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

[clitorisorclitoraint]

I found it a tadge patronising.

You?

did I just congratulate myself? oh dear

I thought it was funny.

And the burlesque mums looked sensational.

"Also, if for some reason it does all go wrong, formula is not the devil so don't feel bad about it."

Given that 95% of mums use formula and that millions of pounds is spent on marketing which tells mums what a great product it is and what a positive contribution it makes to their children's health and development, I think most mums KNOW it 'isn't the devil'.

"that if we got Posh, Katie Price and Kerry Katona to bf "

Now that would challenge a few social stereotypes wouldn't it?

Can't imagine it'd be all that easy to get a newborn latched on to a breast the size and consistency of a cannonball though.

I see a lot of posts on here from women who feel guilty about using formula. It's not something I feel, but I think it's silly to hold the attitude that everyone who uses formula is 100% happy about it and wouldn't rather be bf if maybe they'd had the right bit of support at the right moment.

Actually, I bf and had no problems with it. But when I talk to people who didn't they never ever say oh, I didn't want to bf because I felt unsexy in the first few weeks. And the first few weeks is when most people give up.

So wouldn't it make more sense to target support at people who want to do it but are struggling than (the really very few, what 2/3 in 10 at last count?) who don't want to try at all.

I like it. Maybe it's not promoting breastfeeding to the unconverted but as a celebration of breastfeeding it's cool!

LaWeasel -

There's loads more support out there, and information than there's ever been. But women still give up in droves. I think we have to face the fact that many women don't want to breastfeed for more than a few weeks, because they find it worrying, difficult and embarrassing. Not because there's something wrong with what they're doing, but because or their perception that looking after a tiny baby shouldn't be like that. Newborn breastfed babies feed a lot. You can't see how much they're having. Breastfeeding in public can be a struggle for women who've been brought up in a society where breasts are so sexualised. And there are many, many women who simply won't accept these things when there's a widely available, popular alternative to breastfeeding available to them.

I don't understand why seeing some women in corsets will encourage women to breastfeed.

It is very hard to find the right bfing help at exactly the time you need it. The more women who can be helped to be successful in bfing , the more help there will be available, because women will start to help each other and pass on names of good midwives /bfing counsellors etc.

As for the video, I have half managed to watch it, I find it a bit cringe worthy, but then it's really not my sort of thing at all. I don't think it does very much to promote bfing but if that's the way women want to celebrate their bodies, then I don't have a problem with it.

Hi Guys

This is Virginia Howes and I started all this. Whether you consider me the hero or the villain I want you to know that it was done with the very best intention. It is sad to read horrible comments with bad language and all but I suppose that?s real life. As someone said it WAS low budget?.mine (and a few other generous mums who helped out with time money and effort as no-one who makes millions on selling baby products were willing to help). To address some of your comments:

I have never spammed anyone and if someone has received multiple messages I am sorry. No-one gets het up over the marketing of formula?.some of the rubbish you hear night after night on the TV with subtle messages that convince women formula feeding is normal is never agued and ranted about with so much passion as when breast feeding is the subject. I am a midwife and I know the problems women encounter I have just kept a women under my care till 7 weeks post natal due to damaged nipples, low supply and lack of confidence. She is now fully breastfeeding and her baby is thriving having initially lost a lot of weight. If she had not had extended support she would have formula fed I am sure so I sure do not want any woman to feel there is any blame or putting down of formula feeding mums?.I know that if the support was there more mums would breastfeed as a choice and not give up with problems. This video as someone else said was done by regular mums, we tapped into the whole Burlesque theme as its current and has an emphasis on ?normal? body size not woman needing to be super skinny with massive breasts or get back to that the minute they have their babies like the media portrays. The ?Sexy? bit is tongue in cheek to mean that you ARE an attractive women just like that Gok Wan guy says no matter who or how you want to portray yourself. We used words for breast so that people would find it funny and it was different. Brian Bello was there as a link to popular TV for he had to say as many words for breasts as he could in the diary room on Big Brother and he is well known loved and funny(and low Budget). The cows were also there to be funny but also to get the message that human milk is normal for human babies. Cows milk (formula) is a great substitute for human milk when human milk is not available but the truth is that in comparison to human milk for human babies it is junk food. I hope I have answered your comments but as someone else said everyone took great pride in taking part and everyone had great fun doing something good and lighthearted. I for one thank everyone who took part, I am very proud of it and I still laugh and laugh when I see it. Thank you

What the fuck? Babies and sassy sexy burlesque dancers? What point are they making? WHat does burlesqe have to do with breast feeding, why sexualise everything.

