To demand a harder hitting campaign to promote breastfeeding?

[WashwithCare]

I?m sometimes taken aback to hear mothers gave up bf-ing because it was sore, or involved feeding for hours at a time? What did they expect? What did they think newborns do? Didn?t they imagine that anything chewing on your nipple for 10 hours a day was going to nip a bit?

But then again, who can blame them? Breastfeeding for the minimum WHO recommendation of 2 years is practically unheard of. Nearly everyone will tell you it?s absolutely your decision, and fine to stop. The public info campaign is fluffy and vague about the benefits, and the baby on the follow-on formula milk box looks decidedly peachy. Lots of women are so mis-informed, they believe that formula is almost as good as breastmilk.

Is it time for something a little harder hitting? How about this for a tv ad; (scene 1) mum feeding her newborn a bottle telling her mate how hard bf-ing was. Caption: Breastfeeding Hurts. (scene 2) same mum, but now older, bald and sick, hugs toddler. Caption: So does breast cancer. FADE to caption: "Breastfeeding significantly Reduces your Life Time Risk of Breast Cancer". Followed by cheesy inspirational slogan.

EdgarAllenSnow - perhaps you didn't see my question (above), or didn't realise I meant you as I'd just used your initials.

I posted at 09:40:30, and then asked you my question at 11:35:18.

I fully support the call for more and better support for mothers who want to breastfeed, and it is important to get the information out there - but the OP and responses like yours are making me feel like a total failure all over again - for the reasons outlined in my 09:40 post.

In my local area there is loads of breastfeeding support - if you want to do it. The problem is that if you aren't motivated to seek help why would you. Breastfeeding is difficult and there is no dispute about that but if you have the right support it is not that hard.

I think the solution is more basic than that. Realistically the easiest way to get people bf'ing is to make sure they know how to before they leave hospital. Hospitals are failing at doing this because they discharge far too quickly - within 6 hours if the birth is normal.

StayingDavidTennantsGirl

Just wanted to say (as I'm sure you already know), PND is very complex and can be triggered/exacerbated by all manner of things. I was lucky to be able to BF both of my babies, the first for 6 months, the second for 16 months; ironically it was the latter time that I ended up with chronic PND which I'm still dealing with.

I have read that women who BF are at a lower risk of PND and I can see how a mum who really wants to BF not being able to is at an even greater risk.

Nonetheless, my GP is convinced that my BFing DS for 16 months contributed to my PND, despite the fact that I loved BFing and wanted to do it. She believes it was contributing to my general exhaustion and feelings of guilt and resentment towards my family. I agree with her. That's not to say I wouldn't choose to BF next time...I would still want to but I accept that it probably played a role in my depression.

I don't suppose that'll make you feel any better but just trying to illustrate that you may not have avoided PND, either way. If giving hugs wasn't frowned upon here, I'd be administering some for you now!

Something like this, secondcoming?

"Nonetheless, my GP is convinced that my BFing DS for 16 months contributed to my PND, despite the fact that I loved BFing and wanted to do it. She believes it was contributing to my general exhaustion and feelings of guilt and resentment towards my family. I agree with her."

I wonder how much expertise and training your GP had in breastfeeding and postnatal mental health, and whether she had ever diagnosed that PND was linked to a decision to bottlefeed. We know from the literature that a lack of breastfeeding may be implicated in the development of PND, but I have NEVER heard of a health professional making this connection in relation to their patients. Sadly extended bf (by which I mean bf beyond a year) is so unusual in this country and most health professionals are so ignorant about it, that they may be likely to see it as something which is intrinsically pathological and possibly the cause of any or all postnatal depression or anxiety about mothering.

I don't know how much training she had about those either. She is very, very nice and supportive though and is very much pro-BF. She was hugely congratulatory about my BF 'track record', as it were. She didn't suggest I stop BFing. She merely suggested that the way it was tying me very closely to my son and leaving me unable to have an evening or a night away from him may have been contributing to my difficulties, and I think she may have been right.

Either way, the fact that I BF didn't prevent me from getting PND, unfortunately, just as it cannot always prevent women from getting breast cancer, children from having allergies etc. etc.

Dont get me wrong, I think BF is fantastic; I think it's the best way to feed a baby. But I also think there are thousands of other factors involved in the health of a baby and its mother.

