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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

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

999 replies

CocoDeMoll · 02/08/2018 20:53

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? Grin

OP posts:
Filzma · 02/08/2018 21:39

Oh no didn't mean to put the troll emoji thing. Smh

Grandmaswagsbag · 02/08/2018 21:39

Happy mum=happy baby, I mean who the heck says this IRL?

Pixie2015 · 02/08/2018 21:40

Lots of positive threads on both BF and FF on here. Also great advise on both types of feeding. Also I agree with other posters lots of pro choice posts - I think combi feeding great and happy mother helps make a happy baby however fed

underneaththeash · 02/08/2018 21:42

I don't see that at on here at all OP, I've heard many more stories of women choosing to breastfeed for a long time, many more than I've ever seen or met in RL.

I'm one of those who did it through gritted teeth for 16 weeks with all of mine. I've also seen first hand the damage that the pro-breastfeeding agenda can do to vulnerable mothers, who feel utterly devastated that they've failed their children by being unable to breastfeed them. When in reality it only makes a very slight difference.

NHS and breastfeeding support networks should be much less judgemental and more supportive.

Filzma · 02/08/2018 22:15

@CocoDeMoll
One mum made a thread about aptamil not dissolving in boiling water. Several others agreed and had other alternatives. Then comes this :-
*
I think its a widespread idea that its the water thats the issues and not the powder.*

😂😂😂😂

hottotrotsky · 02/08/2018 22:21

It's called shilling and is incredibly common.

Ditto on ANY vaccination thread where big pharma's shills descend greedily.

Original poster
CocoDeMoll · 02/08/2018 22:56

It’s where the money is both with big pharma and formula. If anyone can afford it they can.

OP posts:
NapQueen · 02/08/2018 22:59

Breast if you can/want/choose.
Formula if you dont.

Dinosauratemydaffodils · 02/08/2018 23:01

Grandmaswagsbag My HV although to be fair, I think she's just glad I'm not psychotic this time around.

PineapplePower · 02/08/2018 23:05

the formula companies don't need to do that

Any company with a decent marketing department would be doing this ffs. I don’t understand how people can be this naive Hmm

EnthusiasmIsDisturbed · 02/08/2018 23:14

How is mumsnet anti breastfeeding feeding

Most on here try to be supportive to each other

Odd few who bang on and on about bf and I’m aware of many women who felt judged becuase the ff

There is such a big fuss over bf/ff in this country (and in the States) who cares as long as the baby is feed

EnthusiasmIsDisturbed · 02/08/2018 23:16

And I am sure there are some in here pushing products it’s an open forum it’s to be expected

daffodildelight · 02/08/2018 23:17

Yep.
And the Russian trolls are on all the Brexit ones.

youngestisapsycho · 02/08/2018 23:21

As long as baby is cared for and fed, wether it be formula or breast, isn’t that what’s best. I can’t believe the arguments/ debates/ multiple chats about it.... babies just need to be fed! It makes no difference if it’s formula or breast...

spreadingchestnuttree · 02/08/2018 23:23

who cares as long as the baby is feed

Do you really mean that though? That you literally don't care what babies are fed? Does that also apply to toddlers and older children?

I genuinely care about the low bf rates in this country but I'm not sure what the solution is.

peoplearemean · 02/08/2018 23:23

They probably do, just like hotel chains have people writing reviews etc. I wouldn't think there would be enough to make any real impact though. And I don't think Mumsnet is particularly pro FF at all, complete mix.

spreadingchestnuttree · 02/08/2018 23:25

It makes no difference if it’s formula or breast

That's just not true thought, is it? Do you work for a formula company? HmmWink

youngestisapsycho · 02/08/2018 23:28

No I don’t work for a formula company... why isn’t it true? Do you think something bad is going to happen to all the formula fed babies?

PurdysChocolate · 02/08/2018 23:30

I wouldn't be remotely surprised if they were.

I follow some vloggers or "influencers" as they are now called and am surprised at how some people with smaller followings can still attract global brands. These brands are clearly paying close attention to social media. Mumsnet has a huge audience...companies might want to come on and help manage their brand's image.

icclemunchy · 02/08/2018 23:32

@underneath perhaps those vulnerable mums were actually failed by the lack of proper support.

I'm all for pro choice, but for us to make informed choices we need the facts and formula companies really don't want us to have the facts. Along side facts we need good quality readily accessible support. Because any woman who feels she failed to bf has been failed by the system rather than being failed herself.

I don't think mumsnet can be anti bf. You only have to look at any post where a mum is looking for support with bf to see at least one person saying oh give a bottle it's formula not poison, trust me that mum's knows all about formula. She sees it everytime she pops to the supermarket!

LaurieMarlow · 02/08/2018 23:43

I suspect there are some, yes. But I also think there are a strong band of pro formula regular posters too.

I wouldn't say mn is predominately one side or the other. There are strong voices on either side of the debate and lots of more nuanced positions in the middle.

zsazsajuju · 02/08/2018 23:51

Fed is best - some people were literally starving their babies with all the rubbish about how formula was Harmful. Many women have a very negative experience of breastfeeding and there is a lot of unnecessary pressure from the nhs. I’m not from any formula company- it’s v unlikely that all the women who have a negative breastfeeding experience are formula company plants.

zsazsajuju · 02/08/2018 23:58

I don’t think there is any evidence that formula companies don’t want people to have the “facts” about breastfeeding. People need to drop the paranoia. There’s a lot of pressure to breastfeed and none to formula feed (in my experience). And the evidence for breastfeeding is shaky at best.

Nottheduchessofcambridge · 02/08/2018 23:59

I genuinely care about the low bf rates in this country but I'm not sure what the solution is.

But why do you care how other mothers are feeding their babies?

PandaPieForTea · 03/08/2018 00:24

I FF and, having read lots including published papers on BF/FF, have come to the conclusion that the difference between the two is small enough that I just don’t think it matters. I’ve posted about it and haven’t been paid to do so.

It’s like the difference between anecdotal reports and large sample research. If you have to look at a large sample to find a small difference then it probably doesn’t matter all that much for any individual.

I care about parents not being able to feed as they choose - the lack of support for new parents is woeful, obviously that mostly impacts BF. But I also care that parents aren’t given sufficient information about how to FF well if that’s what they choose to do.

I find it hilarious that people think that pro-vaccination posts are big pharma shills. There are plenty of people who are furious about the damage that has been done to vaccination programmes by misinformation and pseudoscience. There are people whose DCs cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons and are reliant on herd immunity. There are people who have seen the damage that diseases do, that can be avoided by vaccination. Big pharma really doesn’t need to pay anyone to present the pro-vaccination argument.