Breast milk is the best thing for your baby...

[Starwhisperer]

Please hear me out on this one.

I know that advertising regulations are in line with the WHO advice that breast milk is the best thing for a baby until at least 6 months of age.

My issue is with the specifics in what we see and read as soon to be and new mothers.

I combi fed my first child for 18m as my supply never seemed to be where I needed it to be. The first 2 months were a hellish cycle of pumping and formula milk. I firmly believe the failure to feed as I'd wanted led to my PND. I met other mothers struggling at the time who felt the same way and there has been research done which has confirmed this.

Everytime I formula fed my baby there in front of me was the message "breast milk is the best thing for your baby". Am I being unreasonable to think that this would do more harm than good. I know it made me feel rotten. I'd have thought that by the time a mother is preparing and giving formula feeds it's generally too late to be converted to the idea of BFing. The message is either going to women entirely happy with their decision to FF or women like me who see it as a kick in the teeth because they tried their hardest and didn't get the hang of it.

I feel that instead more effort should be put in before birth to get the facts out there, all i had was ony little leaflet with no opportunity promoted to ask aboit tjings in more detail. Perhaps a blanket ban on formula advertising. They use babies as close to 6m as possible for the pictures which does far more in the way of promoting FF than a little message promoting BF on a box.

Perhaps I'm getting my knickers in a twist over nothing bit I feel the formula manufacturers are doing way more harm than good here.

I think Laurie is maybe taking her hard time and making it a universal truth.

I had a very similar experience to Laurie, this isn't just her.

And no we shouldn't take bib is of the tins, we should have it stamped on peoples forehead I think because the message still isn't getting tthrough!

The message is true and important panic but what are the benefits from it being printed there?

It isn't that the message is too weak to encourage BFing it's that it's there too late. A woman buying and feeding formula has already made the decision to do so. If she notices it several weeks in she can't change her mind. Telling women best is breast is great but do so when she can actually make a decision to breast feed.

I think the same advice_ I had awful births and obviously many women suffer PND as a result of bad births. Should that be allowed to dictate the conversation we have around birth? Should the NHS stop printing literature sayings a VB is safest for mother and baby because it's sometimes not true and might upset me?

To be super clear, I exclusively breastfed my DS for 10 months without any significant difficulties.

But I've seen my friends struggle and I've seen many, many women on these boards talk about their experiences. I think the marketing of bf in this country is extremely flawed.

It's not about the FF mum seeing the BIB label. It's about normalising BF, getting it out there, having people talk about it, debate it, find out more about it. You're already FF this baby but maybe you'll think a bit more about BF the next. Or maybe it will start a conversation between you and your sister, or best mate. I really don't think the government expect a woman to ditch the formula mid bottle and whip a boob out instead

Telling you a VB is safer once you've given birth isn't really going to harm your mental health as the statistics on safety mean nothing if you've already done it and both of you survived. Thrusting down the message that a VB is safer when you've no option but to have a c section would be considered unnecessarily cruel by most people.

What about my next baby?

I think the same advice_ I had awful births and obviously many women suffer PND as a result of bad births. Should that be allowed to dictate the conversation we have around birth? Should the NHS stop printing literature sayings a VB is safest for mother and baby because it's sometimes not true and might upset me?

I think that promoting natural as the best way can be unhelpful, yes. But it isn't printed on the side of products so that you have to see 'VB with no epidural' is best for months afterwards when you can do absolutely nothing about it at all. I don't think anyone has an issue with the NHS making factual statements about breastmilk being the best food for babies.

But its not just about getting through childbirth unharmed. There are documented benefits to natural labours.

You're already FF this baby but maybe you'll think a bit more about BF the next. Or maybe it will start a conversation between you and your sister, or best mate.

But that's not how it works in reality. Most people want to BF, it just doesn't work out for them. So it just makes them feel shit.

However, I think greater visibility of BF in public and more support groups would achieve what you're talking about and that would be a great thing.

I think by second babies people are more confident. I'd have felt a lot less bothered FF these 2 afyer seeing that my first born didn't self combust due to drinking formula

I really don't think the government expect a woman to ditch the formula mid bottle and whip a boob out instead

So it needs to be done differently.

