breast is best

[Haitch27]

Is anyone else who is pregnant sick to the back bloody teeth of the 'breast is best' campaign being shoved down your throat everywhere you turn and being badgered by health carers to attend breastfeeding 'workshops'?? Maybe its just where I live but it seems to be everywhere yet the one thing no one says is "are you planning to breastfeed"? Assumption that all Mums will!!
Curious to know as I said if it is just my area or is it everywhere?

Sorry, yes TW888, I might be talking about different posters to you.

health risks of late pregnancy.

As women get older, both mothers and babies face an increased risk of pregnancy-related complications and health problems. These are due to changes in the reproductive system and the increased likelihood of general health problems that comes with age. Problems include:

Greater difficulty in initially conceiving a child, with the personal and psychological difficulties that this can cause.
Increased risk of complications for both mother and infant during pregnancy and delivery (although the actual size of the risk may be small).
Greater risk of general maternal health problems, such as high blood pressure, which can contribute to complications.
Higher risk of miscarriage in women above the age of 35.
Increased chance of having a baby with a congenital abnormality, such as Down?s syndrome.
Increased risk of pre-eclampsia.
Increased risk of complications during delivery, such as prolonged labour, need for assisted delivery or Caesarean section, or stillbirth.

assisted births and complications,monitoring all cost money

Most pregnancies will result in a healthy baby. However, adverse pregnancy outcomes also rise with age, and women over 40 are considered to be at a higher risk of pregnancy complications Royal College of Gynaecologists statement on later maternal age

Sorry oosabeusa. Obviusly I'm not really in a position to comment on your friend's baby without knowing all the facts. I just wanted to point out that growth charts, particularly where bf babies are concerned, do not always provide the best idea of how well a baby is doing!

I don't think it is controversial to make people are aware of the potential risks of pregnancy later in life or of formula feeding. I think the level of controversy is about the same for both.

But I think people's reproductive decisions and people's choices about how they raise their children are not primarily about the good of society. They are about the choices those parents make in their own interests - having children is primarily a selfish act. Unless there is actual abuse, then society can inform people and create a climate that makes choices with a high likelihood of a good outcome easy to make, but it should not coerce.

"MillyR, is it so controversial to suggest that mothers should be encouraged to have children earlier, and when in a fit state to do so, ie 'low risk'. for the good of society?"

Um, yes.

Stupid typos! Sorry-using IPhone!

"people's choices about how they raise their children are not primarily about the good of society"

they should be, shouldn't they? we are social mammals, after all.

ImSoNotTelling, why?

create a climate that makes choices with a high likelihood of a good outcome easy to make, but it should not coerce.

If those outcomes need to be paid for by society as a whole then an element of coercion is justified, who do we say no to when there's not enough money to go around, those who gave birth in their 20's, breast fed, gave the children 5 a day and didn't smoke/drink/take drugs during their pregnancy or not those who ignored the guidelines ?

Dr's make those decisions every day whether people like it or not.

""people's choices about how they raise their children are not primarily about the good of society"

they should be, shouldn't they? we are social mammals, after all."

Why should they be? Why should I make a choice that is not right for me or my children, solely for the benefit of society?

No I agree with you Bubbleymummy, the charts don't reflect how every child should grow. The thing with this baby was that you really didn't need to look at a chart, his appearance was a bit alarming without knowing the figures. Feel a bit bad using someone else's problem now but it has always been like looking into a parallel universe for me. No offence taken

It's not right for me to drive at 30 mph when I need to get somewhere quickly but i do so because it's right for other members of society that I might run over.

allidon, i am sure you will want 'society', police, nurses, fireman, teachers etc, to help you out when you need it, why not return the favour?

You two are joking now, right?

hahahahy why do you say that?

Spell out to me what the detriment to society is of women FF their children, please. Then let's look at some parallels.

Or maybe not, as I am starting to get the feeling that you are both quite bonkers.

£35million per year in treating formula fed infants with gastroenteritis.

There's probably plenty of parallels, each detrimental in their own right, it doesn't make any one of them less valid and the ideal any less worth attempting to obtain.

In fact I'm going to bow out now. There is really no point in engaging with people who think that women who have concerns about BF shouldn't have children, and that women should be told it is their duty to society to have their children younger (presumably irrespective of whether they have a decent man on teh scene at the time or not ).

I am in fact going to switch my PC off and go and have some valentines sex with my DH. I will be keeping my bra on out of necessity

MiilyR- don't they need baby teeth to work out weaning age?

And does formula feeding really cost the NHS millions, Ruby? I bet it's hard to get accurate figures on that.

Have only skimmed thread but as for NHS wringing hands over ff, I was in an NCT group years ago with an NHS consultant, married to another consultant working at same hospital. She had decided not to breastfeed her DC1 and never did, and her husband totally supported her. I found it a tad bizarre, but I admired the way she made her choice, was utterly calm about it and not fazed. She must have had big personal reasons I guess.

(I know this is NO JOKING MATTER etc etc...... but it was also quite comical, the NCT lady's expression of horror, since she had confidently expected the consultant to back up everything she said to us about the medical benefits.)

UNICEF source - it is an estimate, yes. 1995, I think. Not that hard to estimate though, I imagine.

Skegness, no they don't. Some permanent teeth are early forming and some are late forming, and there will be higher nitrogen values in the permanent teeth that were formed before weaning.

lol coffeeaddict. I can well imagine the poor NCT leader's consternation!

Thanks, MillyR.