To think that "97% of women can breastfeed" is a load of crap

[elliejjtiny]

I've been seeing this phrase a lot over the years, about how 97% of women can breastfeed and all the rest of the people who say they can't just need support.

I would guess that 97% of women can probably produce milk (although I wouldn't be surprised if it was lower) but there is so much more to breastfeeding than the mum producing milk which never seem to be mentioned. Mums with disabilities/medical conditions, babies with disabilities/medical conditions, babies who are born prematurely, mums separated from their babies and mums on medication that means they can't breastfeed.

When people gaily spout that 97% of women can breastfeed I find is so annoying and inaccurate. It's usually the same people who want the number of c-sections reduced as well and think that everyone can give birth with no interventions, they just need to stay mobile and ignore the nasty doctors.

It’s not a question of blaming the women for being uneducated, but blaming the system for poor support.

I was told by a midwife that my son didn’t have a tongue tie. Breastfeeding was extremely painful and it affected my supply, then the midwife told me I had low milk supply. If I’d given up (and who would have blamed me), I’d have been posting on here saying I was unable to bf because of low supply, which wouldn’t even have been incorrect but, crucially, only a partial story.

In the end I had his tongue tie corrected privately and as soon as his latch improved my supply increased, and I was able to bf exclusively and until he was 14 months. This only happened because I had the money, desire and ability to sort it privately. Many women, especially vulnerable post birth, don’t have these things. If they’re happy with ff then great but I see time and time again women posting their regret at being unable to do it. and the system is letting those women down.

Of course they'll be mix feeding as they'll be giving solids by 6 months.

No doubt breastfeeding support need to be improved but I honestly find it hard to believe in the age of google that most women don’t know (or find out when they ask chat gpt etc) about colostrum, cluster feeding etc.

The whole discussion just undermines women who do have genuine supply issues, which is a small but significant minority.

My mum gave birth to me in the UK in the 80s, but she wasn't British herself which I strongly suspect influenced her. She insisted that I stayed with her at all times, no taking to the nursery to sleep, and she breastfed me. It never occurred to her that she might not be able to breastfeed, it was what she expected to do and she did it. Breastfeeding was just the norm for her (I suppose she must have seen her mum breastfeeding her younger siblings) and so it was the norm for me.

I genuinely think women’s bodies are just messed up now, by obesity, late motherhood, birth control, things like the morning after pill, endocrine disrupters. I just don’t think they work like they used to, they’re less healthy; they’re out of balance.

Late motherhood has always been a thing. Late first motherhood is new, but before the era of contraceptives, women would be having babies upto menopause. It wasn't unusual to have a baby and grandchildren at the same time.

The two scenarios are totally different

You said that women's bodies were being messed up now by late motherhood. I'm saying that it's always been a thing. Nothing new there.

You might find it hard to believe but it doesn't make it any less true. The lack of education on breastfeeding is abysmal - not just about colostrum, but latch, positioning, supply. Sure you can google, but when you're newly post partum, it can be incredibly overwhelming trying to sort through so much information - that's why support is so vital.

You're right that there are a minority of women who genuinely suffer from low supply, but they do not explain why the majority of women stop breastfeeding. Additionally, low supply does not mean a woman has to give up breastfeeding - with the right information and support, many low supply issues can be overcome. Often it's not low supply at all but another cause, such as latch, tongue tie etc.

I think in general you only bother to research what you are aware that you don't know. If you've grown up with your mum and gran saying, "I couldn't breastfeed, I only got this yellowy clear stuff and my milk didn't come in so I gave up after a day" then you may well take that at face value.

It's A truth, for you. It's not a universal truth.

I exclusively breastfed dd for 2 years until she self weaned suddenly. We were down to last thing at night & first thing in the morning feeds by then.

Once we got over the initial 6 week getting established issues (mainly my sore nipples) then it was incredibly easy & enjoyable.

I loved every aspect of it & consider it one of the most special times in my life.

I grew her for 9 months on the inside & kept her alive for another 9 months exclusively with my body (she was slow to adapt to solids initially) - what a priviledge that was!

So - that's another truth all women deserve to know.

Charmed, I'm sure.

The '97% of women' figure quoted is hypothetical as it does not include a large number of women, and because it doesn't, then the data is fundamentally flawed. If the percentage was quoted as '97% of women who have given birth' then it would be more accurate.

