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??

And Phil, it's a pity you weren't allowed to go to the antenatal breastfeeding workshop. All the partners came to the one at our hospital - the men were made to demonstrate how to get a good latch for the dolls on the knitted boobs too, it was good fun.

There was also postnatal breastfeeding advice (they came to your bedside), and once I'd left hospital there was a Milk Spot or breastfeeding cafe on somewhere in the borough every day of the week, so I knew I could always get help if I needed it. My husband came with me to my first visit to the Milk Spot (I was post c-section and needed help to get there), he was expecting to wait in reception but actually he was made very welcome and lots of women had partners with them. Breastfeeding is so much easier with support from your partner so he was included all the way.

South London is excellent for breastfeeding support. I know I'm lucky to live where I do. But if people are going to flip their shit over being handed a booklet, I can see why this amount of support is unusual elsewhere in the country.

I had problems when I first started - DS was premature, with low blood sugars, a weak suck and a thick anterior tongue tie. We got BFing established with a mixture of expressing, FF top ups (DH learned to give finger feeds so I could rest), getting the TT snipped, and lots of support. It wasn't easy but I never felt that we wouldn't be able to do it because all the HCPs we met were very positive about it being temporary and fixable. My milk would come in, his suck would get stronger, his latch would improve after the TT snip. And they were right.

My mum had no support at all, and gave up at three weeks in the face of constant criticism (I was always hungry, she didn't know cluster feeding was a thing and was told she must not have enough milk and was being selfish carrying on). She has bitterly regretted it ever since. That was in the 70s, you would have thought we would have moved on since then but I see so many posts on here saying the same thing, and it is so sad because it is so avoidable.

I have a friend who never intended breastfeeding because she wanted her husband to do 50% of the childcare from day one, and that is fair enough. The support should be there for people who want it though, and that does mean publicising it. You can't wait for people to ask, because people don't ask for what they don't know exists.

Saying that your FF family member is super intelligent doesn't prove that BF isn't the better substance for babies. It is. You have no idea at all the affects of FF, but it's unlikely that BF does any harm.

I'll never understand why people object to being given information on breastfeeding. Of course the NHS is going to promote it, they have multimillion pound formula companies to compete with and it's in their interests as women not breastfeeding costs the NHS money

Marketing and advertising of formulas led to a significant decline in breastfeeding and it is the industries that have financially benefited

This is so sanctimonious and patronising. I wonder how many mums ff because they've seen ff advertising. I suspect, none at all. I suspect they've tried breastfeeding and given up because it was too hard or they just didn't like it, or because they want the dads to do some work. Nothing to to do with adverts for formula.

And it IS scaremongering to tell women their kids will get cancer if they don't breastfeed. It's far more likely that they'll get cancer if they smoke, or get fat, or live on a busy road where they're breathing in fumes all day. But no, we'll blame the mums for not breastfeeding for the first few weeks of life. Lets have a go at the women, as usual.

"And it IS scaremongering to tell women their kids will get cancer if they don't breastfeed"

Of course it is. Did anybody say that?

There's a whole section in the NHS pregnancy book on smoking and children. There's also a great deal on diet.

It isn't all about formula.

"I wonder how many mums ff because they've seen ff advertising"

I don't know. But a lot will ff because they come from a ff "culture". If everyone around you and in your family and on the media ff, then it stands to reason you are more likely to ff yourself. And vice versa.

'you've run out of arguments. You take offence at people thinking it's a shame that some babies are ff, don't accept that people thinking it's a pity are being compassionate rather than superior.'

I haven't 'run out of arguments' I still have the same one . Hcps should advocate bf, of course they should. They should point out the pros and cons of both methods of feeding. Other parents should keep their nebs out and desist from using sanctimonious 'its a shame' terminology. Sadly I think some people can't help it.

There is no shame in making a legitimate feeding choice, there is however shame in judging other people for making different choices.

Other parents should keep their nebs out

Yup. Nose out, gob shut

The advertising must work or advertisers wouldn't pay a fortune to do it.

Other parents are perfectly entitled to voice their opinions and give the benefit of their experience, as it's beneficial to those babies who are breastfed for longer or are breastfed when they might have been ff. In general, obviously there are better and poorer ways to go about it.

BF-ing mums get flak for bf-ing in the same way as ff-ing mums do. I was heavily criticised by a ff-ing mum when I was continuing to bf despite it being very difficult at a toddler group.

Breastfeeding (longer the better) reduces the risks of breast cancer for the mother. So that is worth stating.
I didn't read anything in the document that tells mothers their children will get cancer if they don't breastfeed.

It's important that they push breastfeeding and let you know the facts about why it's so important. It's a health issue. What you do with that information is up to you.

Cherrychasing - posters claiming that ff-ing hasn't adversely affected their child are trying to argument against the studies showing that statistically speaking, bf babies have better outcomes. FF probably hasn't harmed their child, per se, but the health of that child is likely to not be as good as if they had been bf.

