuppasoupmonster · Today 11:34
But you are wrong in thinking that this means the impact of antibodies in breastmilk on one individual baby must always be negligible

Well where’s your study to disprove this?

it could make an enormous difference, you just would never know about it

Convenient. There’s no one thing breastfeeding protects against completely. It has a small benefit in terms of ear infections and gastric illness in small babies, but that’s the biggest impact.

I’m really not trying to be horrible, like I said I breastfed myself for 8 months, I’m pregnant again and will breastfeed again if it suits us both. But all this talk of ‘amazing benefits’ is a bit misleading, when the numbers show there is only a small beneficial effect.

Ugh. These threads are always the same.

@Scottishskifun yep and she also likes to berate others for appearing on more than 1 breastfeeding thread, fine for her though....

Actually evidence 🙄

Nope he's her fifth. And only said it about him ☺️

Well you wouldn’t know if she’d said it to your nieces and nephews if you weren’t there would you? Your self congratulations is getting so cringey now.

Yes I agree. Not going to respond to her anymore.

You know I think it might be that there is a bit of bias towards what you choose, because I never heard anyone criticise formula feeders, whereas I did hear lots and lots of people justifying formula feeding by criticising BF.

I kept quiet but I did actually sometimes feel judged! I think whatever you choose you just have to realise you won't please everyone.

I EBF both of mine. I was pretty clueless with my first and I just read that it was recommended and thought ok, that's what I'll do. I was lucky and it was no problem. I also have type 1 diabetes in the family and read that there was some evidence BF can make that less likely. However I never felt under any pressure to do it from anyone. Not from midwives; nobody.

Lucky me!

@TimandGinger im type 1 and was EBF. Obviously there must be some truth in it, but I suppose the evidence of my eyes and ears is just so different from how things are ‘supposed’ to be!

If a woman post on here for breastfeeding support

I "successfully" br'fed 4 DC. Have felt pretty useless when anyone seemed to want to talk to me about their challenges. So I dunno what support people want. I have usually sensed that most people asking for support really wanted permission to just stop. The most common & strong reasons (I perceive) why they wanted to stop was they hated feeling like a cow, flashing their boobs, having to hide away for every feed because no way would they risk flashing their boobs, and not knowing how much milk was going inside baby. I never figured out how to make them feel better or not have those worries any more.

Threads like this are different. Threads like this get dominated by women with severe pain & / or babies failing to thrive. My real life experience was hearing women talk about the other kinds of problems instead, though. Those worries simply didn't happen to me so I couldn't comment & tell them how to feel or think or what to do.

That's why 'support' is so crap, I suppose.

I think I have read there is some correlation but it's not very strong.
However my feeling was that if my kids did get it, at least I wouldn't have that nagging doubt of 'what if'.
I do know that my sister wasn't BF and I was, and she has it and I don't. I've never suggested a link but I know she wonders if it was a factor. She certainly felt very strongly that she wanted to BF in the hope her kids wouldn't get it.

Yes.
There is a relentless and insidious message that it doesn't really matter, but it bloody does!

The benefits are substantial.
Very few women are physically unable to feed their baby with the right practical support.

If formula was only supplied on prescription for medical reasons, then manufacturers would stop pushing the luctrative product advertising. We wouldn't see all the propaganda against feeding our babies ourselves. A replacement for normal functioning is sometimes going to be necessary, yes, but normalising artificial feeding for financial gain is despicable.

Mumsnet is full of all sorts of scientific misinformation, which it refuses to challenge, leaving it up to 'the community' to do so. That's not good enough, when people who post positive and accurate accounts are bullied, insulted and challenged by others who pretend it's not a problem.

Attitudes need to change.

It is indisputably better to breastfeed exclusively for six months and to continue mixed solid food and breastmilk for at least a year.

Sad it needs to be repeated so often.

I can assure you I absolutely was not looking for "excuses" not to BF.

My child was starving. Literally starving. While I was BF them.

Disgusting comment.

I think the problem with talking down breastfeeding is there are still people who aren't supported to continue, I'm also thinking of that thread with the mum being encouraged to let family members bottle feed so they can bond. No one should be forced to do it but at the same time mother's should also be allowed to value it.