I'm not convinced that lots of research is always helpful. Certainly some women I know who did a lot of research struggled with breastfeeding, and several of those who did none did fine. I think sometimes it can be overwhelming and we can get so caught up with the technicalities of positions, latch etc, that we ignore our marital instincts. Animals aren't taught these things and most feed fine, so maybe we are overthinking it.

I agree - I don't think sitting at home googling ever helps! If you google cluster feeding, you are told that a baby will have mutiple short feeds over a few hours - this sounds a lot different to my experience of having my baby latched nearly 24/7!

What I found made the difference was having a midwife at my bedside reassuring me that this was normal, it would pass, it was how my milk supply would establish, it didn't mean the baby wasn't getting enough milk, I didn't need to supplement with formula. This is what I mean by education.

Around five weeks I started experiencing intense pain when feeding, googling again led me down a warren. I booked a home visit from the infant feeding team and was informed that it was vasospasm and given some helpful tips on acheiving a deeper latch and ways to overcome it.

This thread is really interesting.

The consensus seems to be more antenatal education would help but @Babyboomtasticyou seem to be saying it’s all random anyway and we should just go back to basics and give it a go and hope for the best?

I’m not sure but it’s depressing that the “you just didn’t try hard enough” narrative prevails even when cloaked in language around educating ourselves or getting back to what Mother Nature intended. If you do have genuine low supply, seems like you’ll just be disbelieved and judged from every single angle.

This. Just another chance for women to be always in the wrong. And often in this case failed by other women.

Leaving things to nature would mean that lots of babies would die, as they used to.

Things like mat leave are far from universally available or evenly applied as well. You couldn't breastfeed if you have to be back at work outside the home and away from the baby PDQ.

I'm not suggesting we just leave it all to nature and if the babies die, they die. I'm just saying that sometimes we over complicate things, and sometimes that can dull our natural instincts and get in the way. Not always, but sometimes.

Fortunately we have formula if anyone wants to or needs to use that, or to mix feed.

I'm just saying that women I know who took the approach of 'shove baby on boob and see if it works' often have a higher success rate than ones that could rattle off the pros and cons of different nursing positions, have detailed knowledge in latches, and 3 lactation consultants ready to help if needed.

Im sorry, this is so awful. I have no idea why someone would feel the need to pass comment let alone such a cruel one!

My best friend couldn't produce milk, I could but DS1 couldn't suck hard enough and at 18 still can't drink out of sports caps.

But not late first motherhood. Which is very different to a woman with 3 or 4 kids have a whoopsie baby at 42.

So sorry you went through that and were judged by some wierdo. I had the same BUT only for child #3. I was devasted - went to several very dismissive GPs who basically implied I was making a fuss - and got really bad PND as a result. I tried breasfeeding counsellors, taking domperidone - the lot. A year later as I was getting sicker and sicker, it was finally discovered that I'd had a brain bleed while giving birth and this had knocked out all my hormones. I wish I could go back and tell that loudly and at length to the silly cow who tutted at my formula purchase, too :)

Not sure how these statistics are gained especially when there is such little after-care post-pregnancy in the UK.

I was able to breastfeed my first because a mid-wife gave me support and encouragement whilst I spent 3 days in hospital after a Caesarian birth. If I had a normal birth & was sent home immediately, I’m not sure if I would have persevered. Her words helped me more that she will ever know.

My second was a premie who arrived at 27 weeks so had to be tube fed for 8 weeks. I was able to breastfeed him only because I was still feeding my first and pumping as much as I could and doing skin-to-skin.

I do believe (or hope) it’s possible with the right support but no way do I believe 97% of women actually can just like that.

Yes 97% of women can. 70-80% of babies are breastfed after birth, 55% are still being breastfed at 6 weeks, 34% are still having SOME breast milk at 6 months, 1% are exclusively breastfeed for full 6 months. Source: NHS.

Goodness! I’m so glad you’re well now but so cross and sad that you were dismissed too. It’s so crushing when something that’s meant to happen (and you really want to happen!) just doesn’t.

I appreciate that everyone has a different experience, but all women need is to be listened to, believed and supported. Smart comments and judgement are really not needed. No one knows what a new mother is going through.

Much love and an un-Mumsnetty hug to you.