Agreed Branleuse

Human milk is for human babies yet formula milk advertising, the dairy industry and our views about breasts and women have led to a culture whereby feeding our babies naturally as some sort of hippyish and ridiculously difficult venture. Of course formula has it's uses as there are some circumstances in which breastfeeding is not viable or possible, but those circumstances don't really apply in the numbers needed to account for our love of the bottle.

I wonder how many mums ff because they've seen ff advertising. I suspect, none at all.

Don't be so naive. Marketing is so much more than an advert on a TV. I bet you everyone on the thread could name at least two formula brands. Why do you think that is? Is it instilled in our brains from birth, or because it's been marketed well? Formula companies don't care about your babies, they want your money, and they put an awful lot of resources into drip feeding into mums-to-be that formula is the best option. And the TV adverts are a drop in the ocean of that marketing.

And it IS scaremongering to tell women their kids will get cancer if they don't breastfeed. It's far more likely that they'll get cancer if they smoke, or get fat, or live on a busy road where they're breathing in fumes all day. But no, we'll blame the mums for not breastfeeding for the first few weeks of life. Lets have a go at the women, as usual

Show me one piece of bona fide literature that tells you FF will give your kids cancer.

Actually I'll save you the other - it doesn't exist, this is merely an extrapolation. What is true is that BF can reduce the risk of cancer. What good reason would there be to not share that information?!

Excluding a gap for pregnancy I'm into my third consecutive year of breastfeeding and I've never encountered any negative attitudes. I've had questions such as how do I know the baby is getting enough or is it not hard to breastfeed and so on which I've taken as curiosity and I've answers honestly. No one has ever told me to put them away or said I should FF instead. I'm not saying negative attitudes don't exist, I'm sure they do, but in my corner if the world at least no one seems to care so long as the baby gets fed somehow.

That's good to hear. My DC are 18 and 20 now. It's seventeen years since I stopped.

I would have ff due to adverts, not knowing there was another way. The culture has changed though, fortunately, in the last twenty years. When I first BF my DD friends would find it and I quote "disturbing and disgusting" - no one BF really in my friendship group. Now things are different, it's promoted more and seen, quite rightly as a valid choice. That does lead to ff mums feeling they have to articulate their choice perhaps.

Your attitude sounds perfect, and this pamphlet sounds like it was written by a committee (of men.) Chuck it in the bin and stick with the plan you started with!

I still feel guilt over it! My first had tongue tie so was express fed for a while and my second I was just unable to cope with ten mins sleep a night whilst caring for two babies. I tried really hard but it didn't work out but even now I feel guilt over it. Ultimately they're both on solids now and eat a healthy, balanced variety of food and I'm throwing myself into teaching them how to have a healthy relationship with food as that's more important in my opinion. I think your attitude is a great one. If you can you can and if it doesn't work out you tried your best x

www.whale.to/a/wiessinger.html

It's not propaganda it's just the truth. It's being worded properly, there are no benefits to breastfeeding. Breastfeeding is the biological norm. Artificial feeding is the deviation from that biological norm and babies that aren't breastfed are at increased risk of various health issues, as are mothers that don't breastfeed. In recent years the soft-sell of 'benefits' of breastfeeding and 'breast is best' has inferred that artificial feeding carries no risks and breastfeeding gives your baby 'extra'. Around 2% of women can't breastfeed. To deny the 98% who can the correct information just in case the 2% take offence is insane, and has contributed to the UK having one of the worst breastfeeding rates in the world.

With my first they put a lot of pressure on me, including coming to my house and saying they wanted to see me brestfeed in my own bed! DD didn't like it and wouldn't latch on and I didn't like it because I wanted my body back and wanted her dad to be part of the experience and be able to feed her. When I was in hospital they sent a breastfeeding consultant round and said they wouldn't let me leave until they had seen me try!
I am now pregnant with my second and have told the midwife I don't want to do it and have asked her to put that in my notes so i didn't get any hassle over it. I am an intelligent person and totally understand the health benefits but it is not for me and i think that straight after having a baby you are incredibly vulnerable and don't need people telling you what to do.
I agree that the hospital does try and push it because of the health benefits but it is totally your choice.

I always planned to BF. DD1 couldn't latch on, my milk never came in, I went to classes and had an electric pump. It was painful and difficult. I had PND too so the whole time was stressful and I felt like a failure. When I told a midwife I was going to try a bottle of formula to see if it made any difference, her words were 'Thank goodness for that. I'm not allowed to suggest it but I think it would really be a good idea for you'.

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.

I wasn't handed this info, but what I found was that I was given info on breastfeeding only and not on mixed feeding and formula feeding. In the end I had a difficult birth, my boobs just did not work, and I tried very hard and really wanted to breastfeed. Without mixed feeding (with an emphasis on formula) which was in the end suggested by a Paediatrician who basically told me that I wasn't producing enough milk, my baby would not have grown properly. So it could be called propaganda in so far as it is biased as it doesn't prepare you for all eventualities equally.

I found some health professionals supportive in that they came across this every day and so did not make me feel guilty by needing to mix feed from day one e.g. my health visitor, and GP surgery nurses. However, others not at all and surprisingly not well versed in what to do if breastfeeding is an issue e.g. my GP.

Sorry I meant to quote the first para but I'm hopeless on forums. Sorry