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?

I think it is very sad that anyone feels that they have to justify how they feed their baby, whether that's BF or FF. I have breastfed both of my DDs, and I am still feeding DD2 at 7 months. I constantly get asked when I'm going to stop and 'get my life back' or 'get my body back'. Why is it anyone elses business? Similarly my best friend could not breastfeed due to an existing medical condition, although she desperately wanted to, and was subjected to similar treatment to veritythebrave.

What I also find very sad is the number of my friends who don't even consider breastfeeding at all. I was talking to my friend who is currently 24 weeks pregnant, and she was asking about breastfeeding. I was (hopefully) very encouraging about it, the convenience, the cheapness etc. She then turned round and said she either wouldn't bother at all, or maybe 'for the first few times, to get the first stuff, then stop'. When I asked why she just shrugged, said that's what her mum did and that she didn't want to always have to get up in the night so if she formula fed her D could do it as 'he doesn't mind getting up'. While it is absolutely her choice to decide how to feed her baby, and I would never tell her what is right and wrong, I couldn't help but feel a bit sad that she wouldn't really even give the idea of breastfeeding a go. Other friends of mine haven't bothered even trying, some saying that they didn't want their body ruined, or that the idea was gross, or that their husband's didn't like the idea.

"Breast is best" is a terrible slogan. I hate it. It's also often followed up with "but there's nothing wrong with FF".

"Breast is normal" is much more accurate.

The problem isn't women not bothering with BFing in the first place. It's the HCPs who are too quick to undermine BFing by encouraging FF top-ups, advising women they haven't got enough milk, not recognising normal features of the BF process and generally reinforcing women's lack of familiarity and confidence with breastfeeding.

If the message of "breast is normal" was reinforced more (both to, and by, HCPs), then perhaps more women would have the confidence to do what their bodies are designed to do.

Sorry, bee in bonnet.

Get a grip OP. For a start how is asking if you are planning to breastfeed assuming that you will? You're being badgered everywhere you turn? Rubbish, I bet you've seen 2 posters and been asked a couple of times by HCP's.

You clearly have major ishoos.

I can remember seeing something on tv recently about teen parents and one of the mothers thought that formula was powdered human milk. There needs to be some acceptance that not everyone is clever, experienced or informed. Some people know nothing and there is an element of needing a blanket approach so more vunerable people can get the info as well as those who are going to look into it themselves. If you have never done any research on anything, and don't even realise that there is an issue that needs to be looked at then a poster or patronising leaflet is as good a starting point as any.

I can remember seeing lots of posters in GPs about taking folic acid. There was a 'stopped taking these?' (pic of contraceptive pill) 'start taking these' (pic of folic acid tablet bottle) poster that was aroud for ages. My 30yr old sis in law was 6 weeks pg before she had even heard of folic acid. The 'most adults are intelligent enough' arguement is not a good enough reason to stop health campaigning. or you get stuck with all the crappy myths such as 'can't get pg the first time', 'can only get HIV if you are gay', 'you can only catch syphillis from scabby old men in raincoats', 'smoking keeps your lungs strong' etc. We know the facts about stuff like this largely because of years and years of low level campaigning from the dept of health, not because we are intelligent adults.

Just skimmed and yes agree it's the HCPs who need educating.

The info is there for women, i would agree it is getting a bit much.

Most women intend to AFAIK. But they have their babies and then on the post-natal ward there is no support whatsoever to BF.

Sort that out and there will be real results.

Going on at pregnant women is not the way. Tell them, yes, inform them, but not to the point of overkill and guilt.

pooexplosions OP is saying that no-one has asked her if she is planning to BF. Not that people have and she is irritated by it.

no body and certainly no poster can make you feel inferior. you are the only person who can allow a person to make you feel that way.

" No one can make you feel inferior without your permission." --Eleanor Roosevelt

It is too much and I think hospitals push women into feeling guilty if they can't/won't bf.

I couldn't bf as my dd was taken into intensive care after she was born and I literally produced no milk - possibly due to the intense stress and shock of what happened to my dd. Despite this, I had nurse, midwives and bf counsellors on at me the whole time about bfeeding - and I was more worried about whether dd was going to live or not!

I agree with OP that this campaign has gone out of hand - YANBU.

Oh I see. Well I don;t have a problem with that either, I think the assumption should be that you are planning to BF unless you say different. Why not?
A poster up saying breast is best is a bit like one saying grass is green. Its a fact, not a value judgement. We are mammals, the defining feature of our species is that we suckle our young. I couldn't give a flying shite if you do or you don't, but whether you like it or not you can't change facts to suit yourself. Medical professionals are supposed to give us the medical facts, and thats what they are doing.
Get over it.

Oh no not this again, thought that it was nice not having a bf debate thread.

Thats good Bertie, that makes me feel a bit better as i only bf my dd for only 2 weeks before I was coerced by MW and dh to give formula as my milk supply was poor. Yes there is a lot of breastfeeding promotion, but not the support if mums are having problems, well not in my area, or not that i recieved anyway! When I was pg with dc2 (now m/c) when i said to the MW that I want to bf but what support is there to help me if i am having problems and she just did not seem to take them seriously at all and just said 'dont worry we will deal with that nearest the time' like she said last time with dd, yet very little support.

The Be a Star campaign is aimed at young mums, because they are the ones who are mostly likely to not try to breastfeed.

