To think the 'information' the midwife gave me is almost propaganda?

[ethelfleda]

Recently had 24 week appointment. This is our first. Midwife asked if I had thought about feeding yet. I said I plan on breastfeeding. I say 'plan' because (as with everything else baby related) I am trying to keep an open mind as from what I hear, things don't always go according to plan! So I will try hard to breastfeed but I won't beat myself up if it doesn't work out for us.
She handed me a 20 odd page pamphlet thing and said it contained useful information on caring for a new born.

I started to read it today thinking it would be basic NHS info on how to feed, wind and change your baby etc. It was actually 20 odd pages of info telling me basically that if i don't breastfeed, my baby is more likely to develop cancer (as am I) as well as be admitted to hospital in their first year of life etc etc among other very scary statistics.
The language used was shocking IMO! And seemingly designed to make women who don't/can't breastfeed feel awful! Has anyone else had this information handed to them and thought it was way over the top??

Yes. Had exactly the same attitude as you which is by far the best way to go I think - do it if you can but don't make yourself ill worrying about it if you can't. But all the literature was utterly OTT.

That doesn't sound great. I had DC1 in 1999 and I do remember that even back then not a single word was mentioned that BF would not work out, it would all be fine and dandy. It wasn't.

Propaganda implies mistruths which obviously isn't the case, but I have heard some trusts come on strong. It is important on a societal level, so while I can appreciate it is off-putting it is necessary to a degree.

I had the opposite experience. What to breastfeed? Fine, but remember it is quite hard, so I'd have formula in to be safe. From pretty much every HCP I came across. Getting actual help when I was struggling second time around was a battle.

What's the name of this document?

What's the name of this document?

So many women decide to not even try breastfeeding they are trying to make the benefits of trying very very clear.

I remember saying to my mum, when I was pregnant 8 years ago, that if I was undecided about breast feeding, the pushy, sanctimonious attitude would have put me off.

As it was, I'm about as pro-breastfeeding as you can get, but I still found it off-putting and uncomfortable.

Ugh, that shouldn't be in there!

I mean, it may all be true, but still, you aren't given information on how dangerous it is to get into a heterosexual relationship (just as example), so I don't see any reason for this flood of scary information other than propaganda intents.

If they only gave that pamphlet to women who want to breastfeed and need motivation to keep trying, perhaps, it would be different, but if they give that to everyone ... Oo

I sure hope that specific midwife wouldn't have given you the pamphlet if you had said you want to formula feed.

It is called 'mothers & others guide to feeding & caring for your baby'

Completely agree with enabling women to make informed choices but this is more than that. I don't like the language used - seems like they are putting a huge amount of pressure on.

Oh, FGS. Exaggerating much? What you are describing is information. Factual information at that. As you know, or will come to know as your pregnancy progresses, time at your antenatal appointments is limited. This is why you are given written information to take home and read at your leisure. What you choose to do with this information is entirely up to you. Describing it as 'propaganda' is ridiculous and for that YABU.

Do what you want at the end of the day. Your baby, your choice. Nobody will be chasing you around your house postnatally forcing your breast into your baby's mouth! But don't write off the information as some sort of scaremongering. Everything written is based on research and evidence. Would you rather you weren't told the benefits of breastfeeding?

Vestal interesting point. I would like to think not.
It seems like a wolf in sheep's clothing. The front page implies very much that it is a general guide - perhaps one that a first time parent will find useful. But nearly every single page contains very bold pro-breastfeeding statements and talks about how inferior formula is! And has NHS logo on front endorsing it!

I wonder if it makes a difference if it's your first baby? With dd (second baby) I said that I was going to give bf a go for as long as dp was on paternity leave and if it didn't work out then I was just going to switch. I more or less said it as 'this is my plan and I don't want to hear another word about it' and I didn't hear another word about it. Same with Co sleeping, any mention of it with my first and I got a lecture about it, with my second they simply said 'we'll you sound like you know what you want to do'. First time around mw scared us to death telling us the room was too warm, we didn't have a good enough room thermometer etc. Second baby they didn't.

So many women decide to not even try breastfeeding they are trying to make the benefits of trying very very clear.

"You will lose your weight from pregnancy easier and not have all the work with cleaning bottles" would suffice, wouldn't it?

The benefits of trying are not the same ones - trying, you'd give baby some resistance to diseases, by giving them the ... whatsitcalled? Colostrum? I'm not against emphasizing the benefit of breastfeeding for the first three days or so.

But making women who for some reason can't breastfeed feel like they'll die of cancer is just scaremongering.

They are making sure that you have up to date information on which to base your feeding decisions.

Obviously it's pretty uncomfortable reading those facts if you don't want to breastfeed/can't breastfeed/are ambivalent about breastfeeding. However, their responsibility is to make sure you have a good understanding of the possible implications of the choices you make for your baby.

Yeeeeah - I 'planned' to BF and because of reasons it didn't work out. I really struggled with that and the fucking PND didn't help and felt like a total failure. I get why BF is pushed so hard, but bottle feeding isn't failing, sometimes it's just putting your own mental health first - because if you don't then baby might not have a mummy around for very long. (My experience, see aforementioned PND)
I dunno what the answer is, but let's not scare the crap out of first time mums

reborn slippy honestly, I'm not one for exaggerating and would probably be saying the same as you in response to someone posting what I have if I hadn't actually read the thing. It really is quite shocking.

Again, I completely agree with informed choices and the pros and cons being explained but surely there are better ways of presenting the information to expectant mothers!

Ugh, I had a health visitor who said that as I wanted to breastfeed I would be fine. As though all that was required to breastfeed was enough determination on the mother's behalf.

Everything written is based on research and evidence.

Yes, but if the Green party walked around telling everyone buying meat at the supermarket about their increased colon cancer risk, that would also be called scaremongering.
And plain rude, to boot.

Is this it?

www.mothersguide.co.uk/BreastfeedingGuide.html

And seemingly designed to make women who don't/can't breastfeed feel awful!

No, it's designed to encourage women to breastfeed. Surely that's obvious?

"But making women who for some reason can't breastfeed feel like they'll die of cancer is just scaremongering."

It would be if that's what the leaflets did.

However, they don't.

They say that not breastfeeding increases the likelihood of ovarian and breast cancer, which it does.

That's not the same as saying 'if you don't breastfeed you will get cancer" is it?

vikingprincess I think that is what worries me! I'm pretty strong minded but I have no idea how I will feel if I 'fail' at bf. I would like to think I can make a switch to ff and not stress too much but if I refer some of the stuff I have read so far, I'm not sure i would be able to!

I would imagine Vestal that if there was such a thing as a point in ones life we had to decide whether or not we intended to eat meat, the evidence would be presented. Risks and benefits.

Fact of the matter is; antenatally, there is a duty of care for our midwives to educate women on their intended feeding methods. How can we do that if we don't give all the relevant information?

This is the cover...

AGAIN I am not knocking the NHS for handing out info... far from it. But the way it is presented isn't great!