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Original poster

breast is best

643 replies

Haitch27 · 14/02/2010 00:56

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?

OP posts:
Babieseverywhere · 15/02/2010 10:24

Well, I would of done block nursing (i.e. feed off one side for several hours) to reduce my excess milk but when you tandem feed it is more difficult to do that.

ImSoNotTelling · 15/02/2010 10:25

Maybe i will invest in one of LITR's underwired nursing bras as well, while I'm at it. So no more sack of spuds look...

Babieseverywhere · 15/02/2010 10:26
pigletmania · 15/02/2010 12:56

I much prefer the every breastfeed counts campagin instead of breast is best. I its nice seeing what one breast feed can do, than go though to what one week can do, than a month, than several months than a year, so that mums know that bf is important wether they do it for a couple of weeks or 2 years plus, not just 'breast is best and thats it'. I only bf for a couple of weeks not due to choice but other factors, someone posted some info on the breast/bottle thread about 'Every breastfeed counts', it made me feel so good that i did manage to make a bit of a difference to my dc health instead of feeling like i shortchanged her.

sungirltan · 15/02/2010 13:00

you can get quite nice t shirt nursing bras from mothercare - i balked at first when i saw nursing bras in general since i am a structured, uplift, underwired kind of girl but these are fine and they have nifty snap clips too to pull the cup down from the top.

when i first started bf i did think god this is rank - huge swollen sore boobs, leaks everywhere, pain from let down, felt really self ocncious about feeding out and about etc etc but i wanted to do thr right thing by dd and now i just dont care anymore about the above...i mean for gods sake yes its a bit uncomfortable but its only for 6 months!!! i've had years and years of looking great and being fancy free and when dd is fully weaned i can go back to wearing nicer bras etc - its not the end of the world that i had to sacrifice this for 6 whole months even though i am actually very vain!

re weight loss/gain - maybe thats genetic. my mum bf me and was back down to 7st 6 months after she had me. i have been bf for 4.5 months and am v close to my pre baby weight already.

i also think 'every bf counts' is a good message. if you don't want to/can't carry on with bf thats one thing but i think mothers who don't even let their baby get the first feeds of colostrum are very selfish!

PuzzleRocks · 15/02/2010 13:05

Pigletmania - I agree entirely, that sounds so much better.
If you can convince people to offer at least the first feed they may be surprised to discover that they are in fact happy to continue. That would be fantastic. And if they don't, then the baby has at least had that all important colostrum.

LadyThompson · 15/02/2010 13:10

Well, I'm very selfish then, because I didn't. However, at least I am not smug and judgey.

Downdog · 15/02/2010 13:11

I have known personally so many women who claim publically that they can't breastfeed for medical reasons, when they know (and I know) very well that they aren't breastfeeding because THEY DON'T WANT TO! They didn't breastfeed their babies because they didn't want to/couldn't be arsed. They are then embarassed so they all claim medical reasons - to save embarassement.

I'm so sick of people seeing pro breastfeeding campaigns as a personal attack on them, and suspect those that do take it so personally are probably feeling bad living with their selfish/dishonest decision not to BF.

It's fine to choose not to breastfeed - but no one does - they all have medical reasons!!

I am sure there are medical reasons why some women can't breast feed - but these effect a tiny percentage of the population.

sungirltan · 15/02/2010 13:18

downdog - according to that start for life whatever the govt campaign is called its 2% - that cant bf for medical reasons.

yeh i'm smug....but i'm proud because i TRIED!

LadyThompson · 15/02/2010 13:19

Selfish again! My oh my. Well, I didn't breastfeed, I didn't want to, and am not embarrassed by it. I don't see pro-bf campaigns as a personal attack on me, and nor do I feel bad for my 'selfish/dishonest' decision not to bf. I couldn't be happier about it, as I did what I wanted to do, and DD is absolutely gorgeous, thanks. I know personal choice is anathema to some, but there we are.

Beveridge · 15/02/2010 13:21

hanbanan, only when you are severely (as opposed to even moderately) malnourished does it affect breastmilk quality. it doesnt matter what you eat (it cant, as humans all over the world in very different food environments have been successfully bfing since we evolved).

and just because formula has nutrients in it, doesnt mean they can be absorbed as well as those in bmilk (iron in follow-on being a case in point).(gabrielle palmer in Politics of Breastfeeding covers both these points, footnote fans!)

if the breast is best campaign is being rammed down everybodys throats, how come actual breastmilk doesnt seem to be? (see low rates of bfing discussed on this thread).

totally agree practical support is the way ahead though, putting up posters doesn't help the woman who has no female relations or friends familiar enough with bfing to support her

HappySeven · 15/02/2010 13:23

Pigletmania, that's a great approach - much more positive. I'm certainly intending to try with this new baby even though it led to PND last time. I'm also intending to not beat myself up this time if I can't as I can see my son is doing all right despite being ff since 8 weeks.

It seems such a pity this causes arguments amongst women and I'm sorry, Downdog, but maybe these women do have medical reasons. Whatever their reason the fact that they feel the need to justify their decision suggests they did want to breastfeed.

