...to ask what you think of this new breastfeeding video?

[clitorisorclitoraint]

I found it a tadge patronising.

You?

Well, I quite liked it and thought it was just a fun celebration of mother's milk.

Having watched this again I think it really needs to be recut without the cow scenes. The rest is quite fun (despite the outfits being a tad unflattering). What would make it even better would be to edit in some shots of mums feeding their babies in different situations (home, coffee shop, train, bus etc) and get rid of the group feeding shots which are a bit full on if this is meant to appeal to people who wouldn't otherwise consider BFing.

I have no idea if it will appeal to the demographic intended but the anti-formula bits are a real turn off and need to go.

The ending shot with mum kissing milk-drunk baby on the head is just lovely.

Sorry if this has already been addressed but is the video a 'celebration' or 'promotion' or both?

Its the usual bollocks dreamt up but the usual tit mad obsessives. Breast feed/bottle feed- just get a grip with the constant need for a gold star ffs!

BimboNo5, I think I love you!!! Word :)

Women do not fail to breastfeed. Health professionals, health agencies and governments fail to educate and support women who want to breastfeed. Nor is the truth always told as they fear they may upset mothers.
Formula milk is an excellent substitute for human milk when human milk is not available. When human milk IS available it is akin to offering a substandard alternative hence the comparison between chicken salad and macdonalds. Formula fed babies are more likely to be obese at 3 years old, have allergies, be less intelligent, die from SIDS, cancer, gastroenteritis ,have ear infections, asthma and behaviour problems. Breastfeeding mothers are protected from breast cancer and post natal depression.
Formula itself may have contaminants introduced in the manufacturing process. In the past, recalls have been ordered because of contamination with substances such as broken glass, fragments of metal and salmonella and other bacteria. A fungal toxin has also been detected in some formulas this toxin is known to cause cancer. Infant formulas also may contain excessive levels of metals, including aluminum, manganese, cadmium and lead.
Formula is the product of a large, and for most mothers, unnecessary industrial process, all of which adds to pollution in a variety of ways large and small. The list includes production plants that pollute, trucks that burn polluting diesel fuel, the use of harmful pesticides- all in service of a product that is both nutritionally and developmentally inferior for infants
A brand of formula has been recalled in Israel after three babies died and others were left seriously ill. More than 6,000 Chinese babies have been taken ill and three have died after being fed contaminated milk formula.

". When human milk IS available it is akin to offering a substandard alternative hence the comparison between chicken salad and macdonalds."

What if women dont want to breastfeed?

After all that information which is FACT, and you would choose formula for your baby its then your decision. Personally i wouldnt take the risk!!!!

Hmmm. Nothing like a bit of scaring women into submission with talk of SIDS, cancer and stupidity.

I will bet you that were men the BFers, there would be no such scaremongering propaganda. Very

In fact, so angry that I'm offski to cool down lest I write something wot I shouldn't.

All I will say is, if we are talking about contaminants, then surely only BF is best if the feeder lives in a plastic bubble away from all pollutants, takes no medication ever, and eats only vitamins.

my oh my hasnt this video caused an uproar. We see formula advertising on tv and yes it gives the message that it is the normal thing to do. Breastfeeding rates are so poor that advocates of it have little chance to redress the balance. There is no financial incentive for anyone to compete with the millions of pounds formula companies spend except for Governments looking long term at public health issues. Our Government recognises the importance of such a programme yet fail to put money where their knowledge is. I was just, as someone so nicely put "getting off my arse and trying to do something". Other than on here, where the project has been met with insults, we have had amazing response from around the world. I stand by it all. I am proud of those amazing women. I liken them to Calender girls for standing up for what they are proud of. I am saddened that sometimes the truth hurts. I give my all to my profession. I am never rude or unkind to women and if they choose to formula feed once I have given them true information I support them fully. I continue to help those with problems and the ones that may not have chosen to breastfeed I encourage to start, mostly with success. Discusion is good being rude and unkind is not.

studentmidwife you didn't answer my question ^

Goodluck with your business.

MidwifeVH, if you truly support women who choose not to BF then any new mother is lucky to have you. However, there is, in many areas, a pro-BF stance that as I said earlier, has crossed the line that separates support from bullying - that is what has made me angry.

When I had my first child, as I mentioned before, I was given all the anti FF pro BF literature, assaulted manhandled - and she was actually latched on perfectly - bullied - one midwife, when I said that because DD1 was so hungry we were giving her top-up bottles shouted at me, in my home, and I mentioned some of the things I have witnessed in earlier posts.

That is not support. Making a woman feel like a failure as a mother and as a woman because she cannot do it (and there is no "no woman can't BF"), or, shock, chooses not to is not support.