If you think bf mums need, and should get, more support, then give money to the charities, or help out yourself. It's not hard to do, and it's v gratifying.

Why shouldn't there be an assumption that all Mums will at least try to breastfeed?

Are there really women who won't even try because they felt like they were being pushed into it by midwives? They sound like contrary idiots, placing their own need to be bloshy and bloody-minded over at least trying to do the best thing for their baby.

Agree that money is better spent on providing support post-natally instead of promoting it beforehand - but you do need to promote it beforehand to get the idea into people's heads. Although agree with SnotBaby that a more realistic depiction of it is likely to be far more successful and encouraging.

OP - if you really don't want to even try (and saying that there's an assumption that all women will BF makes me clearly assume you won't try), then knock yourself out and Get Over yourself. If you're happy with your decision, then why get so irate?

foxytocin I'm not sure how that helps.

most people feel inferior about stuff during their lives, pregnancy and childbirth are times when worry and guilt are rife especially with firstborns.

You could equally say that if all hospitals said "natural birth with no pain relief is the only correct way of giving birth. if you need any interventions or want pain relief you are letting yourself down and letting your gender down. You will have failed" that women who then felt bad would only have themselves to blame as they didn't have the correct confident attitude.

if lots of women feel a certain way, unnecessarily, why not change that rather than telling the women their feelings are wrong.

Why would someone be assuming that you're going to breastfeed if they ask you to go to a workshop? Surely it's all part of the process of making an informed decision?

Why are people assuming that the OP is not planning on BF?

I feel pretty much the same as her, and I BF both my two.

Also re. people being contrary and doing te opposite if a message is shoved down their throats too much - yes it's silly, but there are people like that, and plenty of them.

Surely better to accept that a different approach is needed if it's not going to alienate people, rather than carry on gung-ho, knowing that people are being alienated but not giving a monkeys.

While I absolutely sympathise with people who want to breastfeed but find that for whatever reason they can't, I don't think you can say that the campaign to encourage women to breastfeed is wrong or out of hand. Of course it isn't right for you to feel guilty or inferior, but that's not what the posters are intending. You are (quite justifiably) sensitive about the subject and are running the risk of reading too much into things.

HCPs badgering women to either breastfeed when it isn't possible, or encouraging formula top-ups when they are not appropriate are the problem in my opinion. If every mother had adequate information and support at every step in a non-judgemental way from their midwives/health visitors then the numbers of breastfed babies would surely increase.

Support should be provided on the NHS, they promote it so they should provide adequae support! They pay for everything else so why not bf to help mums give the best start to their baby, its important!! If i was a successful bf i would train to be a supporter or counseller, with no bf experience it would be hard.

You couldn't equally say that ISNT, as it isn't a fact.
That is the problem, facts are put on the level of opnion and are banned because they might upset people. Its ridiculous.
Maybe we should stop promoting quitting smoking, because all that nagging might upset smokers, and we should stop promoting healthy eating as the overweight might cry at the posters.

One poster above said that she told her HV not to come back because she said that a baby is at higher risk of cot death in their own room. Thats a fact! Not liking a fact doesn't change the fact. Maybe having baby in own room works best for you, and great, but still a bloody fact.

Support is provided on the NHS in some areas.

In my borough, there are paid supporters on tthe ward every morning, I think. And they visit mothers and babies at home in the first few weeks, too. These woman are BF only, not HV or midwives.

When I was pg with dd and she is 2.11 years, there was no pressure or insistence by MW HP that I bf, I had to ask for info. In the antenatal classes the did cover bf, and out of 20 mums who the MW asked who was planning to bf, me and another mum put our hand up. There was no pressure put on us to bf

I hated BIB when I was pregnant with DD1.

I intended to try to breastfeed, but I just felt like I was being bullied after a while.

Posters etc have their place but think they really do need to be much less patronising and much more informative.

More importantly though, I wish they would spend less money on advertising campaigns and more on training midwives, health visitors, doctors etc on the reality of breastfeeding, as in my experience many of them know bugger all!

There is absolutely no point in telling women 'breast is best' and then having maternity untits where there are endless amounts of trolleys being wheeled about waving formula into mothers faces' at the slightest hint of a problem with breasfeeding.

I had complications when DS2 was born which meant I was put under huge pressure to ff, not because of real medical reasons, but because it was 'easier' in the MV's opinion. Basically I had to express milk while DS was in special care unit for first week of his life. I stuck to my guns and expressed and breastfed despite numerous MV's telling me I'd regret it as it wouldn't work. They were wrong.

DS2 finally stopped breastfeeding 2 years later.

NQC wish in my area there was more support like that, there were health assistantes to show you at home really quickly about latch and things, but she was rushed and only concerned about dd weight not about helping me through this.

I think the every breastfeed counts thing is much better.

At playgroup I am def in the minority. Most of the parents there talk about not wanting to be pawed, and hating the feel of breastfeeding. I have been told by many of them how a magical bottle of formula will get DD2 sleeping through.

At baby clinic though it was a different story, with just one of the 5 of us there at that time bottle feeding.

I'm getting pissed off with "Oooh is she teething already? That'll put an end to breastfeeding" . It did put an end to it with DS, but only after a v bad biting incident meant I stopped producing from one side. I don't see why teeth are a big issue.

Sorry. Most of that irrelevant I know

If it is facts we are after, how many BF women are warned about hypernatraemic dehydration on the postnatal ward? I certainly wasn't.