Breastfeeding, in the UK today, is amiddle class pursuit

[mansfieldhouse]

Discuss.

Sadly, I think that it probably is true. I do know what OP means by the 'facebook' ref. You can kind of guess who will be bottle feeding and 'controlled crying'. Certainly breastfeeding rates in the city I live in are far higher in certain, more affluent areas.

Is Facebook a working class pursuit though?

babyheave, don't forget the Ocado deliveries too, that should sort you right out!

I BF my DD when I was a 16yo single parent. For 6 months. I also BF DS1 and DS2, and will be BF DS3 when he GETS OUT arrives in the next 2 weeks. I am most definately NOT middle class.

By definition then we are all descended from the middle classes.
In the days before FF became available all babies were BF (mother or wet nurse) unless you came from the work house and of course were fed gruel.
I've had 3 DC and BF them all and am working class, the BF group I attended didn't have 1 posh/middle class person.
Op you can have my very first biscult for making such a stupid and sweeping opening title with no valid arguement [biscult]

Arrgggg my

'bottle feeding' and 'controlled crying'

I breastfed and also did controlled crying. Can someone tell me if I am middle class enough? Or do I have to do attachment parenting and BLW to get a full house?

It's true. Working class breastmilk tastes of Newcastle Brown Ale and it puts the baby off. Middle class milk tastes of Innocent smoothies and upper class of champagne. Hence the BF rates.

everyone breast feeds regardless of background but its the middle class who are so smug and self righteous about it.

I have lived in a middle class area and a working class area. The bf support in the middle class area was excellent - most HCP well informed and very supportive when things went wrong or were normal and a lot of other bf mothers at groups so easier to 'get' comfortable and shops with bf rooms and the mothers either becoming SAHP or able to take at least the full 9 months but most taking a year off work.

Working class area - very poorly informed HCP with some incredible -dangerously- bad advise little to no support and HVs who hound when LO fail to follow curves in the red books. I have met a lot of women in this area who desperately wanted to bf but were told they could not, given crap advise that led to problems or told to supplement with ff. Often when they do eventually switch to ff they were criticised by the very HCPs who failed to offer the correct help in the first place. There are people trying to make changes working in children centres some of the HV trying to offer support. A lot of the women are also under pressure to return to work earlier and seem not to get any advice about carrying on bf in these circumstances but often told or conclude that ff is best option.

Bf support is not the only service that is poorer between the areas but I have no experience or evidence from other middle class/working class areas so do not know if this support/service discrepancy is common or just something we have been unlucky to experience.

I think the issues in working class areas are probably more practical that due to poorer education or less ambition or anything like that but I can not offer evidence for this view.

Or maybe the lower classes just don't fecking talk about it constantly because it's not that damn interesting ??

Hope I wasn't judged for not breastfeeding dd ? Believe me I tried but for whatever reason simply didn't produce any milk, nada. And a bottle is preferable to a starved baby, breastfed ds fine for over a year tho, woooo hoooo, AND I did it in maccy ds, I was an EXTRME feeder

Fwiw, a girl in my year got pregnant at 13, had the baby at 14 and did in fact breastfeed, was a bloody good mum too, she now works rehabilitating young offenders, like a lot of young mums she did something with her life but dosen't feel the need to shout it from the rooftops !

ApocalypseCheeseToastie
maybe the lower classes just don't fecking talk about it constantly because it's not that damn interesting ??

Possibly true. Though I have to say as a BF mother I preferred the middle-class area where a lot of mothers bf and no one every said anything to the working class place where no one can not bloody comment good or bad or ask every time I am feeding when/if I plan to stop or point out to the rare bf mother that they must talk to me as I have/am bf too. JUST LET US GET ON WITH IT ffs.

But that's only one area, I must say I never experienced anything like that and I used to go to a playgroup in a very deprived area, I don't think anybody cared tbh.

I think often, the feeding thing is just a way of striking up conversation, a boring conversation but one none the less, I know my surestart runs a breastfeeding group for teen mums and it is very well attended (the lady who runs my NAS does it)

masochismTangoer
But that's only one area

Of course and only and only my experience - tbh I think it was less a wealth issue much more it being seen as a strange novelty and thus worth of constant comments positive and negative which I found wearing.

It is not just a case of working class mothers not talking about bf though - there are studies out there showing differences.

www.ic.nhs.uk/webfiles/publications/ifs06/2005%20Infant%20Feeding%20Survey%20(Chapter%202)%20%20Incidence,%20prevalence%20and%20duration%20of%20breastfeeding.pdf
"For example, prevalence of breastfeeding at six weeks was 65% among mothers from managerial and professional occupations compared with 46% among mothers from intermediate occupations and 32% among mothers from routine and manual occupations."

Though it is not the only thing affecting rates as it also mentions about country making up UK mothers were from, ethnic group, educational background and mothers age all affecting rates. Hopefully someone since this report 2005 has done some research finding out why it affects bf rates it may possibly why bf support services in this working class area have been improving.

OP - Re. your Facebook comment. Do people put their breastfeeding status on Facebook? I've never seen that - maybe me and my mates is too clarsy for that.

Rude- my friends write on FB about being milking machines quite a bit when BFing! I can tell who is going to BF and who is not most of the time, but its not a class thing, just how certain friends choose to feed!

Technically middleclass families don't work- hence not being working class? Upper class are royalty, etc. So no, I am not middle class but I did go to grammar school and am doing a degree now, so does that make me upper working class? Very confusing. I BF DD1 and DS for a week, but still BFing DD2 (3 months).

kind of, but you forget the immigrant population, for example many many eastern european women BF, as do many african women

but sadly its does tend to go that way

also agree with southeastastra!!!!

I was only successful at BFing DD because of mumsnet and the support and helpful hints I got on the BFing board.

I am also lazy and count my pennies, so the thought of all that sterilising, making bottles in the night and purchasing of formula did focus the mind.

Does that make me middle class?

I think the only thing that makes you middle class around here is being obsessed with proving it.