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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Miriam Stoppard is an idiot who should not be allowed to spout this rubbish about bf

318 replies

50shadesofslapntickle · 14/08/2012 17:57

Some of my La Leche League friends have just shown me this and I am totally surprised that this supposed 'doctor' can spout this crap in a national newspaper?!

www.mirror.co.uk/lifestyle/health/when-should-you-stop-breast-feeding-1259599

And then we discover she has links to Nestle... what a surprise...

boycottnestle.blogspot.co.uk/2008/02/nestle-panic-miriam-stoppard.html

Miriam Stoppard you should be ashamed of yourself for writing this totally innacurate rubbish.

OP posts:
ItsAllGoingToBeFine · 17/08/2012 13:10

BM is better than formula - FACT
Formula is an adequate substitute - FACT

Looking at large groups of formula feeders vs large groups of breastfeeders, the breastfed mothers and children both receive far more benefits from BM as a group

anecdote does not equal data. Just because you/someone you knows doesn't fit the above, it doesn't mean the above is wrong.

iggi777 · 17/08/2012 13:25

Kittyfane, yes MS does work for the media as you say, but she also works for Nestle - not likely to lead to the most balanced reporting style.

KittyFane1 · 17/08/2012 13:34

Iggi:Kittyfane, yes MS does work for the media as you say, but she also works for Nestle - not likely to lead to the most balanced reporting style. Wow she really is evil. Hmm Take it or leave it, it's a different opinion.

Itsallgoing and if people don't fit nicely anecdote does not equal data.Just because you/someone you knows doesn't fit the above, it doesn't mean the above is wrong. Their opinions don't count?

iggi777 · 17/08/2012 13:43

Kitty that is a really facetious approach - it is significant who someone receives money from when you are considering their publicly spouted opinions.
And tbh, I'd say Nestle are as close to evil as a company gets!

KittyFane1 · 17/08/2012 13:53

Of course it's significant but demonising MS is bad form also.
As for Nestle, the press had a field day.
The point is, we are being talked at, persuaded, brainwashed, advised, flooded with different opinions. All of the time.
Some posters on this thread are so passionate about theircausetjat they forget the individual and their circumstance.
As far as BF goes I am only interested in what benefits and is right for individual women and their babies. What statistics say, what MS says is not important.

jaggythistle · 17/08/2012 13:55

i have never heard anyone suggest that

formula is poison

or that

bf is a magic 100% health guarantee

ever.

Shagmundfreud · 17/08/2012 15:39

Jaggy - spot on.

Now watch how that fact continues to be roundly ignored as this 'debate' goes on. Grin

Personally I wish someone would acknowledge the point I' made about particularly high rates of ff in the UK. Breastfeeding failure and choice to ff appears for the most part to be culturally and not biologically determined - all the facts bear this out. This is the issue tgargle mulls apologists are determined to ignore. Kitty - have you anything to contribute in relation to this?

CecilyP · 17/08/2012 16:02

Not sure what a tgargle mull apologist is but, yes, there are high rates of FF in the UK and it is cultural in that it is far more common among young WC mums who don't experience a fraction of the angst about it that Mumsnetters probably do.

Shagmundfreud · 17/08/2012 16:05

Tgargle mull. Grin

God bless iPhones!

shezzle · 17/08/2012 16:08

Cecil's- what a sweeping statement to make!

shezzle · 17/08/2012 16:09

Cecily- sorry iPad malfunction heh heh

Moominsarescary · 17/08/2012 16:13

I've heard ff is poison many times, not on this thread though.

Who said that anyone thought bf was a magic 100% health guarantee? However it's just as bad and untrue to say that ff babies are not as healthy.

I'm sure there are studies looking into why the uk has high rates of ff, there will be plenty of reasons. Lack of support, problems with milk supply, problems due to medication the mother is taking. Women making the choice not to because they don't want to and feel ff is a better choice for them, women not being aware of the benefits ( rare I'd say) history of sexual abuse and other reasons

CecilyP · 17/08/2012 16:24

Cecil's- what a sweeping statement to make!

Maybe so, but it certainly seems to be the case with my neighbours and former neighbours. Especially with teenage mums living at home where gran and other extended family members provide a lot of help.