There is standing up for what you are proud of - but not at the expense of others. ie breast is best, crap is all the rest type thing.

I got angry and I apologise for that. I was wrong. And I am sorry if I hurt anyone's feelings.

But that "your child is more likely to die" spiel is what I was hit with during my first pregnancy, which all made me feel a failure BEFORE I had even birthed DD1. I'm pretty certain that THAT, combined with what was going in with DDs father, led me to suffer a hideous bout of PND, which I think never actually left me. I think my anger was a reaction to how I was made to feel back in 1996 when I was a scared single mother who was treated like a piece of brain-dead meat by pretty well much all the profession. I think that the crying with terror everytime she woke for a feed probably didn't help the PND either.

My third DD contracted meningitis at 13 months and was minutes from death. If I had believed the spiel I got when PG with DD1, I would be beating myself up because I mixed fed her, and then only for 4 months (due to my boobs nearly suffocating her). But it wasn't caused by how I fed her, and we all know that.

I myself am hesitantly putting forward the theory that SOME FF babies may be more prone to the horrors described earlier because SOME EBF babies are maybe brought up in a certain style that would keep them safer from such things, and NOT because of formula itself. Discuss.

We should be supporting women what ever they decide to do. Even if someone decided to FF simply because after a horrendous birth she simply wants her body back and to be able to take her extra-strength anti-histamines.

How cross would YOU be if you were hit with a patronising video extolling the virtues of formula feeding and that to do otherwise is wrong?

midwifeVH

excuse me, what?

The vast majority of this thread is good debate with a miniscule amount of pointless rudeness and it's really only the last few posts talking about formula versus breastfeeding.

The most discussed aspect of your film is why you've chosen to associate burlesque with breastfeeding, so it would be much more interesting to hear your response to those crticisms.

As it is, your post sounds churlish and patronising. "truth hurts... "

To show that boobies are for milk and not just sexytime?

I agree with bornsicky. I would hope that any midwife I have would be considerably more emotionally mature, articulate and wise than some of what I've seen here, esp. from studentmidwife, who has a lot of learning still to go, I think..

studentmidwife made me abit :(

I know its childish, but its not a nice thought to think that if I fail at breastfeeding my child will be prone to certain conditions and if I decided its not for me its almost the equivalent of choosing to poison my child. Fair enough if your anti formula, but they are certain ways to get your point across without it being a dig or upsetting others? Im at the early teary emotional stage, so my apologies if I sound abit precious.

d0gface I think you should strike the word 'fail' from your vocabulary. Come what may you will nourish and love and care for your child, no?

Well, that is what matters. And if I were you I'd hide this fred! Good luck with everything old bean

"How cross would YOU be if you were hit with a patronising video extolling the virtues of formula feeding and that to do otherwise is wrong?"

I would like to know exactly which part of this video has made you feel that its "wrong" to formula feed?????? This video is just trying to bring a new advert to bf rather than the dozens of formula adverts out there!!! If u watch this and feel wrong to formula feed, as i said earlia i think its your own incecurities that make you feel that way!!

D0gFace - Do what is best for you and your baby my lovely, whether it be breast or formula. Or even both (I love mixed feeding)

I mixed-fed, my DCs got the best of both worlds and we all got some sleep too. Breast is certainly best, but formula is NOT poison. It is a choice.

If you can't do it, that is NOT a FAIL...it's just c'est la vie.
if you don't want to do it, that is NOT a fail, that is YOUR choice.

There is plenty of support out there if you want to BF, if, for example, it's a case of painful whipples but baby is latched on ok and you've ruled out infection, try the type of silicone shields that can be suckled through, but, say, if it hurts and you think it's not for you that is your choice my lovely, and if anyone tries to bully you into one way or another, show them the door.

And remember. Statistics can be shown to prove anything depending on who's paying for the survey.
Good luck with whatever you and baby decide to do. :)

Remember that Hannibal Lecter LIED. It doesn't 'toughen your nipples' at all. That's the last time I take breast-feeding advice off a fictional cannibalistic serial killer

Xxxxxkxxxxx the bit showing the cows. I'm not insecure - I know I made the right decisions by my babies. :o

Sorry, I haven't read all of the posts, but I also think that breastfeeding has nothing to do with burlesque and being sexy. Combining the two is a bit weird.

I agree with the portrayal of cows' milk formula as a poor and 'icky' substitute to breastmilk though.

But it is a substitute.....
I would like to know what women did years ago before formula!!!!

The reason for the burlesque is to show bf women can still be glamarous, sexy etc, but its an ADVERT not literally showing you hav to wear a corset to feed!! as some ppl on here hav taken this literally!!

despicable scaremongering studentmidwife