It’s almost breathtakingly arrogant that you feel other women should only be able to access it on prescription because that suits your own sensibilities.

The benefits are not substantial to individual child, they’re negligible. Seems like you have a hard time accepting that fact. When the day comes that you can point out which children were breastfed and which weren’t, you may have a point. Until then you sound like an interfering bore who takes it upon themselves to police other women because, what? It makes you feel important? Like a special, better mother? Go get a hobby.

But the role of medical professionals is to help people keep healthy. Breastfeeding is (generally) the healthiest option for women and babies. So it shouldn't surprise us that midwives do not support formula feeding

@Cuppasoupmonster No matter how rude you want to be, it doesn't alter the facts.

People used to think it was ok to smoke around kids. It took a lot of pressure from ordinary folks like me and thousands of others to get things changed. Some of us care. Nothing selfish in that. Nothing to sneer at.

What facts? What noticeable difference is there between a 5 year old that was breastfed, one that was mix fed and one that was formula fed? To stand me next to DH you would assure me he was the breastfed one. He wasn’t 🤷🏼‍♀️

Yes there is a minor benefit. In the way that there is a minor benefit to organic food only, living out of a city (all that pollution!) and owning a dog. Are you also going to go off on a crusade about those as well? Demand the government intervene to ensure parents are doing all of those things? If not, why not?

What noticeable difference is there between a 5 year old that was breastfed, one that was mix fed and one that was formula fed? To stand me next to DH you would assure me he was the breastfed one. He wasn’t 🤷🏼‍♀️

I have never heard a breast feeding advocate say that breast feeding your child makes them look different.

With anything there is a balance to be struck you will always have the people at polar opposites ends with incredibly strong views be it formula or breastfeeding.
Improving breastfeeding rates isn't about lecturing women it's about supporting women from all backgrounds. Providing access to lactation consultants, access to infant feeding teams early, diagnosis of tongue tie and seperation if the parent chooses quickly, support if put on feeding plans etc.

Many places unfortunately are underfunded and at capacity so these barriers do mean women who may want to continue stop sooner then they wish. It's also knowing that stress can cause milk delay (mine was delayed by a week) and supporting mum through that. But it always should be up to the mother how they choose to feed their baby.

Breastfeeding rates did improve during peak covid times a combination of being at home so not rushing about, lack of formula in places but also the antibody effect. The advice from the medical world was to keep feeding.

Studies showed covid antibodies were passed from mother to baby also the same with the antibodies produced when the mother received a covid vaccination.
These can be read at leisure on the breastfeeding drug network pages on covid and covid vaccine.

Support is key and there isn't enough of it to go around, it's also a postcode lottery unless you can afford to pay sadly.

@Saltywalruss even if their medical background was written down, again you wouldn’t be able to single them out. There have been several threads on here, with posters who have breastfed one child and bottle fed another. Absolutely no difference, in fact quite a few posters said their bottle fed child was healthier.

I mean, owning a dog has many of the benefits of breastfeeding:
www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/dogs-health-asthma-benefits-living-with-pets-babies-children-illnesses-bacteria-a7786886.html?amp

As does living in the countryside:
urbanhealth.org.uk/insights/reports/air-pollution-and-children

…and organic food
time.com/2914155/organic-food-children-health/?amp=true

I mean, I could go on 🤷🏼‍♀️ so why the obsession by some women with breastfeeding? It’s all just ego and a need to feel validation for their parenting choices.

Providing access to lactation consultants, access to infant feeding teams early, diagnosis of tongue tie and seperation if the parent chooses quickly, support if put on feeding plans

The benefit to society is worth investing some money in it, but not the cost this level of service would require.

Very few women are physically unable to feed their baby with the right practical support.

I don't even know where to begin with this. Way to go to make someone feel even more shit than they did for not being able to breastfeed.

In your opinion.

Scotland the support is a lot better and it shows in better breastfeeding rates. It still has a way to go and doesn't include lactation consultants but access to infant feeding teams and tongue tie clinics has massively improved.
I'm not the biggest fan of the Scottish govt I think they get a lot of things wrong but the investment in early child health which starts with infant feeding is one of the good things they have done.