To think it’s disingenuous to say breastfeeding is free?

[Jerrui]

When pregnant encountered lots and lots of breastfeeding promotion- often it’s cited it being free as a benefit.

I have personally found as soon as you actually have a baby and are feeding it there is absolutely zero support. In my area there is no infant feeding team etc just community midwife who told me to substitute BF with FF at two weeks old when baby failed to regain birth weight.

I have spent hundreds of pounds on lactation consultant, double electric pump, milk storage, trying to keep breastfeeding going.

I have added formula top up and was shocked how cheap it is. We got bottles for free in those Emma’s diary type packs, and Aldi formula costs £2 a week.

I think trying to promote breastfeeding as a more economic option to pregnant women is stupid.
I feel actually public funds would be much better spend on training and recruiting to provide actual support to mothers trying to breastfeed, rather than health promotion with misleading, simplistic and dumbed down messages.
I feel it’s no wonder breastfeeding is mainly the preserve of the middle classes when you have to invest so much money to get any help!

I found buying suitable bras for bf quite expensive and time consuming. I would honestly have liked a standardised NHS comfy cotton feeding bra on prescription to be a thing. Lots of the ones I had bought when pregnant that said they were suitable for bf gave me nipple thrush as they had thick molded cups or were polyester.

@EmiliaAirheart

I’ve also heard: breastfeeding is only free if a woman’s time is worth nothing.

That's a disgusting quote.

You haven’t read my post properly. Or have missed the point.

I didn’t say everyone was starving, just that SOME are. I was, in fact, very careful to make the point that people have different experiences - more than once, so I’m not sure how you missed that.

My whole point is that everyone is different. So those who are saying what people need or don’t need to eat as if it’s a one-size-fits-all are plain wrong. It varies hugely.

It’s a valid point to prefer to spend money on extra food than formula. I would agree with you, FWIW. The point is that doing so means breastfeeding isn’t ‘free’, doesn’t it?

@Runnerduck34

Breastfeeding isn't entirely free, decent supportive nursing bras are expensive and then there's breast pads etc however personally I didnt express or use any other equipment so for me it was a lot cheaper than formula.

That said, I try to buy a new bra every year. I breastfed for over a year with both. I'd have been buying a new bra during those times anyway and I was able to reuse for both.

So while it was an expense, it was an expense I would have had whether I breastfed or not

It's the misleading promotion - women are being told it's free. I was, repeatedly by the NHS, and why shouldn't I believe that? To have even one Covid jab I had to be made aware of absolutely tiny risks, yet BFing promotion is allowed to come up with all sorts of claims, as long as they're positive, or only apply to some women.

The dreadful hyperbolic BFing antenatal class I did (NHS, Baby Friendly hospital) also left many women leaving it thinking they wouldn't get breast cancer as long as they BF. Because the lactation consultant/midwife didn't give actual figures or discuss differences between absolute and relative risk, the risk reduction is actually a drop from 12.5% to 12% of women getting breast cancer if they BF for more than six months and are under 35. I just hope those women, if they did then BF, do go for mammograms or to have lumps looked into in the future rather than think it's impossible.

Women’s time isn’t valued because much of it is not monetised. And on the other side she will be berated for not wanting to spend 100% of her time on mothering. It is fine for a woman to not want to spend her time breastfeeding or to share feeding duties with her partner so she can do other things.

I've calculated the difference in earnings when I had my ff baby (and shared disrupted nights), and my bf baby, where I had to do all nights, was exhausted, and could work less (I choose my hours). Ive included the difficulty I had working when baby was young because she refused to take bottles in the day, and so my ability to work was reduced (from 6m-2y).

Breastfeeding cost me £15k a YEAR. This isn't having a baby - I had one of each (ff and bf) and the financial consequence of me bf was large and obvious.

And no, that's not because bra's are expensive, but because of the effect of shouldering all the feeding labour myself, and the literal effect that had on my ability to work.

It really is only free if my labour is worth nothing. Being up 10 times a night breastfeeding a child decreases my ability to earn.

I don't think it can ever be completely free as most people buy at least a couple of nursing bras and some pads at the beginning. And some people do spend a lot, especially early on if things aren't staightforward. It's fairly inexpensive once you get going though. I'd hazard a guess that if you compared a year of breastfeeding to a year of formula feeding then on average the breastfeeding mums would spend less.
Personally I spent very little - just a few bras which I used for 3 children, a manual breast pump when I went back to work, and a couple of packets of breast pads. I didn't buy any breastfeeding specific clothing other than the bras and can't say that I noticed the food bill went up significantly.
"Free" probably is the wrong word though.

It was free for me, I would have bought and used bras anyway so buying a nursing one made not much difference.

It was 100% free for me. Only money I ever spent was on nursing bras.

