NHS FB campaign for breastfeeding

[Isit7yet]

So I'm well aware of all the virtues of breastfeeding but this feels like a first! Local NHS running a friendly BF campaign recently with women holding cards saying I breastfeed because..... And today's had "I love my children" . Am AIBU to want to message them and say how offensive that is to me? Surely that implies that to formula feeding is to not love your child enough?

YABU Its not meant offensively.

Ignore it
Your child will not care how you fed them aslong as you fed them.

I think you are overreacting.

YANBU I mean i have known women unable to Brest feed due to medicle issues and it has caused post natal depression. That’s an awful thing to put online xx

Yanbu, that would have devastated me when I had to give up due to my torn nipples and starving baby at 5 weeks. Breast is not best, fed is best.

I am very open to being unreasonable - several sleepless nights and I was personally extremely pish at breastfeeding meant it felt a wee bit like a kick in chest.

If if have seen that in the days and weeks when my PND really took hold, sparked off due to huge issues with feeding, it would have absolutely devastated me.
They didn’t mean any harm by it I’m sure, but it’s ill though through.

I breastfed my first because i loved her. I bottle fed my second because i loved him.

YABU. I formula fed but it is a known fact that breastfeeding IS better for the baby.
Fed is not best, that’s a stupid phrase, fed is literally the bare minimum you are expected to do.
Informed is best - ie, if a woman is fully informed on all the benefits and issues that will arise with breastfeeding and chooses to bottle feed because it’s best for HER and HER BABY, then that is the right choice. Ditto with breastfeeding.
So much misinformation surrounds BF; women are too freely told by ‘professionals’ to top up with formula, women are only advised of the benefits during pregnancy and nothing of the struggle, therefore a lot of women believe they ‘can’t’ breastfeed and give up.
Hate this goady bullshit.

Honestly take no notice. I breastfed my first for 3 days. It was awful and I hated every minute of it. I went straight to formula with my second.

No amount of “education” or slogan on a placard would have changed that for me.

I had no help or offered any classes before I had my baby. When I had her I was left in a room for hours with no support at all.

But I’ll be honest I just don’t think breastfeeding was for me even if I was offered support etc.

@mancmummy1414 completely agree

YABU.
That is that woman's personal opinion.
You are overreacting and massively projecting.

YABU
It was one persons choice and opinion.
She does not share your view and nor you hers
You baby was/is fed and loved, like many parents irrespective of parenting choices. Full stop.
Don't let it affect you, let it wash over you
Block the feed if it makes you feel like this.

YANBU. I just looked at the post and the woman below said "I breastfeed because it's normal".

I don't care what people do but it feels like dangerous territory to be telling women that it's abnormal to FF, especially if they've been unable to BF.

Breastfeeding is biologically normal though. It should be possible to state this.

Formula feeding is a perfectly good alternative if breastfeeding isn’t possible for any reason.

But she didn't say that FF is abnormal though did she @sayanythingelse? She said she bfs because it is normal. For her. In her opinion.

I'm still breastfeeding my three year old and do it because I love him.

But that would have absolutely devastated me when I was dealing with the guilt of 'failing' with my first. It's insensitive and maybe a bit goady. YANBU.

I wonder how much money goes on problems relating to formula feeding and how much money goes on treating PND...

I bf both of my kids for over a year each and I think yanbu - that card gives me the rage

YANBU. It is a loaded phrase that implies that any mother who doesn't bf doesn't love her child (enough). It absolutely could tip somebody into PND, if seen at the wrong time. It is tin-eared, pressurising, moralising, trite rubbish.

Fine, lay out the benefits of breastfeeding, but do not imply that those who can't are failing to love their children enough. I have seen many clients be tipped into depression because of difficulties with bf, and this kind of pressure is part of the problem.

I agree with other posters in that had I seen something saying 'I breastfeed because I love my baby' in the early weeks (more like months, actually) when I was really struggling and miserable, I would have found it very demoralising and hurtful. We were very fortunate that breastfeeding eventually started going a lot more smoothly and now it's grand but those early days were so tough.

My main gripe with this campaign is that it doesn't really seem to have anything to do with normalising BF in public. Or would it not be 'I breastfeed in public because'?

Fed is not best, that’s a stupid phrase, fed is literally the bare minimum you are expected to do.

Yes but the bare minimum we are expected to be as mums is pretty damn perfect. Formula feeding is not the lowest option. You could feed your child cow's milk. You could mush up solids. You could introduce solids early. Obviously doing so would be dangerous, but plenty of people do. Plenty of people don't sterilise properly or make bottles in advance and all sorts. Formula feeding to exact instructions is far from the least healthy option. Sure, it's like non organic veggies and the odd bit of junk food compared to a full organic diet, but it's hardly the equivilant of McDonald's every day is it?

Again, I'm a BF mum of a toddler, I'm not anti-BF. But to FF properly is difficult and takes love and effort.

YANBU.

Two of my closest friends cannot BF due to double cancer surgeries - I FF my daughter and she's 100% healthy.

Scotland midwives now have to respect FF mother's or they can raise major complaints regarding stigma around it.

Yes BF is the norm but if the mother is too ill or dies the FF is it.

They lack Tact to families who have no other options no matter what.

Yanbu.

If if have seen that in the days and weeks when my PND really took hold, sparked off due to huge issues with feeding, it would have absolutely devastated me for me too.

I can completely see why this could come across as offensive. On the other hand the early days of breastfeeding can be absolutely excruciatingly painful far worse than csection and being the sole person to feed the baby is also utterly exhausting. A reason we do it is because we love our baby.

Oh FFS. I mostly FF one, mostly bf one and really can't get worked up about this.

We have one of the lowest breastfeeding rates in the world. Reading mn sometimes you would think the opposite, that formula feeders are martyrs hounded at every angle, instead of the fact that 2/3 of women have stopped any bfing by 6 months.

I had my reasons for bottle feeding first time around, and did the best I could and am proud of that. Doesn't mean that the NHS is picking on me or suggesting I'm a bad mum if it points out that on balance, the evidence suggests that bfing is somewhat beneficial for the baby. In my case it was certainly a cost saving, and good for losing baby weight too. It can be a great thing if and when it works well, but large sections of the country (just not the ones who are vocal on here) get the message, as I did, that it's a bit creepy after a few months, or that a fussy baby means they're not making milk.