SirBoobAlot · 17/08/2012 16:39

Cecily - As a young mum, and having worked with young mums, it always half and half. Some of them formula feed because that's what they've known within their families and friends. Others decide that actually, they want to breastfeed, and they are more stubborn than mums in their 30s when they put their minds to it Grin

To be honest, I think age has very little factor within it. I always used to. Now I think its more personality; ie, how easily impacted they are from other people. I was 17 when I fell pregnant and lived the first year of my DSs life with my family, where my parents had formula fed us both from the off and couldn't understand the fuss I was making. DS is 2.8yr and continues to feed.

I once helped a 14 year old girl relactate. She started off breastfeeding, then stopped because her boyfriend told her she looked like a cow. A few weeks later he disappeared off the scene, and she approached me, asking for help to get started again. She did, successfully, and when she returned to school after her maternity leave, she continued to express.

Anecdotes, admittedly, but two that make me smile. Statistically rates of breastfeeding amoung young mothers is on the increase, actually, something I'm involved with in the local area.

We need to get rid of this idea that breastfeeding is something white middle class women in their mid twenties to mid thirties do :) Its changing.

shezzle · 17/08/2012 16:52

I get a bit fed up with the whole, not using personal anecdotes to make point etc. It is actually how you form your opinions and feelings about something as sensitive as feeding your baby. The data collected for proof of health benefits, of bfing is of course going to support the argument that breast is best but life is not clear cut and not everyone can use the same method whatever the goodies gained.

Without our personal discussions should we just post only facts and figures at each other? Boring. As I and quite a few others said ages ago on this thread,feeding is an immensely personal thing. People can be educated supported all you like but not everyone wants to bf just as not all people want to ff. I totally agree formula is not poison Jaggy and I also am bfing.

Not bfing here in the uk is a cultural issue partly because boobs are seen as something far removed from their original use perhaps that needs tackling first and foremost. On a positive note I have seen quite a few people bfing out and about with no-one batting an eyelid and our local library actively encourages it which is great. And many younger friends are bfing, carrying on of course is hard for many women which is where MS should think before she writes.

shezzle · 17/08/2012 16:55

My post wasnt in response to your sirboob! Had been writing it since cecilys one. I had dd1 at 18 and bf too Grin

shezzle · 17/08/2012 16:56

Nice that we both see things changing too

Moominsarescary · 17/08/2012 16:59

So it's ok for you to use anecdotes that make you smile, but you don't want people using them to say their ff children are fine Hmm

shezzle · 17/08/2012 17:02

Here's one- dd2 is the brainiest so far and was ff Wink I have feet firmly in both camps heh heh.

KittyFane1 · 17/08/2012 17:20

shagmund :Personally I wish someone would acknowledge the point I' made about particularly high rates of ff in the UK. Breastfeeding failure and choice to ff appears for the most part to be culturally and not biologically determined - all the facts bear this out. This is the issue tgargle mulls apologists are determined to ignore. Kitty - have you anything to contribute in relation to this?
Only that culturally we have choice in the UK which I believe is a good thing. Culturally, BF may well be high here compared to other countries including developing countries.
Statistically I would have to see mortality rates as part of the data to form an opinion.

CecilyP · 17/08/2012 17:22

I hope I haven't upset any young mums and I know I was generalising. As I live in Scotland where BF rates are traditionally low, my observations may be different from those of people in the rest of the country. With regards to facts and figures, it would be quite straightforward to get BF rates of different demographics. The stats for the advantages of BF, OTOH, cannot always be separated from other things.

pigletmania · 17/08/2012 17:23

That is great sirboob yes the health benefits are what keep me expressing even if it's a couple of bttles a day

CecilyP · 17/08/2012 17:24

Kitty, I think BF rates are also higher in other European countries and people are wondering why.

KittyFane1 · 17/08/2012 17:29

Back to shagmunds point about low rates of FF babies in different countries. Money and availability is a massive factor.
I've just watched the horrific news update from Sudan where desperately malnorished babies are being fed formula at the camps, provided by aid workers.
Thank God for formula.

KittyFane1 · 17/08/2012 17:30

Cecily not sure why, going to google it...

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