formula

[Emma2506]

Ok so I don't want to turn this into a whole ff vs bf war but I find it highly offensive to ff mums who can't collect advantage points/clubcard points, shops aren't allowed to have any offers on etc for formula. I understand it's the LAW but why is it acceptable to have deals on alcohol yet ff mums are penalised for choosing to ff or not being able physically able to bf? I know the excuse is shops promote breast feeding but I'm struggling to get my head around why a bf mum would buy formula just because it's on offer if she is doing well bf and it's FREE!

"mini you can be aware of those things and still not fancy it. We all decide what risks we're comfortable with"

I agree. I feel the same about climate change, as do many others.

Hence a huge industry minimising and denying the scientific claims about environmental change (oh these holier than thou do gooders trying to guilt trip us all into recycling!), and the weird 'double think' lots of us engage in ('I know that global warming is a big problem, but I still need to drive the 500 yards to the supermarket to buy sausages because I'm in a hurry and my legs hurt).

There's something very similar going on in relation to breastfeeding promotion....

these reasons are for the benefit of the mother, not the baby sometimes it might make them happier and therefore more capable of providing better all round care to their baby.

If you 'just don't fancy' breastfeeding for the reasons you have listed, then you are either NOT fully aware of the benefits or just selfish. And I doubt many mothers are that selfish.

You too Diddly.
You left the vital last sentence of that quote off. Here it is in its entirety.

Please do not misquote me as calling FF mothers selfish.

Hospital wards have lactation consultants and breastfeeding counsellors working on them

Mine certainly didn't almost two years ago. Just midwives, HCPs who did zero breastfeeding support and the Bounty lady.

There are 3 breastfeeding helplines which are open 7 days a week. One is 24 hours. There is a national breastfeeding helpline

By the time I got out of hospital and had signal to call anyone, I'd had to give formula and had been told that there was no way I'd manage to breastfeed once formula had been given.

In my area there is a breastfeeding clinic on every single day of the week somewhere in the borough. There are breastfeeding clinics running weekly in every single area of the UK

As I said in a previous post, nothing of this sort has ever been advertised in my area, and I did a lot of research.

There are peer supporter schemes.

Where?

There are breastfeeding cafes.

My area didn't have one until a few months ago.

Hospitals have regular breastfeeding clinics.

So why are we not being told about them? When we ask for help with breastfeeding, why are we not being told "there is this clinic at this time at this location".

The NHS runs breastfeeding education classes. They are often poorly attended.

Probably because they do bugger all advertising for them so no-one knows when they're happening.

There is support.

In your area.

I am looking at the latest 'Bump, Baby and Beyond' book provided to all pregnant women from the NHS I didn't get one of those books and was told that I couldn't be given advice on bottle feeding. I worked it out using the internet but nevertheless policy and practice don't always go hand in hand in our overstretched NHS

OhShutUpThomas Fri 22-Jan-16 13:02:29 my post still applies to the full quote. I think that you basically called anyone who chose not to persevere, uneducated, ignorant or selfish.

The pain I got from feeding was far worse and I couldn't see an end to it.

pyjama do you think it would have helped if you had a mother, or a sister or aunt who'd breastfed to say to you 'this will end, you're doing well, try xyz' etc?
This is where the cultural aspect comes into it. I'm sorry you struggled.

I think that you basically called anyone who chose not to persevere, uneducated, ignorant or selfish

No, Diddly. I was talking about women who choose not to breastfeed, as in not at all, I don't want to, not even colostrum etc. There are quite a few of them and I do believe it comes down to lack of education - NOT selfishness, as I thought I made clear.

Some lovely attitudes on here today - wouldn't want to be a new mother looking for help and advice. I made a fully informed educated decision not to bf. DH is a doctor and supported whatever decision I made as I was the only one who was in a position to make that decision ! By the way DC's have grown up fine !

Apparently as a mother your own personal feelings don't matter any more. Sexism anyone?

I really don't see it like that mini. Is it so hard to accept some people have the info and just don't want to

Oh FFS. It's not sexism to say that only women can breastfeed.

