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??

Mychild- are you really not listening when people say that of course there are people who can't and shouldn't bf? But such cases are very rare. And many women who genuinely think they can't could if offered the right support?

'She can't be bothered and that's totally SIL.It's up to her but it makes me feel a bit sad'

I wonder if she feels 'sad' about any of your parenting choices? I loathe it when people patronisingly feel 'sad' for others perfectly safe ways to care for their dc.

I can't help how I privately feel - that doesn't mean I plan on saying anything.

Not at all Bertrand.

I'm struggling to see why someone else would judge me such as be sad with no knowledge thoug

'I can't help how I privately feel - that doesn't mean I plan on saying anything.'

No of course you don't plan on saying anything . I bet she'll know you disapprove though. What about if she 'felt sad' that you were using dummies say, or using nurseries or co sleeping? can't you see it doesn't matter what other people do you'll always find research for and against. It's just silly to feel sad about it.

I would be devastated if I decided not to breastfeed and then my baby ended up Ill
But you'd never know that it was because you haven't breastfed though. My ex's new partner is the opposite to me, a breast militant, which is fine, we all have different opinions, but whereas my kids have been very healthy, her DC has caught infections after infections. I've never heard of a toddler so ill and that's having breastfed until she was over 12 months and looked after at home. It's not that breastfeeding is not better, it's because amongst BF babies, you will still have many who are weakened to infections and FF babies who are stong as an ox.

do you think that health researchers haven't noticed the possible confounding effects of a skwed population who bf?
They did to the extend that science allowed them to. That doesn't mean there were none left. The main issue though is not that of causation vs correlation but the fact that even when causation can really be established, it's the strength of the causation that is biased, ie. that exactly as above, parents are led to believe that the causation is black and white when in reality, its shade of grey is so small, you can't see it in the naked eye.

Mychild

I am not judging you!!

' My baby is 12 weeks and it's still not easy, but Ive become more resilient'

There you go mums who don't bf, you just need to 'become more resilient'!

I bf. I couldn't care less if others do or don't.

Mychild "What should the NHS do about the children with rare conditions then like mine?
The type of metabolic condition to which you are probably referring occurs at about a level of 1/10,000 people in the UK.

Breast is best posters should have a note at the end which says unless specifically indicated against by a medical practitioner. However, standard FF is just as bad for this group of children and should have the same health warning. However, with the greatest sympathy and respect, this thread is not really about rare conditions. Many public heath messages use emotion to help get the message across (the FAST campaign for example).

The statistics for UK bottle feeding runs at 99.5% of babies being bottle fed by 12 months. Breast feeding is not winning the "propaganda" war. It should be the norm and bottle feeding, when necessary and without guilt, the exception.

What I've learned so far from parenting my now teenage kids is that the most valuable input I could give them was to be confident about the choices I've made, whatever they were, but that confidence installed trust and security in them and gave them a sense of confidence in themselves too.

This is funny because I had a consultant appointment the other day and she more or less slagged off "these mothers" who are "obsessed" with BF. She told me I shouldn't worry and that mixed feeding and formula at night is fine, especially to get baby to sleep through the night. I left feeling a lot more calm about the sleepless nights and feeding.

"I'm struggling to see why someone else would judge me such as be sad with no knowledge thoug smile"

Is "feeling slightly sad in passing" the same as "judging"? It isnMt in my book!

Well in my mind you have to make a judgement to feel sad. but I'm happy to accept others have a different view.

emlemon
I'm just about to get in the car so can't write a full answer to your question, but in short, there are a huge number of political reasons why countries adhere to certain WHO targets and initiatives- bf rates, being a signatory to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, childhood vaccination rates etc - all under th health systems framework

If you wand WHO funding, you have to show progress on certain areas, and leadership in others.

It's less pronounced for established health systems like the NHS but it is still relevant
It's used as a real bribery tactic for developing economies

(Former Geneva lobbiest here - saw it all first hand with the WHO and WTO)

MyrtleMaracas

Out of my full post, you've taken one point I made about my own experience out of context and totally missed the overall point I was making. It was not my intention at all to say that mothers who don't breastfeed need to become more resilient. My point is that breast feeding can be hard for some and can get easier (as I have experienced myself), if difficulties continue you can express and feed from a bottle and there are circumstances in which formula is required or preferable.

breast militant two words that are dished out so readily and are so inappropriate. breast feeding advocate, bf enthusiast, even bf fanatic though I very much doubt there are many of the latter. But militant? feeding a child the way we were evolved to do?

Militant:
favouring confrontational or violent methods in support of a political or social cause.
"the army are in conflict with militant groups"

Not quite what breastfeeding is about. People may be zealous but that is us usually only in response to society's normalisation of ff.

To call people who support or even are overly zealous about BF Breast militant is really sexist and unhelpful.

Delurking to say that Mychildcouldnotbreaatfeed has made this whole thread about her pretty unique and rare situation.

I can't make up my mind whether that's a good thing or not.

To be fair the only people who ever said anything to me were ill informed HCPs who weren't aware.

Other mothers just looked at me.

*Sparechange

Thank you, do you have any reading resources about this?*

Other mothers just looked at me
I promise you, people look at you when you breastfeed. I've fed in pub toilets (lunchtime) to avoid stares and then had women hammering on the door because I'd been a long time. I've fed on UK beaches, people walk past staring hard, I've had to retreat from family gatherings due to older relatives disapproval. Expressed in work place toilets...

People stare at you for anything. Especially breast feeding. We are NOT a bf friendly society.

"Other mothers just looked at me."

And this was because you were bottle feeding? You're sure about that?

Yes Bertrand. I am. The clinic was run at the same time as the breast feeding support group so I was the only one bottle feeding.

As I have said, I complained. Please don't keep questioning me. It was terribly upsetting at the time and I feel like you don't believe me

"Other mothers just looked at me."
Nonsense, they never looked at you because you were bottle feeding, that's paranoid.

"Yes Bertrand. I am. The clinic was run at the same time as the breast feeding support group so I was the only one bottle feeding. As I have said, I complained. "

You complained about people looking at you in a public space? How did that pan out?

I've not rtft but for heavens sake - it's not propaganda! It's a public health campaign. The last time I looked the UK has the lowest rate of breastfeeding in the world. Of course we should try to encourage a behaviour that will help the overall health and wellbeing of millions and save the NHS money. Should we not have had public health campaigns showing the ill effects of smoking because some can't stop? Or not try and reverse obesity because some will remain overweight?

I complained that my appointment was scheduled at the same time as the breast feeding support group. I complained that the BF consultant told me that there was no reason why I couldn't BF and tutted at me as she walked past.

I asked to be treated more sensitively given the condition my child had. And continues to have.

Can't you see why it was wrong if them to ask me to attend at that time? And for a HCP to say that and tutt not having read my DC notes?