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??

Bertrand. Not really - in my case there was no medical reason I couldn't BF - the reason was with my baby if you see what I mean

What I mean is. The wording puts it all on to the mother when. Sometimes it is the baby.

I mean, sure -- of course we need to offer appropriate information for women who can't or don't want to breastfeed. We need to do the same for women who want to choose to have c-sections (see recent excellent Birthrights campaigning on this subject).

But that doesn't mean downplaying the extraordinary and vital work that women and their bodies do in giving birth and breastfeeding. Scientifically this is only barely understood, but it is becoming clearer by the year that research shows enormous physiological benefits which are not even fully understood yet to vaginal birth and to breastfeeding. For example, see these extraordinary pieces of research into the role of breastfeeding and vaginal birth in 'seeding' the infant microbiome:

www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/05/170508112411.htm

www.newyorker.com/tech/elements/breast-feeding-the-microbiome

www.newscientist.com/article/2075768-boost-c-section-babies-by-giving-them-vaginal-bacteria/

I can't find the right words I'm not very good with words I'm sorry.

What I mean is something that says it might not be the mother that can't or doesn't want to it the issue might be with the baby not the mother.

NotMyPenguin - seeing stuff like that when I had a baby I was not allowed to BF would have broken me. I was already struggling massively at the time and I knew that I was supposed to BF and having people push links at me as to why BF is Best on a societal level would have destroyed me.

I already knew I had given my baby a terrible condition. I didn't need to see anything that told me the physiological disadvantages I was putting on to my child by not bf.

[attitude] of family is to switch to formula at the very first hurdle
Very much my experience.

However I have successfully EBF 5 DCs for their first year.

Women need to be told about the BF problems and how to deal with them, not encouraged by false claims that it is easy. It's not easy, but it is totally worth it, like many things in life! Below are somethings that I wish I had known.

I had thrush on my nipples with DD1 which made BF excruciating. I went for weeks with BF experts saying that 'if it hurts you are doing it wrongly'. This is not true! A lovely Scottish midwife eventually told me that in Scotland mothers are warned about thrush and she recommended that I got Nystatin from GP and it was a literal miracle. Thrush is often the cause of cracked nipples, bleeding and pain. It is easy to cure. By DC no 5 I got some Nystatin off the GP before the birth!
The first couple of hard sucks really hurt, before the' let down reflex', this is particularly bad in the first few weeks. Another brilliant midwife recommended on DC2 to smear some bonjella on my nipples to take the edge off the pain, great if unorthodox advice. Nipple shields didn't really ever help, but I did try. After these first weeks it stops hurting totally.

You may get mastitis, particularly earlier on and itcanbeaorted and not interfere with BF. I did get mastitis on DC3, a hot, hard,sore patch on the breast. I went on antibiotics and used hot flannels, and managed to get through. On DC4 breasts were 36HH too! I brought a pillow everywhere to put baby on and used right hand to prevent breast smothering baby!

I have worked full time the whole time and had between 3 and 6 months off each time with DH (who works from home) feeding DC with my expressed milk. At work I expressed regularly and BTW I have worked in two UK hospitals where I have had to do all my expressing in the loo! La Lesh league were really unhelpful about expressing while going back to work, I gave up with them.
With DD1 GP tried to force me to give up BF in the first 3weeks because DD was not following the growth curve. I had to sign apiece of paper to say that I had gone against his advice: I left surgery I tears. I would have given up but for DH and my own instinct. It turns out the growth curves are drawn using data from Formula fed babies and are a different shape when babies are BF. (DD is now 22 and studying for her masters😀)
With DS1 a different GP told me that my 13lb newborn hungry boy should be given water every third feed lest he be too fat. My midwife told me to ignore that advice too! He's 15 5'11" and slim as a whippet
So if you could get through my long, long post. Breastfeeding is worth it but it is hard and we do need more practical info and more real, societal support.

I had the opposite pressure - why are you BF? You definitely should be FF! You'll probably hurt your baby if you continue BF!

I have an MSPI baby (Milk Soya Protein Intolerance). The only option was bf on a restricted diet or prescription formula, which tastes absolutely horrific and the ped recommended that if we were going to use it, introduce it early, as older than 2 month old babies often refuse it!

The amount of people, HCPs included, who told me to give up bf was crazy. No one could believe I could be bothered to continue breastfeeding, and some even told me I would eventually slip up on my diet and damage my baby!
Imagine being told you're not good enough to bf - THAT is damaging.

@Mychildcouldnotbreaatfeed " I'm sorry that the paed gave you bad advice, but in my specific case I can assure you that BF would not have been in any way beneficial to my child."

The thing is that, had I believed the consultant, I could have ended up saying the same thing. I am sure there are some cases where it is genuinely true, but also many where it is simply a result of misinformation and lack of support (e.g. no lactation consultant to help with latch, no easy access to tongue/lip tie correction, poor information about the common links between reflux and cow's milk protein allergy, misleading growth charts that do not match breastfeeding weight gain).