I bought an electric pump but I think I’d have managed without it. I’ve got a problem with my hands or I could’ve gotten a manual one. The pump will help me when I go back to work.

I spent money on other breastfeeding stuff but I think that essentially boiled down to me being careless with money, not sure I needed the rest.

The labour thing is probably even more true in countries with no/very short maternity leaves. Women having to express milk which can take a lot of time. If they can’t share feeds they may have reduced performance at work etc. if you are not lucky enough to be financially supported then your time does have to have a monetary value.

Not RTFT but I dont imagine most skint people spend lots on BF. It's a MC luxury to invest in expensive pumps and lactation consultants. I wanted to BF, baby had tongue tie and BF was excruciating. I didnt feel FF was right for us so expressed to support my feeding (lactation consultants or spending on expensive pumps weren't an option at my income level). No support from hospital or midwives, just other women at baby groups and my mum and MIL on the other end of the phone (they both BF their kids so could offer advice). £20 manual pump, a few quid on 4 bottles (you can sterilise on the stove you know, no expensive equipment needed), and decent nursing bras (actually not expensive unless like me you are a GG+ size). Spent time after every feed expressing, baby had bottles overnight. BF wasn't a pleasant experience but baby thrived so it was worth it for me and cost very little (had a year mat leave, would have been a different story if I had to go back after 12 weeks, couldn't have done it).
Also BF DC2 and DC3, reusable breast pads were £6 from Boots, didn't express with either though DC3 also had tongue tie, only cost was nursing bras, so yes BF DC1 cost very little and BF DC2 and DC3 was essentially free.
One fact I've seen about BF that isn't true is that it doesn't hurt- in my experience it very much does, but so do a lot of other things that can be worthwhile pursuing if you are able.

Many of you are talking about the Motherhood Penalty which is not a new concept.

Many of you are talking about the Motherhood Penalty which is not a new concept.

Where it effects mother's who ff/mix feed and those who ebf differently, then that isn't a Motherhood Penalty, but a breastfeeding penalty surely.

Breastfeeding is not free. You need to pay for the extra food for yourself, about 500kcal a day the first year or so. Plus the time spent breastfeeding, but that seemed to me like a worthwhile investment in the bond with a child. Breastfed two children 2.5 years and 3.5 years each.

Who spends 40% more on food and how is that worse than spending that money on formula anyway

Babeb
I roughly spent that, by the time I was eating way more than usual (like 50% more...), more non-dairy protein (because it's more filling than carbs and I wasn't prepared to just stuff biscuits for health reasons) and having to buy some dairy free subs that are more expensive.

If you read my post again, you will see that I didn't say it was 'worse' than spending the money on breast feeding. Are you thinking I'm anti-breastfeeding and reading that in, when it isn't there? I'm not anti-breastfeeding, I fed my own child for 6 months and am glad I did so.

The point I have made - repeatedly - is that, per the OP, breastfeeding is not necessarily free.

Not that it's not worth it, but that for quite a lot of women it isn't free for one reason or another. I don't believe bf should be sold to women on that basis, partly because there are way better reasons to bf, but also because it simply isn't true for quite a lot of women.

I don't want women to be lied to. I don't find one-size-fits-all health info or propaganda helpful. I would like to see more honesty around breastfeeding and less guilt-tripping and on the flip side, a lot more support for those who need it, eg actual useful help with latching, rapid snipping of tongue ties etc.

You need an extra 300 calories. It’s not a lot.

I spent a lot of time at my local breastfeeding support group, which was free. They really helped with DS2. Only thing I paid for bf wise was nursing clothes and some nursing pads but otherwise, bf really was free for me!
The time factor of not having to sterilise bottles etc was great too

@AllTheUsernamesAreAlreadyTaken

You need an extra 300 calories. It’s not a lot.

It’s not about what a mythical average women might ‘need’.

Individual women have different needs and different hunger levels. No point telling anyone they only ‘need’ 300 calories if that’s not enough to satisfy their hunger and the weight is falling off them.

We’re human beings, not robots who all have identical needs and function identifically.

Perhaps mothers should just be encouraged to feed however they want too, instead of being made to feel guilty...

Well, in that very rare example, you should make an appointment with your GP who can check everything is ok and then prescribe some high calorie nutrition drinks.

@AllTheUsernamesAreAlreadyTaken

Well, in that very rare example, you should make an appointment with your GP who can check everything is ok and then prescribe some high calorie nutrition drinks.

I don’t think It’s that rare at all to be ravenous whole breastfeeding. I can remember a few friends feeling super hungry and having to eat a lot more as well.

Why would I ask a GP to be prescribed shakes instead of eating food?

If you’re struggling to afford to eat enough calories to keep you alive, you should go to the GP.
It’s not normal to feel that hungry and be losing so much weight.

It's very common to be permanently hungry while breastfeeding! I ate like a horse!