To believe that formula companies have PR agents working the BF/FF threads on here?

[CocoDeMoll]

They are a multi million pound set of companies that are invested in keeping Britain’s low breastfeeding rates down and keeping their profit margins up.

Any positives about breastfeeding seem to be shot down in flames on here.

So much pro formula and anti breastfeeding rhetoric.

They can easily afford to and have the best at the jobs be it lawyers, pr teams or spin doctors on their sides and they’re not exactly renounced for their ethics are they (nestle?!?!).

Or am I just getting a bit tied up in conspiracy therorys?

Bertie thank you for the links! It absolutely shouldn’t be this hard. I don’t live rurally as such I live in a suburban town, but I don’t drive so my access to areas is limited. I was really surprised when I couldn’t find much as I (stupidly) thought the NHS would do them as they do water birth classes.

If rates of veganism continue to increase the way they are, the formula companies could be in big trouble. (I'm not vegan or even vegetarian, by the way.)

Regarding the OP.

Of course they are.

It's standard marketing practice now and would explain the vitriol if you even hint at the idea that breast milk is the best food for young babies.

Nestle, we know you are here!

Tinfoil hats at the ready ffs

@Pengggwn and when should the rights of the parent trump the rights of the child? Again as per the smoking debate? A lot of parents 20-40 years ago said their right to smoke was their individual freedom of choice. That opinion is no longer popular. I wonder if the same will happen with infant formula?

Arewehomeyet

Don't be so ridiculous. Perhaps in your authoritarian, Handmaid's Tale-style fantasy world, women will be coerced into BF. Here in the real world, formula does not harm infants and is a perfectly acceptable method of feeding your child. It is also an individual choice.

This is how far they will go, they bought Trump:

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/jul/08/trump-administration-opposes-breastfeeding-resolution-report

Don't be stupid.

Most women have never seen anyone bf until they try themselves

I find that hard to believe

Arewehome what the hell,comparing imfant formula to smoking, comparing life saving infant nutrician to smoking, what the hell are you on. When dd couldent feed and nearly had to be admitted to hodpital as she lost a lot of weight, it saved her life. It is not comparable to be of course, BM is superior, but it a perfectly adequate alternative, better than the baby dying don't you think!

@flamingofridays

"Most women have never seen anyone bf until they try themselves

I find that hard to believe"

I hadn't

@thereareflowersinmygarden high five

What? Are you being serious? You know what, I was so down when I had to stop BF a few weeks in and I fell into a dark, horrible hole. I was FULLY supported by lovely comments on Mumsnet about formula. Likewise, before I stopped I was supported by lovely comments about BF. I've never seen any slating of BF here and threads like this are done by someone who wants to cause a bit of drama and keep the BF mum vs FF mum alive. Stop it. We don't care how babies are fed aslong as they are happy, full and looked after.

It is not just smoking. Any campaign that seeks to reduce infant morbidity and mortality (drink driving, seatbealts, alcohol, corporal punishment, vaccination) is always met with people stating they will continue their current behaviours as it is their individual right to (eg drive under the influence/with no seatbelts worn).

No intervention is ridiculous if it is proven to reduce child death rates- is it?

@aeroflotgirl the reason they are comparable is because of the 800 000+ deaths due to formula feeding a year...

Maybe so but 1 mumsnetter does not equal "most women"

If it was only to save an infant life it would be prescription only not a 'lifestyle choice'

@thereareflowersinmygarden and re that article about trump.....holy fuck

Arewehomeyet

Even if by doing so I would reduce the risk of death to my child, nobody has the right to force me to use my breasts for feeding. Full stop. This isn't some arbitrary insistence on individual rights not to wear seat belts - this is fundamental freedom we are talking about. My body doesn't belong to anybody other than me.

Arewwehomeyet whatever your views, there will always be I can't formula thank goodness, to compare FF to smoking and drinking is disgusting, it only serves to make those like myself, who could not feed, feel crap. Maybe you should be saying before spouting rubbish,that bf support should be better, which it is not. Until that improves, than breastfeeding campaigns are useless.

Scary stuff.

Don't get me wrong, I'm fully aware that formula has saved many lives.

But the companies who produce it are fucking evil.

So everyone is pro choice....so you can choose to end a life inside you because its "your body" but you are stripped of those choices if you do choose to have your baby...despite it still being your body.... Hmm...

Arewwehomeyet my baby would have died without formula, thank goodness for it. What do you suggest for babies whose mothers are unable to feed them, who cannot. Who are adopted, who are fostered, should they just be left, you are sounding quite ridiculous.

The nestle trolls are working hard.....

@Aeroflotgirl again with the prescription.....