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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to wonder which formula company sponsored this article?

315 replies

nittynittynora · 12/03/2013 19:49

yano.co.uk/2013/03/breast-is-best-or-is-it/

It just seems so anti-breastfeeding! Surely the health benefits of BFing are proven - there's nothing political about saying that it protects against disease, for example.I agree that of course you can form a close bond with your baby when FFing but the rest of the article seems determined to bat away all the 'supposed' benefits of BFing and focus on any perceived 'cons'.

OP posts:
Carolra · 14/03/2013 22:58

I probably agree with that LittlePuds, so long as milk is optimum and baby has no allergies....

My stance is that bf is best if there is no problem with supply/well being of mum and milk suits baby etc. but at the end of the day, it's a personal choice and no one should cop any flak for choosing a path someone else disagrees with.

When my dd was essentially starving to death, support lines at 2 very well known organisations said things to me such as "one bottle of formula will destroy baby's stomach lining forever", "if you don't bf for 4 months exclusively, you might as well not have bothered", "if you give her one bottle, she will never be able to latch on"...

These are the people I consider the breastapo (and I know that people find the term offensive, but I'm still extremely angry about it). There has to come a point where even the most hardened Breastfeeding advocate recognises that a child needs more than this particular mum's breast milk....

Shagmundfreud · 14/03/2013 23:11

Carolra - please say which organisations these were. They record many of their phone calls so there may be evidence of you being given this information. You need to make a formal complaint.

"So yes always (nutritionally) best (for baby) if no problem with supply/quality."

98% of Norweigan babies leave hospital breastfeeding.

80% of babies are still having their mother's milk at 6 months of age.

And this is in a country which had breastfeeding rates as low as ours a couple of decades ago.

Why do you think it is that most women in Norway can breastfeed, whereas most women in the UK seem unable to?

Why do so many women in the UK find breastfeeding emotionally traumatising, when most women around the world don't experience this?

"my GP told me that bf was killing my baby (her actual words) so dd was ff"

Was that before or after she'd/he'd referred you to a lactation consultant for a proper investigation of what was going wrong with breastfeeding? Did he/she suggest any reasons why your supply was low, or what to do about it? Hmm

Carolra · 14/03/2013 23:20

I don't want to name organisations because I'm having meetings with the CEO of one at the moment as they're so concerned about stories like mine (I am not alone!)

We spent over £1000 on lactation consultants, breast feeding doulas, tongue tie treatment, cranial osteopathy, fenugreek and other supplements, acupuncture, books etc. I went to support groups every day. There is nothing that anyone will ever be able to say to make me even doubt for one second that Aptamil was the best thing that happened to my dd!!

And interestingly, our local health centre recommend that bf babies start taking vitamins at 6 months, but ff babies don't need to till they're a year.... So perhaps there is an argument somewhere there for ff being better than bf...?

Shagmundfreud · 14/03/2013 23:25

Breastfeeding has evolved over millions of years to be a safe way to feed the vast majority of babies.

Formula is, in terms of the history of human evolution and human nutrition, an INCREDIBLY recent development. I'm astonished that breastfeeding is still having to prove itself, but it's taken on trust that formula is completely safe, and is (often, according to many of the posters on this thread) a better and more reliable way to feed babies than breast milk. Because where are the studies, peer reviewed, RCT's, involving large numbers of babies followed up in the long term, that clearly show no disadvantages of artificial feeding for humans as they grow into adulthood? Studies that use exclusively breastfed babies as the control group? I've not seen any. Has anyone else? If not, are you entirely happy for your babies to be taking part in what amounts to a giant, uncontrolled experiment?

Pobblewhohasnotoes · 14/03/2013 23:28

I'm another one who took fenugreek, expressed after every feed and went to a breastfeeding clinic.

Made bugger all difference to my milk supply. If I was lucky I managed to express an ounce a day.

Why is it so hard to understand that for some ff isn't a choice but a necessity, rather than a starving baby.

cherrycherry41 · 14/03/2013 23:39

ooh, this thread was fun to read! Grin
bit of bedtime reading, night all!

ICBINEG · 14/03/2013 23:44

Carola There is data that shows correlation between the vitamin supplementation in formula (iron specifically) and lower IQ, so I wouldn't be too keen to support the vitamin content of formula over that of BM.

It seriously pisses me off that they added extra iron as a marketing gimmick without doing any sort of trial to look for adverse effects. It's almost like they value market share over safety or something...

ICBINEG · 14/03/2013 23:46

pobble who is finding it hard to understand?

Both myself and Shag have stated outright that FF can be the right choice for specific mother/baby combinations.

Carolra · 14/03/2013 23:47

Had my dd been born into a society without formula, she would have been wet nursed or she would have died. I couldn't find a wet nurse (although my mum did offer to try, we politely declined, she's post menopausal and hasn't lactated for 30 years). Would I rather dd be part of a big experiment or be dead?! Silly question.