Thanks for the apology jasminetom.
A woman in a corset dancing around (badly) in my case is not going to encourage a woman to breastfeed Why would it? It's more to do with getting the subject of breastfeeding in the public eye in a slightly humorous tongue in cheek way I think.
You could have me (for example) breastfeeding in my old nightie whilst watching telly saying "Alright new mums and mums to be I'm normal and I'm breastfeeding you should too." But I can't see it getting many hits if you thought me in a corset was bad you wouldn't want to see that!
You (where I live) just aren't exposed to breastfeeding as part of every day life and before I had my two girls I really wasn't that fussed about it. I thought you had to give up at 6 months and the only extended feeding I had seen was in the likes of trashy mags with titles like "I'm still breastfeed my 32 yr old son" and hadn't bothered to find out any more about it. Formula feeding however to me was seen as the norm I saw it on telly in the shops everywhere there was a baby there was a bottle.
Breastfeeding isn't some elitist thing it should be seen as just as normal as feeding from a bottle but it isn't hence the need that (I personally) think there is to get it seen.

I agree with LR.

I don't feel the need to 'portray' myself as sexy - I would rather just be myself. I don't see what Burlesque has to do with breastfeeding.

If the aim of this film was to make breastfeeding seem 'sassy' (ugh), 'sexy' or 'cool' then it hasn't pulled that off at all.

All I could think about while watching it was 'did those poor women know how bad those burlesque outfits looked before getting in front of the camera?'

The alphabet of boobs was mildly creative, but didn't make me laugh. The sound quality is very poor so it's impossible to hear the lyrics and the switching between dodgy burlesque, cows and breastfeeding mums doesn't quite work on the subconscious in the way it was perhaps intended! My thought path afterwards was more 'oh no, BFing makes me look like a fat dippy cow' than 'oh isn't BFing great'.

I BF because it feels like a natural extension of nurturing my baby during pregnancy. I gradually switched to formula from 8 months when I returned to work because it was convenient and I had had enough of nursing bras and shit clothes. No amount of government or lactivist propaganda would have made me any more or less likely to choose this path.

midwifevh Sorry burlesque seems a very odd thing to mix with babies and breastfeeding for me. Would you have used strippers to get the point across or dancers in cages? I realize you are trying to do a good thing and have a message but personally feel you went about it the wrong way.

midwifeVH - well done for replying - it sounds like you're a great midwife.

There was a very good Scottish advert a couple of years ago, making bfing look normal, I will google it.

scottish breastfeeding advert

Well I have learned a lesson today. Thanks for accepting my apology.

name changed, bored of jasminetom

"A woman in a corset dancing around (badly) in my case is not going to encourage a woman to breastfeed"

I'm amazed how literal minded so many people are here. No one video, film, comment, or picture will make women breastfeed. But all these things contribute to a culture of acceptance and tolerance around breastfeeding.

One of the biggest problems we have in the UK when it comes to breastfeeding is a perception that breastfeeding ii's somehow faintly mortifying - hence the obsession, even here on mumsnet, with the importance of discretion. In my view anything that challenges this is a helpful contribution to the campaign to normalise breastfeeding.

Ah, I think it's ok! Not sure about the corsets myself, but I guess a lot of women feel that breast-feeding means your body is purely for milk production, that it overrides your sexuality? I like that the video suggests women can be sexual beings and breastfeeders - I didn't get from it that breastfeeding was in any way sexual.
I'm sure there are other/better ways of portraying all this, but good on you to the women in it - it's nice to see something promoting breastfeeding that isn't all worthy and serious for a change!

It didnt make me feel like 'Yeah I want to try breastfeeding, sign me up for a corset'. If anything its put me off.

Could anyone recommend any breastfeeding books?(Thought I might as well ask while on the topic)

Just wanted to say sorry if my comment upset anyone, reading through the thread now and didnt realise some people helped make it ect. Its just not for me.

Interesting to see what people think. Just a shame some are missing the point.
It wasnt made to make you think you will be sassy or sexy by breastfeeding, but to get more people to breastfeed, in a not so serious way.

Honestly? It creeped me the fuck out.

I'm sure people would be more likely to bf if it was (rightly) seen as just the way you feed your children and not especially interesting or worth making a shit song and worryingly sexualised dance about...