To feel annoyed trees were cut down to print this anti-breastfeeding article

[cherrymama]

In the latest edition of Mother and Baby magazine (I bought it for the free gift) the deputy editor has an article about breastfeeding. In it she says that she "couldn't be fagged" to breastfeed and that breastfeeding her newborn using breasts that had previously been used for sex would feel "creepy". And that even the health benefits of breastfeeding "wouldn't induce her to stick her nipple in her bawling baby's mouth."

I think her attitude is horrible! I understand many people try to breastfeed and don't manage, but to say that it is creepy is another thing.

Yes Tiktok, for instance in the paragragh, "Think about it, breastfeeding is the normal way to feed a baby..."

You are sharing information, but your tone feels like a trainer talking to students?? Why have you taken on that role in this thread?

Oh bloody hell. Now ticktockclock thinks I am giving lectures....where? Where am I not doing anything other than answering questions, discussing and debating??

None of the things you describe have been said on this thread ChuckBartowski. Nor is this something that I have ever seen happen anywhere I have been where there are bf mothers (not to say it dosen't happen but I have never seen it myself). I do not know about other threads as I have never looked at another thread about this before and probably will never do so again.

Do you never see cases in the news though ticktock? In which case you are missing the point. Beleive me it happens. And the fact that it happens so often is why some people feel obliged to be so very pro-bfing.

animation ?????? I challenged someone to think, on a discussion thread, after she had accused me of scaremongering and of proposing contradictions. My words 'think about it' were an attempt to lower the temperature and not to simply to tell her to f* off.

And ticktockclock, Chiuck was imagining these words being said vis a vis breastfeeding, and pointing out that if they were said, people would be offended....

Dear oh dear. It's like pulling teeth.

@Tiktok; "Dear oh dear. It's like pulling teeth". There it is again - that tone - like a teacher talking to pupils??

animation - I was being ironic....that was indeed a teachery tone. Well done!

Have a gold star!

(so was that)

Animation, come on, tiktok isn't using a didactic tone, she's just making her case for her point of view, the same way others are making theirs. In fact she's been considerably more polite than what I'd consider the MN average (that's a joke btw, I realize there is no such thing ... ).

tiktok - when I stopped breastfeedng my son aged 6 months I went on to use Aptamil formula. At the time I read that you shouldn't start using cow's milk (i.e. full fat milk bought in carton from supermarket) until child is 1 yr old.

From this I assumed that formula milk was manufactured without using products derived from cow's milk. Clearly, this was wrong!

Mouth, as I say you're not alone in thinking this. Can I ask what you thought it was made of, though?

The issue of formula use in other less affluent societies isn't just that by buying it one is funding the formula companies,its that by making it the norm in the West it is seen as aspirational and a symbol of affluence and success in the third world, and I do think that as we have the power collectively to do something about that,by making breastfeeding the normal and preffered choice for women worldwide,then we should do our best to uphold it.I can't imagine anyone would ever judge a woman with no breasts for being unable to bf,that is a silly and pointless comment.I think if you can,you should,thats all.And I am fed up with the drip drip drip of comments directed at bf women and babies when they are out and about,especially if that baby is (the horror!)over a few months old.there is a basic expectation in this country that you won't feed for long.I had to have a breast scan last week and on the form I had to fill in there was a question about how long you had breastfed for.there was a gap for you to write in "X" weeks.WEEKS ! ,no option for months,or years.Just weeks.and i find that profoundly depressing.

Apologies if this has already been said - long, long thread and haven't read all posts.

TYou can't take this article out of its context, and its context is a society where breastfeeding is a) misunderstood and b) poorly supported. The upshot of this ignorance and lack of support is thousands of mothers and babies denied the benefits of breastfeeding.

If we had a society where 75% of mums were ending up having or choosing an elective c/s because of a general ignorance about vaginal birth and because of the inability of our maternity services to support women to achieve one we'd rightly be aghast at an article which perpetuated myths about the impact of vaginal birth on a woman's body, and one in which the act of a baby coming through the birth canal was written about with disgust and contempt.

This article shouldn't have been published without some editorial comment which sets its opinions in context.

There is a cost to pay for so few babies in our society being breastfed, and it's mostly being paid by babies and children. It's not consequence free decision to choose not to breastfeed. Magazine editors should show some sense of responsibility when it comes to publishing articles which are derogatory about breastfeeding.

thesecondcoming- it may not look like it, but I only use research in these threads when people question the fact that there is any health point to breastfeeding, when they say something like 'formula is just as good' or say that the research tells us nothing, or that it's meaningless because X happened to their baby. I don't offer it up unasked, is what I'm saying!

I am not sure what the right thing to do is - it's probably not going to make any difference to people who have decided that the research is all bobbins, as you say.

Seems to me, though, that in the interests of fairness and debate, we should be discussing stuff that's correct as far as possible. People do get information from reading mumsnet, so I suppose I would rather it's not misinformation.

"I don't think anyone ff because they think the milk is better than/the same as bm".

Actually there is research showing that many people DO think formula is as good or better than breastmilk.

None of the women I know personally who chose to ff from birth felt that the differences between breastmilk and formula were anything other than trivial.

Great post giveittomebaby

Fanks!

"if you can you should" - at what cost? Your health? The wellbeing of your whole family?

Don't see how some woman sobbing in a back bedroom in Rochdale, trying to feed a hungry baby from bleeding nips, is going to make BF more desirable in the third world.
Shouldn't we be more concerned with getting proper sanitation for as many people as possible? Then EVERY child would have a safe alternative to breast milk if required.

yes, DDDixon if you can you should.

you think not!

Why is it such a crime to say breast is best? It is, no question. And it is not about individual children, it is about ff/bf en masse.... and bf has better outcomes.

What would you rather drink rainwater or recycled water from a heavily populated area? I can understand that people who ff don't want to feel shit about their decision, but noone made me feel bad about bf because I knew that was best. Just like people who feel guilty about ff, they know their baby would be better drinking something produced by their mother than a fancy cows milk.

Sorry if that offends but we have to live by our choices.

"Shouldn't we be more concerned with getting proper sanitation"

Errr, yes. But unless we can also supply that mother with an income which enables her to buy formula without depriving herself or her other children of food, healthcare or education then it's still a crap situation isn't it?

And the fact that we have so many women struggling UNNECESSARILY with breastfeeding in the UK is the real issue here isn't it?

thesecondcoming - the VAST majority of breastfeeding difficulties women experience are avoidable or easily dealt with if the mother gets the right care at the right time. It doesn't make sense to talk about the 'wrongness' of women continuing to struggle with difficult breastfeeding without acknowledging this basic truth.