The message, in my opinion and in the opinion of the government and the WHO, should be on the tin because it expresses a consistent message.

People are saying it doesn’t need to be on the tin because it 1. It doesn’t influence a woman’s decision to breastfeed and 2. it’s upsetting.

So the claim is in my opinion paradoxical. It’s either ineffective or it isn’t. The words carry power or they don’t.

You can’t say it wouldn’t encourage a woman to breastfeed but it would cause-the woman PND.

Breastfeeding would also help many many issues in this country with regards to gastro bugs in infants.

Your ‘ I’m alright jack’ attitude in relation to other women of the world and the health of their babies is t something im even going to comment on but for a message to be effective it has to be consistent. The simple fact is that breastfeeding would have posit e health benefits in this country and beyond. You can’t pick and choose where that message is promoted.

It’s about the attempt to normalise breastfeeding

^^ this

Your ‘ I’m alright jack’ attitude in relation to other women of the world and the health of their babies is t something im even going to comment on but for a message to be effective it has to be consistent.

It's not 'I'm alright Jack' its just fucking practicalities. It makes no difference to the third world what we print on tins. The official government message here is the same as the WHO and i for one am not suggesting that is changed.

Your "I'm.alright jack" attitude in relation to mothers suffering PND after struggling to BF probably shouldn't be commented on either.

A message printed on a box of formula in the UK has absolutely nothing to do with a woman in a developing country having formula suggested to her when it's a horrendous option for her and her baby.

Okay doke.

I’ll say it one more time. I feel awful for women with PND. I absolutely agree that more should be done to support them.

Whatever that is however shouldn’t be to the detriment of a message that is important in saving children’s lives in this country and abroad.

Normalising breastfeeding is actually about much, much more than messaging on formula.

It's about better parental leave. It's about support groups. It's about effective NHS support. It's about sensitive help from the midwife. It's about encouraging communities of women. It's about taking the pressure off women domestically. It's about greater visibility of breastfeeding outside the home. It's about silencing the professionally offended.

It is not about making women feel bad about decisions that they may have had little control over.

The issue with PND is not that a message makes you feel guilty..its that you feel guilty about something entirely inappropriately.

You can't fix the inappropriate guilt by removing the message because the guilt wasn't caused by the message, it was only triggered by it.

If you didn't already feel inappropriately guilty the message would have no impact on you whatsoever.

So what we need to do is fix the problem of women feeling inappropriate guilt over formula feeding.

This I believe needs to be addressed by our entire societal attitude and specifically during antenatal classes and check ups.

Most women can cope with the complexity of the truth - that all other things being equal it would be better to BF - but all other things aren't often equal and there are other factors to consider. So if it isn't working for you and your baby then no biggy - just switch onto formula.

The single most damaging part of the message in my opinion is the BF is natural and easy. Its certainly natural, but it isn't always easy. Preparing women to be able to troubleshoot their feeding problems is far more important than sticking solidly to the 'its easy - you won't have any problems' mantra.

Its time our BF training grew up and got real.

Whatever that is however shouldn’t be to the detriment of a message that is important in saving children’s lives in this country and abroad.

So where is your evidence that printing this on the side of UK formula tins saves lives in this country and abroad?

But you cannot explain why that message needs to be on infant formula. Should we put it on cows milk too in case someone decides that may be a good choice?

The message absolutely needs to be out there but from other comments in this threads its obvious that the way it is being presented is harmful to some mothers, especially vunerable mums.

For once we agree Laurie. Yes absolutely.

Why would a message on a bottle then make a woman feel more shit though than a poster in the doctors, seeing a breastfeeding mother in a cafe etc etc

As mothers if we think that breastfeeding is the best option then any of these will potentially be ‘triggers’.

Because. the message on the formula is there everytime you feed your baby. Probably every 3 hours with a new born.

It needs to be on the formula because many people are buying it thinking it is as good as it the same as Breast milk!

Why do you agree that people need to be educated with facts but disagree that the fact should be placed on the actual source!!!!

This is becoming Kafka-esque