I only persevered because I was well-informed. Publications like this pamphlet are the first step in giving mothers the information they need to make a decision. There is absolutely a role for supporting women in formula feeding, but it's correct that it should be a second later step.

"bf is beneficial for babies' growth and development. It's a fact. Should the NHS stop promoting exercise because a few individuals suffer a cardiac arrest when they run? "

Wow. Surely everyone knows that the "evidence" is not based on RCT? So it's actually impossible to isolate bf as a factor in healthier/cleverer babies when it could be caused by socioeconomic factors? I think the "facts" should be presented in a more scientifically robust way and not as indisputable. That's why it is propaganda.

By the way I BF my DD because I was able to and I liked it. Switched to formula at 4 months because mix feeding didn't work for me (wish I had been given support as to how to do it without losing all milk supply as I would have liked to continue bf but I couldn't have a baby attached to me constantly). However the information is not given because they don't want to "encourage" FF.

And batteries - comparing breastfeeding/ not BF to exercising / not exercising is just goady

NotMyPenguin don't you believe me?

"having people push links at me as to why BF is Best on a societal level would have destroyed me."

You seem to be saying that bf should not be promoted at all...........

It's really hard for family to watch you struggle. I can understand why they would want you to swap to formula if it meant you would stop crying and spiralling into depression as you struggle for another day with breastfeeding.

DH was really, really worried about me. you can't get those precious first few weeks back and to spend them so upset is horrible.

@Possummagic7 Absolutely! I ended up thinking there was something terribly wrong with my baby, and very few people knew anything about cow's milk or soy intolerance and thought it was impossible that it could pass through my breastmilk. I eliminated both for 3-4 weeks thanks to a wise comment from a friend (medical professionals had advised only cutting out for a week, which is turns out isn't enough), found an enormous improvement, tried reintroducing both individually and confirmed both intolerances. I continued to successfully EBF.

"NotMyPenguin don't you believe me?"

I'm sure she does. But your case is incredibly unusual. Many women who genuinely think they can''t bf actually can. They aren't being put in a position where they can make an informed choice either way.

Bertrand not at all. I just think there should be a line in the documents that says "but not always" or words to that effect.

It's fine to present facts about all kinds of infant nutrition. Then accept parents choices.

We all know having, for example a bmi in a normal range is healthiest and there's all kinds of advice and support on diet and healthy lifestyles. It just isn't presented in quite the same 'being slim is best' way like bf because people tend to understand all the variables associated.

So with feeding info there should be a section on bf, the pros and cons, a section on ff. Troubleshooting points for both and that should be it.

@Mychildcouldnotbreaatfeed Of course I believe you, and you are the person who knows your/DC's medical history! But I am also very conscious that I could easily be saying the same thing through misinformation, so I want to share that too.

There are lots of obstacles to breastfeeding, and a lot of misinformation out there, and we really need to fund and support breastfeeding research and resources in order to make sure that the women who don't breastfeed are making a genuinely informed alternative choice rather than through lack of support or knowledge.

That's what I'm saying NotMyPenguin! It isn't always a matter of "making a genuinely informed alternative choice"! I had no "alternative choice"

"We all know having, for example a bmi in a normal range is healthiest and there's all kinds of advice and support on diet and healthy lifestyles. It just isn't presented in quite the same 'being slim is best' way like bf because people tend to understand all the variables associated."

I think @MyrtleMaracas has hit the nail on the head. Thanks for this.

That's not acceptable, your attitude is very healthy and open minded. Put that leaflet in the trash or use it as loo paper and forget about it.

Next time if she offers you anymore leaflets, refuse them.

TheGrumpySquirrel

Exactly - so much correlation is presented as causation, which grinds my gears about these leaflets and is genuinely misleading.

Wow. Surely everyone knows that the "evidence" is not based on RCT? So it's actually impossible to isolate bf as a factor in healthier/cleverer babies when it could be caused by socioeconomic factors? I think the "facts" should be presented in a more scientifically robust way and not as indisputable. That's why it is propaganda.

To understand this, you have to understand science and the law of statistics which most people don't. It is presented in a way that most people are left with actually believing that if they don't breastfeed, they are giving their baby a life sentence from the start.

A statistical analogy would be if the midwife said as you are about to go home that statistically, you are more like to have a car accident and your baby to die if you leave the hospital on Sunday afternoon rather than Monday afternoon, so suggest you stay one more day in hospital. How many mum would think 'oh no, my baby as .00005% more chance of dying if I leave now so I'll wait until tomorrow? Very few of course because the likelihood remains very small and the convenience of going home overcomes that small statistic.

Breastfeeding is not that different. Yes it is better, as is everything that is statistically significant, but it does rule every aspect of our lives because for many, the margins are too small against other factors.

Maybe it needs to be really emphatic to counteract all this hard selling by baby formula companies? They are actual facts not propaganda and maybe the information would encourage someone lukewarm about bfing to give it a try for all the reasons stated?

So how should the NHS mention or discuss breastfeeding, if at all?