You see... This just takes me back to my previous point, that no matter what evidence is placed before a Breastfeeding zealot, they still can't admit that ff is better for some babies. Which leads to name calling like the breastapo, which leads to Breastfeeding being regarded badly, which leads to fewer people Breastfeeding. And what a shame that is.

Carolra · 14/03/2013 23:48

P.s I don't care about the vitamin thing at all, I was just being controversial.

ICBINEG · 14/03/2013 23:49

carola can you actually read? How many times does we need to say it? FF can be the right choice for any number of reasons.

Why does that mean that FF companies shouldn't have to demonstrate that their latest ohhh look what we added magic ingredient is actually safe and not detrimental to childrens development?

Carolra · 14/03/2013 23:50

Oh

ICBINEG · 14/03/2013 23:51

Well I am glad you don't care about what effect the random shit currently being added to formula will have but I think mothers and babies deserve better.

Carolra · 14/03/2013 23:52

Oh don't be so silly (that should have said). Formula companies are regulated in this country. There's no need to get nasty!

ICBINEG · 14/03/2013 23:56

currently it's all about random synthetic oligosaccharides ....great...and have they actually tested those? Nah coz it's a food stuff and found naturally in other foods so they don't have to.

But hey if it grabs some market share then why not? What's the worst that can happen?

ICBINEG · 14/03/2013 23:58

There should be a burden of proof on formula companies that any new additive be tested for negative side affects.

Carolra · 15/03/2013 00:01

Seriously. No formula equals my dead baby. And for me, that's the worst thing that could happen.

I really think that if you want to help promote Breastfeeding, you need to climb off that soap box, cause you just sound a bit scary and obsessed. If I were a new mum trying to breastfeed, you'd terrify me.... Ok not, so you don't, but I do wonder if there is a more positive way to channel this aggression...?

ICBINEG · 15/03/2013 00:03

I honestly don't understand.

Circumstance has forced you to rely on this product. Why would you also not be advocating that it be properly tested and not subject to trend based random additives?

Carolra · 15/03/2013 00:09

Of course every mum wants the food she gives her baby to be safe. Campaigning for food safety is really a separate issue that applies to all areas of the sector (horse burger anyone?) Although its sad to see the use of scare tactics in support of Breastfeeding. It's not the way I'd go about it personally....

ICBINEG · 15/03/2013 00:16

Well if you can remember back that far it was you that started the 'scare tactics' by saying that BM had less vitamins. I was simply pointing out that less may actually be better.

One day FM will be better than BM for nutrition, for anti-viral activity, for everything. Because that is how progress works. What I would hate to see happen - and what already may have happened with the iron additives - is that in their attempts to get there first (and hence make more money) the companies will cut some important corner and cause a lot of heart ache and misery to parents and children.

Formula is regulated, of course it is. But as a food. So they could put in honey, peanuts, strawberries and any other food based material into the milk and not have to jump through any hoops at all. You wouldn't give those things to your newborn unless you knew they were safe. So why should the formula companies not have to pass the same test?

Carolra · 15/03/2013 00:23

I absolutely did not say bm has less [sic] vitamins. I just mentioned the advice that is given at my health clinic and let everyone infer what they liked from it.... And you chose to think it meant that bm has fewer vitamins... Funny that....

I guess the government has decided that these tests aren't warranted... But that would be an issue for your MP...

Carolra · 15/03/2013 00:24

Fun as this has been, I'm going to bed! Good night all!!

wannaBe · 15/03/2013 00:35

why the fuck does anyone care? Feed your baby whatever you want to feed your baby be that breastmilk or formula, as long as your baby is happy and you're happy with your choice of feeding what business is it of yours how anyone else feeds theirs.

This isn't the third world where formula feeding can be harmful (not due to the formula but the contaminated water) this is the western world where we have access to adequate water and sanitation and sterilising facilities and where babies do thrive on formula.

Honestly all this breast is best crap doesn't send out a positive message at all.

Oh and the lower IQ myth is bollocks.

CommanderShepard · 15/03/2013 06:42

Personally I do care because there are a hell of a lot of women out there who wanted to breastfeed and had to, for whatever reason, stop before they were ready to. The NHS hammers home that breast is best - and I agree - but gives mothers precious little support in trying to establish breastfeeding. Just look at all of us who've been given terrible and/or contradictory advice by midwives and HVs.

It's an absolute disgrace that my local hospital is home to the first breastfeeding clinic and yet they're talking about a timeframe of 8 years for the hospital to achieve UNICEF Babyfriendly status.

The long and the short of it is that I am pro-breastfeeding but completely understand that formula can save lives or the quality thereof. I don't much care how you feed your baby but I do care how you feel about it.

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