Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Breastfeeding, in the UK today, is amiddle class pursuit

69 replies

mansfieldhouse · 03/01/2011 20:34

Discuss.

OP posts:
StewieGriffinsMom · 03/01/2011 20:54

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

southeastastra · 03/01/2011 20:54

i worked at a baby group for ages and the total of mothers breastfeeding was literaly about 2% and they were definitely middle class!

usualsuspect · 03/01/2011 20:56

nope its not ..the middle class would like to think it is though

BarbieLovesKen · 03/01/2011 20:56

A genuine question but slightly off topic - how is someone categorised in to a class? I have absolutely no idea whatsoever what "class" Im in

GMajor7 · 03/01/2011 20:57

Ultimately DD couldn't give a shite. She'll happily nurse at my peasant breast Grin

falsemessageoflethargy · 03/01/2011 20:58

Its self defining now barbie - the OP would have done better to use the ABCD marketeer ratings.

TheHeathenOfSuburbia · 03/01/2011 21:00

You could have done some googling and looked up the statistics.
(cause I believe there's a lot of geographical variation, too)

You could have drawn a graph, even. A graph!

But you're just inviting us to do our own research, or throw around anecdotes. Or start a fight, I suppose, that could happen too.

Sheer laziness.

Gruffalomama, what's "boogoo"? (Maybe you have one MC boob and one WC one Grin)

thebrownstuff · 03/01/2011 21:01

something in the MN water today...Iswear it

OpenToLawSuits · 03/01/2011 21:04

Perhaps it's a MC thing. Upper upper classes have wet nurses. Muah ha ha Grin

Vallhala · 03/01/2011 21:05

mansfieldhouse, t's all pretty much irrelevant unless it's known why the individuals in the study group made their decision, isn't it?

It appears to me that the association is working class mother = poorly educated and/or unintelligent = uninformed = formula feeder vs middle class mother = educated and intelligent = better informed = breast feeder.

What of those working class women who are well educated and intelligent but who chose to formula feed despite being well informed?

Discuss, OP. :o

GruffaloMama · 03/01/2011 21:07

hi heathen (great name) - it's what DS calls breasts - on our holiday this year (in tuscany - how many MC points is that? Wink ) every time we passed a lingerie shop display (disturbingly frequent) he bellowed BOOGOO!!!

I reckon you could be right about the boobs - or maybe one strawberry and one chocolate flavoured???

Serendippy · 03/01/2011 21:07

Journalism, in the UK today, is a lazy pursuit. Discuss.

ShoppingDays · 03/01/2011 21:09

Oh, a journalist.

Unrulysanta · 03/01/2011 21:15

C'mon this is MN. Everyone knows you just have to write 'breastfeeding' in your title and you'll summon 500 posts and a big fat fight within 30 seconds. I'm with Serendippy: OP has gone off to make a cup of tea and let that Daily Mail article just write itself.

Honeydragon · 03/01/2011 21:20

I totally agree

the upper classes have fox hunting
the working classes have darts
and the middle class pursue breastfeeding.

oh yes.

wATEwatcher · 03/01/2011 21:39

This is so going to be in the Mail...

I second Serendippy's quote:

Journalism, in the UK today, is a lazy pursuit. Discuss.

OP aren't you supposed to do a bit of research? Or are we it?!

PhishFoodAddiction · 03/01/2011 21:42
Biscuit

Do your own research OP!

weedle · 03/01/2011 21:49

Giving a shit about other people breastfeeding or not is a twattish pursuit. Discuss

Bechka · 03/01/2011 22:08

Write your own article.

Quattrocento · 03/01/2011 22:13

I agree that articles in the living/women sections of every major newspaper are shoddily researched.

DD(12) would do a much better job of research than this. After making Google dance, she would draw graphs with the relevant statistics, draw a few breasts, throw in a few snippets of facts about wetnurses ...

Tsk tsk OP

Teela · 03/01/2011 22:16

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

CommanderDrool · 03/01/2011 22:20

I certainly do not think the middle classes have the monopoly on good parenting choices, based on my experience.

Nor do I think bf is a mc pursuit - although they bang on and on about it as if it was.

QueeferSantaland · 03/01/2011 22:24

I agree too actually, to a point.

As part of my job I have to register births and medical info etc for the mothers. One of the things I record is whether the mother is BF or AF at birth. I have recorded *thousands^ of babies and you can tell generally by a woman's address, age and even name whether she is going to try BFing.

(That being said, I buck that trend, being a young, unmarried council-estate mum who BFd all her DC on demand.)

cobbledtogether · 03/01/2011 22:24

Oh now it all makes sense!!!

I bottle fed DC1 after failing miserably to establish breastfeeding, but did Extended BF with DC2.

I though it was all about the support I had, but it turns out that its because I was brought up working class, but have since got a middle class job, so it was all down to my class, not the support. Basically, DC1 is bluecollar baby and DC2 is a bit posher.

God if only I had known this before I wouldn't have been so upset when BFing went so wrong first time. It must have been because my facebook picture made me look working class. I've since updated it to a photo of me at a wedding where I look a lot more middle class.

From now on, DC1 will only wear primark, but DC2 will get Boden, oh yes!

Halleluhjah! I have been truly enlightened!

QueeferSantaland · 03/01/2011 22:27

That's the ticket, Babyheave!Grin

Make sure you drive to the hospital in a Volvo, not an old Rover if you want to avoid mastitis, thrush, cracked nipples etc!

Swipe left for the next trending thread