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?

poo- please tell me why I am wrong? If it was right for me an d my child then how can I be wrong?

How am I supposed to know the quote was from a feeding specialist? It was cherry picked and taken out of context, without explanation.

And I still don't agree in isolation, which is all that quote is, a soundbite in isolation and I respond to it as such. Because, yes if a mother is happy then she's more likely to continue with whatever she is doing and that's part of a larger discussion.

But bfing might not make you happy at first. I was miserable, in pain, tied to the sofa, lonely, exhausted. But it was still the right thing to do because I knew it would get better and it was the best thing for dd. It is like any part of parenting, sometimes it feels a bit like a sacrifice.

Did you forget the other half of your sentence dark? Breast is best everywhere, not just the 3rd world or "in caves".
Do what you want, no-one cares. Doesn't change facts though.

pooexp-What to you would have been so awful about not breastfeeding.Do you think your baby would have been worse off?Do you think it would have made any difference in the big scheme of things?

'It is like any part of parenting, sometimes it feels a bit like a sacrifice.'
hear hear!
I was of the opinion that if I was going to be careful about my diet during pregnancy, to ensure that baby wasn't harmed, I'd be doing my utmost to do the same for the relatively short period of time after his birth if I was able.

oh, and the Norwegian bloke quoted is the one whose shoddy review paper was misquoted in the press as saying bf was no better than ff (I think).

"I find it implausible that people are made to feel that inferior because they FF when breastfeeding women are a minority by 1 week and a tiny, tiny minority by 6 months. But perhaps all of the 1% of mothers still breastfeeding at 6 months all live in one town and are picking on some isolated formula feeding parent."

I am fairly sure that the one woman out of 14 in my NHS postnatal group who was FF felt bed about it. Obviously no-one said anything, and I'm sure no-one even thought anything of it, but she fed her baby quite furtively and wouldn't meet anyone's eye while she did it.

BF overload - it is discussed at booking in appointment, mentioned at most meetings with the midwife, posters everywhere in antenatal, antenatal groups have sessions for BF. You are told the same information at least 6 times I would say during the course of your pregnancy, it's like a broken record.

Then you have the baby. On the postnatal ward there is little or no practical support, and you're then passed into the hands of HVs etc.

I live in a very mixed area - yes my postnatal group was unusual in that so many BF - I guess we got a certain "type" there. Maybe they should look at the people who do BF and see why. Maybe they shold ask what people think of the campaigns, and what they think would help them. Then they could target their resources more, rather than adopting this "scattergun" approach, which results in overload for people who would probably BF anyway, and is not personal enough to those who aren't considering it.

Itis very interesting to note for me, friends who did bf had babies that were troublesome, did not sleep, not so great weaning, allergic to everything .My dd slept through like a dream, Is in year 3 never had a day off school never,no allergies,no problems.Me, well back to size 8 at 5'8" so very slim.Dh and me did alternate night feeds.None of this hysterical feeling of being set up for failure,saw friends go through this.No cold cabbage leaves either woo hoo

Yes definitely I do. In general because its a biological norm, its what babies are meant to eat, I think its far far better than any substitute you could buy. And more specifically for my second child who was dx failure to thrive after stopping BF, who has allergies, a digestive disorder and delays, if I'd have known he would go downhill so fast when I stopped BF'ing I'd still be doing it now.

Why? Do you think formula is as good as breastmilk?

"why don't people seek support?" well for a lot of people BF isn't the be all and end all, believe it or not. They give it a go, don't get on with it, and pack it in. Those are the women for whom well placed and well trained BF support would be critical.

There are also women who give it their best shot but aren't even aware that support lines and so on exist.

I remember my antenatal care involving a lot of lectures as to the benefits of BF, that it's a great thing to do etc etc. But I don't remember anyone telling me where I could look for support if it went wrong - if it had been hard for me I would have looked to the midwife or HV TBH. And followed their advice.

by the way though i must add, of course this is not everbodys choice.We all have choice,thankfully we do live in a society where this is possible.By the way must point out though, that on reflection my mw were actually not that forceful on the issue.Perhaps because with their years of professional experience, they know that wether a baby is bf or ff does not really make that much of a difference.Only in the heads of a moral few, who need to be seen to be doing their percieved view of the "right thing".

Rubbish darkandstormy. Complete bollocks.

Why are people giving darkandstormy hassle ?