WWC, Your proposed campaign is crap reallyit is. Its not going to encourage women to bf just alienate them, and feel guilty and bad. There are enough campaigns promoting bf, but what if it does not work? or the mum is having problems, you need the support to help them, no good having all these campaigns and rubbish or no support thats women resort to formula. A lot of them dont want to but are pressured by hps to give formula top ups and are scared witless by them brandishing weight charts saying that your baby is falling though the centiles and will have to go to hospital if they do not put on weight within a couple of days.

Not smoking is directly linked to lung cancer, you dont smoke so you dont have lung cancer in most incidences but bf is not, it just reduces the chances, bf women still get breast cancer. As for formula on prescription . I hope that it will be free and available when the mum needs it. Why dont you post this campaign on the Bf/bottlefeeding section, there are bf experts on there who will set you straight, and they are so helpful to women who are having problems bf unlike you who just make them feel worse than they are

So what happened to the other thread accusing the OP of trollery - has it been pulled?

FWIW I don't think the OP is a troll - just sadly and scarily misguided in her zeal.

You are a peer supporter , arent you supposed to be more empathetic, understanding and supportive? What do you say to your peers if they are having difficulties, i hope that you are more understanding and helpful than you are on here. You do not come across as such. There are lovely bf counsellors on here that who are so supportive and professional and give up their time to help women bf if they are having problems , and if we have a dc2 i will definitely be asking for their support.

I think OP should try a little harder to keep track of all her 'stories'. And look up the word consistency in the dictionary.

Thank-you Olifin - actually that does help. {smile] And thankyou for the thought of a hug too.

StayingDavidTeannantsGirl It soudns like you've had a completely horrendous time, and I'm sorry for that. I'm not in a position to cast judgement on you as an individual - and my op wasn't implying I should or could. It is not possible to look at bf-ing rates and criticise individuals.

However, it is possible for stats to reveal underlying trends.

If you go to a culture where bf-ing is considered normal and the obvious way to feed a child - you will find that feeding rates are generally high across every social group, and feeding often continues for several years.

If you look at Scotland, which has the lowest bf-ing rates in the UK, you find bf where it happens ends after a few weeks or months, and is concentrated amongst educated women and women in better off households.

Don't you wonder why that is?

Do middle class women have fewer problems bf-ing? Do women in Malawi have strange African breasts or nipples that don't bleed?

If the whole pattern was random - and everyone who tried was equally likely to establish feeding, that would suggest that the situation is as posters have described - they tried, but it was impossible, their supply dried up and it was better for their health etc.

Once you accept that bf varies by country and by social class, you must acknowledge culture as a leading factor.

If you think it's cultural change that's needed, education, info, public health campaigns must be your big tool...

You may not like what I suggested, but FGS happy clappy baby off to the park isn't exactly working, is it?

Perhaps the goverment could also run a campaign advising men that if they dont eat their own body weight in tomatoes then its their own fault if they get prostate cancer ,because as we all know eating a diet rich in tomatoes significantly reduces the risk of prostate cancer Im sure that would go down aswell as your ill informed campaign idea.

Wow, I can now see why your dh's ex's kids spit in your face.

That's to WWC

I have to say i whole heartedly agree with the idea of more /better support for mothers choosing to breast feed , i had my baby 4 weeks ago and spent 5 days in hospital listening to a variety of midwives spout the most amazing rubbish with regards breastfeeding , a pearl being 'it cant hurt ,babies dont have teeth' . The midwives on the ward simply did not thave the time to support new mothers sufficently ,instead of an ad campaign ,perhaps having a trained person on all post natal wards whose job was purely to offer advice and support ,would be far more beneficial ?

Didn't you bf either Oprah?

I thought that they must have been horrid kids.

WWC, you truly are a troll to the core.

I BF for a year

Bumpsoon - Lots of midwives haven't bf themselves... I have yet to speak to any bf-ing mother who can tell me bf-ing was not painful to some degree... whether it was sore nipples or sore let down or mastittis or whatever....

Not everyone suffers with everythign - but most people get something

I didn't breast feed any of my three.

Come on WWC, tell me how fucking shit a mother I am.

The sentiments in the OP have pissed me off more than any other on this website.

You are very touchy about it.... would you encourage your own children to spit at someone if they disagreed with them?

BigBadMummy - it's not my place to judge whether you are a good mother or not. Your children have missed out on the benefits that bf-ing would have afforded them though.

I am little confused as to why you are upset by the OP post - what specifically upset you about it? Were you unaware that bf had any health benefits attached?