Stigaloid · 15/02/2010 13:23

Downdog - i find attitudes like yours smug. I desperately wanted to breasfeed DD but just like DS she has a milk protein allergy and my feeding her caused her so much discomfort that it was like i was feeding her acid instead of milk. She is on medically approved formula and she is a calmer baby. She still suffers reflux but her digestive system is not spasming like it was when on breastmilk. I cried because i had to give up breastfeeding. Some of us have to FF for the best interest of our baby and feel pretty rotten when seeing Breast is Best campaigns because we know it is best usually and in my case it wasn't. The to have someone crow that people are dishonest because they hide behind medicine just makes it worse. Stop being so judgey.

Morloth · 15/02/2010 13:24

I am pregnant and haven't noticed it. That said I take a newspaper to my antenatal appointments for waiting so haven't read any of the pamphlets.

I was asked at booking in whether I breastfed DS and if I intended to BF this baby, was yes to both and haven't heard about it since.

BetsyLittleson · 15/02/2010 13:25

I chose not to bf. I'm not ashamed or embarrassed nor am I dishonest or selfish. The breast is best campaign isn't a dig at me and it was never 'rammed down my throat'. It was never even brought up.

I used to beat myself up because of things I read on another parenting forum about bf being the only way to bond and it culminated in my attempting to latch dd2 on at about 11 weeks old (she'd never been bf) because I was struggling to bond with her (I know realise I was too scared to let myself love her as we lost dd1) and her looking at me like I was deranged.

We're happy. They're healthy. All is good in our house.

pigletmania · 15/02/2010 13:26

Thats what i thought, I got the idea from someone on the MN Breast or Bottle forum, it just puts things into perspective, and you find that once people try it and say 'oh i will only do it for a few weeks or months' they actually like it and continue for longer than they had anticipated. I find that approach much more postive and helpful than the 'breast is best' campaign. We know it is but I dont think that its the right way to go to convince mums to bf if they had not thought about it or have not decided personally imo.

fandango75 · 15/02/2010 13:42

did any of you see the medical findings recently (ie in last few weeks) that they cannot prove afterall that breast milk is better than formula? It was all over the media so would be suprised if you missed it. Hoped it might shut up the judgey pants but seems not....

standandeliver · 15/02/2010 13:43

"I couldn't be happier about it, as I did what I wanted to do. I know personal choice is anathema to some, but there we are"

Not sure what you mean. We all accept that it's important to feel we have autonomy when it comes to the choices we make for our children.

But when a choice has consequences for someone else's lifelong health and development then we can never really call it a truly 'free' choice can we?

But I strongly, strongly disagree with Downdog's perspective on this.

Women make their choices as to how they'll feed their babies, and experience feeding within the context of a culture which from top to bottom is frankly hostile to normal breastfeeding, whatever the posters at the hospital say about 'breast is best'. It's irrelevant that only 2% of women are physiologically incapable of breastfeeding when so many more have their attempts to breastfeed sabotaged at every level.

StealthPolarBear · 15/02/2010 13:45

fandango, they don't need to. Breastfeeding is the normal way - formula is the substitute. IN the same way walking is the norm, using crutches is a fix. It stands to reason that formula can't be as good as breastmilk, and bottle feeding can't be as good as breastfeeding.
Not saying formula isn't god enough, but those are the facts.

standandeliver · 15/02/2010 13:45

"did any of you see the medical findings recently (ie in last few weeks) that they cannot prove afterall that breast milk is better than formula? It was all over the media so would be suprised if you missed it. Hoped it might shut up the judgey pants but seems not...."

Sigh. It was discussed. It was tosh. All part of the tidal wave of ignorance about the medical research on which journalists and the general public are carried along.....

fandango75 · 15/02/2010 13:50

standandeliver are you a scientist

MumtoEliane · 15/02/2010 13:53

I didn't get any support whatsoever at hospital, food was served in a dining room, if I was breastfeeding I couldn't get any, so my DP had to bring me something later. I missed 3 meals on 2 days at hospital, that is appalling. And I might have carried on breastfeeding with the right encouragement.

HappySeven · 15/02/2010 13:54

I know that research has been done into how breastmilk changes with time as a baby gets older so that it has the right proportions of fat/protein etc that that baby needs but one thing that has always intrigued me is about the mother's diet. Please don't shoot me down as it is a genuine question but if the mother has a rubbish diet and so is malnourished herself when it comes to vitamins, iron etc does that mean the milk she produces is also poorer? Does anyone know of any research studies related to this?

standandeliver · 15/02/2010 14:01

fandango, I'm not.

Don't think that's relevant. There are plenty of 'scientists' out there who are profoundly ignorant about breastfeeding, as well as nurses, doctors and paediatricians.

What's more important is having a knowledge of the BREADTH and of the history of research into infant feeding, and knowing something about the way research is funded and constructed. Also to be able to analyse the quality of individual studies - something which I have had some training in doing.

standandeliver · 15/02/2010 14:03

"Don't think that's relevant. There are plenty of 'scientists' out there who are profoundly ignorant about breastfeeding, as well as nurses, doctors and paediatricians"

Appalling syntax.

I think I meant 'There are plenty of 'scientists' as well as nurses, doctors and paediatricians who are profoundly ignorant about breastfeeding'

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