She has the right to feed her children in whatever way she sees fit. Good grief, it is rare that a mother is happy with her feeding choices. Why try and upset a mother who knows that she made the right choice for her.

The real tragedy is the mothers who want/wanted to breastfeed and either though lack of support, proper information or physical issues can not.

No one should be wasting energy on attacking mothers who are happily breastfeeding or formula feeding (including myself in their number)

Let's try and help those who are struggling, educate the mothers who think they can not feed, support mother whilst they try and establish breastfeeding...that is where a difference can be made, not upsetting those already content in their feeding choices.

Poo-actually you know in your case it was appropriate, it was what was right for you and your baby.I just personally decided in pregnancy it was not something i wished to do.I did not even try.

People are giving Darkandstormy a hard time because she said breastfeeding was best if your were a cavewoman or lived in a third world country, but not for other people.

Which is an inaccurate comment, and people have pointed out the breastfeeding inaccuracies. It is is not a criticism of her choices.

Also she sounds illinformed in general, because this is not 1958 so not sure why the terms 'third world' or 'cavewoman' are still being used.

scottishmummy,
Here is Professor Sven Carlsen research

1. He is male NOT female
2. He is a professor NOT an feeding specialised
3. His research was on hormone level during pregnancy NOT mode of feeding and probable reasons for duration of breastfeeding
4. There are several rebuttal articles about how crap over-egged his research press release was read this if interested

dark - are you trying to make this thread kick off?? You seem to be coming in here to cause deliberate offence...

Yes, I agree, it is great that we live in society where there is choice. And thank goodness that formula exists...I couldnt agree more.

But just as much as I (an excl. bfeeder) does not tar all ff feeding mothers with the same brush, please don't presume to know what I have made my decisions on and lump us all together based on your observations.

Well done on achieving your marvellous figure in record time. Now go polish your ff halo elsewhere please.

ISNT, wish I lived in your area. We had 10 minute antenatal appointments here, enough for the health checks that needed to be done and no more. Your hcps must have all the time in the world if they're ramming bfing down your throat at every available opportunity. Nobody I know in rl has had this happen to them either.

And yes, darkandstormy wasn't criticised for ffing but for misunderstanding the facts about bfing and making inaccurate, sweeping and ridiculous statements. But of course her anecdotal evidence is more important than actual research. I'm off to tell everybody I know to cross the road without looking because I did it and I'm fine.

You're not interested in bfing, fine, don't be interested in it, don't waste a beautiful sunday on MN complaining about a campaign that's not aimed at you.

babieseverywhere - dark is getting grief because of her post stating 'breast is best. For cavewomen, and those resident in third world countries.Otherwise we have what is known as choice. Not mine personally thank you. '

there was no need for that IMO.

thank you babies everwhere.as I have stated it is about choice.The cavewoman statement I say in jest.This is what is a shame about mn I do not mean to offend.Perhaps I should have put a

Milly r- fwiw I am very well informed as dh is a gp.

MillyR,

Her post actually said
"breast is best. For cavewomen, and those resident in third world countries.Otherwise we have what is known as choice. Not mine personally thank you."

I would agree with her. In the caveman era, babies would have to be breastfed there was no choice. Even today in less developed countries, the decision to formula feeding can literally be a life/death decision, due to lack of money, clean water etc hardly a balanced choice.

But in the developed western world we do have the choice on how to feed our children and at the individual level, a particular formula fed child is not likely to suffer for that decision. Healthy outcomes are more apparent on a larger scale.

I have no idea how being a GP would make you an expert on global economics or archaeology. I have even less idea about how being the spouse of a professional of any kind makes you an expert on anything.

Babieseverywhere, there is no such thing as the cavemen era.

It's not really about choice though is it? It might be about informed choice. And it might be about correct information. The problem at the moment is that the right information isn't out there, people aren't enabled to make decisions based on correct information and people make sweeping generalisations, adding to the misinformation and undo a lot of good work.

darkandstormy, if you're happy that you made the right decision, then good for you. Don't come on here and make incorrect statements that take away other people's opportunity to make an informed decision.

FF and BF are not the same. FF is the inferior substitute to BF and you can choose to FF but do so while in full posession of the facts.

I am not trying to stir things by the way,I have been a lurker on mn for a while, only recently joining tbh would never normally be bothered getting in on this type of conflab. It was just that it was on aibu so I have found myself involved.At the end of the day we are all good caring mothers we just hve differnt views and routes.