Is it so hard to accept some people have the info and just don't want to

It is a bit. But it happens a lot, you get used to it.

Parker231, if you don't mind me asking, did you not consider giving colostrum to be worthwhile, and if not, why not?

OhShutUpThomas no it isn't. It is sexist to imply that when a woman has a baby her own opinions and feelings don't matter and "you just have to put up with it", as you said earlier

Of course a mother's personal feelings matter. Some mothers just really want to breast feed and so they put up with all the associated crap and accept that's how their life may be for a short while, and other mothers just aren't as bothered about breast feeding and so don't.

The start of my BF journey was hell, I certainly wasn't pursuing it for my benefit.

Some mothers just really want to breast feed and so they put up with all the associated crap and accept that's how their life may be for a short while, and other mothers just aren't as bothered about breast feeding and so don't.

That's how I feel. I tried it but wasn't prepared to put up with the difficulty

But if you want to breastfeed, you do just suck it up and get on with it. Like pregnancy. It's not sexist at all.

But for me, once I had a baby, MY feelings were no longer my priority. I was proud to breastfeed and I did it for my babies, not for me. There, I said it.
There's NOTHING WRONG with what I just said, and it IS NOT an attack on FF mothers, it is simply my reasons for and experience of breastfeeding. And I think that if more women truly believed the stats, they would consider it worth putting up with too. Which is why I'm so pro education and normalising of breastfeeding.

But if you want to breastfeed, you do just suck it up and get on with it. Like pregnancy. It's not sexist at all.

And all the crappy aspects only tend to last a few months anyway - as in the pain and leaking boobs

I found it hard being tied to my DS at times, I wasn't actually away from him until he was 7 months old and even then it was only for about 5 hours as my boobs were about to explode by that point. It wasn't until DS was 9 or 10 months old that I felt myself and DH were on equal parenting footing as up until then DS's nourishment and bedtime was pretty much down to me

But, I just sucked it up as that is how life can be when you BF.

I really don't know why it bothers so many people that they cannot claim loyalty points for formula. There's several things also exempt, prescriptions for example. I've never heard anyone moaning about that.

I always thought it was good that formula no matter where I bought it was going to be roughly the same price.

But if you want to breastfeed, you do just suck it up and get on with it. Like pregnancy. It's not sexist at all.

It's sexist to claim women who don't want to just deal with it are selfish and ill informed.

Women's feelings still matter once they've had kids.

It's not for the NHS, or government, to dictate to people what they should be doing with their bodies

No, and they aren't doing so.

However given the strong evidence that, from a public health perspective, breastfeeding delivers significantly greater benefits than formula feeding (for both mothers and children), it's the responsibility of the government to promote choices that improve public health (and reduce health spending in the long run).

And sadly, I suspect they take the view that restricting marketing and other regulatory and public campaigning approaches are a lot cheaper than providing effective breastfeeding support.

I had a nightmare establishing breastfeeding with both my sons. I have complete sympathy for anyone who chooses formula instead, for whatever reason, because I believe in women having bodily autonomy.

But at the same time I can absolutely see why the government promotes breastfeeding over formula feeding - because from both financial and public health perspectives, it's the responsible way for the government to act.

Definitely Thomas. I know very few people who bf past a week.

Although, I'm certain that if I had another I'd go into bf with a totally different determination. My ds2 didn't get on with formula, and with the benefit of hindsight I'd do anything not to use it again.

Hopefully the cultural and peer support aspect will improve in coming generations, as more women are encouraged to breastfeed

I've breastfed three out of four children. I tried for 6 weeks with one but he just was angry and miserable and projectile vomiting. He kept formula down and was happy. I did feel awful and guilty for a long time.
I wanted to breastfeed though. I don't know what the stats are and I don't really care. I really don't think the benefits are visible enough to change someone's mind. I think it's as simple as wanting to or not wanting to. It is shit if you want to and can't but this is where the pushy pro-breastfeeding campaign goes wrong as it causes unnecessary pressure. My pressure was from myself. It must be ten times worse if the pressure is from other people.