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 am now that I have come through the other side however able to see the bigger picture and appreciate that my feelings and guilt and insecurities don’t take priority over a very important societal message.

You're not able to see the impact on women whose mental health has been effected by failure to establish breastfeeding.

PND is not something to be minimised.

If anybody tries their absolute best to breastfeed and isn't successful, they won't get upset by a message and feel guilt.

This is utter bullshit and really fucking damaging for women who've been through this.

Your understanding of women's psychology is seriously lacking. Take your ignorance elswhere.

Any woman with lactating tits can breastfeed, but the most important thing for a child is love and the ability for the mum to be healthy. If breast feeding is harming the mum’s mental or physical health it HAS to stop.

Pink you are making no sense at all.

Panic you are really being one dimensional over this. There are better ways of getting this message across. Women should be supported better postnatally to feed their babies in the way that is best for them. Society needs to be more supportive of breastfeeding in public rather than the nasty snarky stuff about 'covering up' etc. That is what will lead to more women breastfeeding and those who don't manage it will know they did their best. And if people don't want to breastfeed and feel strongly about it, well that's up to them.

Advice you have no idea. Did your baby end up in hospital for weight loss.... I imagine not.

How on earth is it damaging? I couldn't have a natural labour, I feel sad, yes but guilt? Not remotely. Same thing, if something isn't possible because of no breast tissue or whatever reason a woman couldn't nurse then why would a message make you feel bad?

pnd is not being minimised. if that the one fact wrote on a formula box causes someone to be so distressed there must already be some issues leading up to it. it can’t all be blamed on that!

So what’s the difference then? If your argument is that they already know (which as I’ve stated several times might not be true in all cases) then what difference does it make reading it again.

I have never known such self entitlement. I don’t want to read that so take it away. Never mind that it might encourage a mum to try the breast one more time let’s just focus on the negatives.

Equally we are all arguing stating ‘facts’ based on our own personal beliefs which are not backed up in any way so this is ultimately pointless.

Laurie you say lots or most do find themselves in the formula aisle under such circumstances when actually in my experience a significant proportion choose to go there.

We are all projecting nothing more than opinion now. So good luck and goodbye!

Okay I can’t leave it

READ THE FULL FUCKING THREAD

I agree with all that stuff - yes to more support, yes to other ways to get the message across, yes to all that shit

Why though if you agree to all that ^ would we need to take the message off he bottle. It’s true and it should be there.

There you are increasingly. You tried your best to breastfeed, your baby became unwell and in hospital and was given formula so why do you feel bad?

I’m not minimising PND. Can you explain to me how I am?

Advice you not feeling guilt is a good thing but different people will react differently. I can't get my head around how anyone could feel guilty for having a c-section but I understand that some people do. Guilt is destructive and pointless, it then cycles because you feel guilty for feeling guilty when you shouldn't because you have a beautiful baby and then you feel worse. It sounds completely mad to me 9 years later but it is what happened at the time.

It’s true and it should be there.

But why? Should we print 'wholemeal is more nutritious' onto white loaves of bread?

@harlandgoddard the most recent Infant Feeding Survey found that 83% of women were "aware" of the health benefits of breastfeeding, and 75% of women could name a benefit of breastfeeding. That still leaves a fair number who are unaware of the health benefits and/or who can't name a specific benefit.

I hope you're okay now increasingly . I genuinely don't wish any harm, it's a hard conversation to have but we absolutely have to get breastfeeding rates up in this country but how to do that with limited funds compared to formula companies is a tricky one.

I agree. I feel quite bad my DC were c sections. They Didn't get essential vaginal fluids for their gut biome didn't get essential first skin to skin (I was unconscious) didn't get a first cuddle or a hello.
It's sad but then they could be dead. So whenever I see something that makes me feel a bit guilty I have to rationalise that. That option got taken away from me. I need to make my peace with it.
PND aside, that's what FF mothers who feel guilty they didn't BF need to do too isn't it? Not blame the label.

Because increasingly, the way a child is fed has a long term impact and its expensive to treat issues arising from children being formula fed. Its a social issue.

Yeah I'm absolutely fine. I'm kinda with you that I don't understand now how I went down that road of thinking because it isn't logical or sensible. I'm not even generally prone to depression, the PND I had is the only bout I have ever had in my life.

I genuinely don't wish any harm, it's a hard conversation to have but we absolutely have to get breastfeeding rates up in this country but how to do that with limited funds compared to formula companies is a tricky one.

I agree with this and probably most on this thread are on the same page.

However, what I firmly believe is understanding women's psychology is key to doing this. Successful marketing is very clever. Screaming 'breast is best' everywhere is not necessarily the most effective strategy. Though it is in many ways the easiest.

@Adviceplease360 I actually think you have that the wrong way around. Of my friends and acquaintances those who didn't really have strong feelings either way, gave it a shot and then went to formula couldn't care less what the formula says. Those who struggled with for weeks with bleeding nipples, supply issues (including the one whose baby was admitted to hospital having lost 25 percent of her body weight) and mastitis found the message heartbreaking.

Laurie, screaming breast is best is easy yes and also about as much as can be done by the nhs on limited funds. If money wasn't an issue there would be lactation consultants on every ward, support workers to sit with mums, longer hospital stays. Our anger should be at formula companies.

No because wholemeal bread or even white bread is part of an important balanced diet.

Formula milk will be the whole diet for six months.

It’s position as a substitute for breastmilk should of course be put on the label.

There is no analogy that works here. Formula cannot be compared to any food or other labelling issue.

I think it's almost impossible in our culture to increase breastfeeding rates. There's no money for it, and most people don't think it's actually very important given that they don't give any value to the research around breastfeeding. You see it repeatedly on threads about infant feeding - it only matters in developing countries, there are too many confounding factors that can't be accounted for, you can't tell which child was breastfed at school etc etc.

I don't agree advice I think we should be angry about austerity and the race to the bottom the government has the NHS in. If this is important then it should be resourced, and that makes me angry. We shouldn't accept this constant 'can't afford x and y' stuff that we are fed.

It's all just so complex.

We should be so cross at formula companies they have made a product that would in reality only be necessary to a few women become the most adopted way and the norm to feed a baby up to 6 months. So many breastfeeding issues for women would have been helped in the past by female friends, relatives and neighbours it became a dying art. Even now massive amounts of our society don't know anyone who breastfed and it's too daunting to try for the first time. People in your life are influential. Are you going to read a pamphlet/leaflet handed to you by a midwife or are you going to listen to Mum, sister, best friend, granny all of who have got on great with formula and will give you tips and recommendations.

They should keep the message on the tin especially in line with the not advertising for stage 1/newborn milk. If they remove this it's a slippery slope to the formula companies being able to advertise that actually it IS the best way to feed a baby, they don't have scruples- they're a business and want to make money. They obviously don't want to poison our children but money is their priority !

PND is an awful thing but I agree with someone else that it may help to look at the bigger picture. Formula is not poison but there are risks involved if it is not made up properly/ stored properly whereas apart from very few occurrences with allergies there is not the same risks with breastfeeding.

We are still relatively new in trying to become a more Breadtfeeding feeding friendly society. People are prudish, lots of places are not Breadtfeeding friendly, lots of pressure on women to be back to 'pre-pregnancy' body/weight, putting the message on the tin represents something much bigger.

I combi fed 2 of my dc's so I do understand the use of formula.