Why is MN carrying breastpump ads now?

[Brollyflower]

Anyone else think this is a bit odd? Especially as it's promoting the brand name of a well known nipple cream too...

you are being judgemental and fucking annoying !

oh don't worry, i am abnormal and have no shame about it.

and i think that the way we live today, expressing in order to attend work/social function is more normal than carrying a baby around all the time. i mean, sure, if you don't have to work or whatever, but who actually is lucky enough to live like that these days?

i do see your point, i just think it isn't that valid a one in this day and age. expressing can save bfing for people like us, but for others it can just be another tool in life. one that they can use or not use. i see an ad for a pump as no different to one for hair curlers, tbh.

Ha ha ha !

Maybe they've always carried these ads and I just never noticed them before.

According to the BMA thread they're not even boycotting Nestle fully enough for the full BMA boycott badge thing . That, however, is a separate issue.

sorry, haven't read the whole thread, but what's wrong with breast pumps?

Without using one for the first three weeks of DD's life, she would have had to had formula instead of my milk. (We went on to bf until DD was 1 & she decided to wean herself off & started laughing hysterically at my boobs when I offered them )

OnEdge please explain where I have been judgemental about anyone other than advertisers?

bessie -if you read the whole thread you will see that I am not saying there is anything wrong with breastpumps . This is about advertising.

Show me the evidence that breast pumps do harm. Go on. I dare you!

And when you can't find any/find something unreliable or uncorroborated go and have a look at the WHO figures about formula and the damage it does in the developing world, the numerous studies that show breastfeeding has benefits. And maybe you'll channel your efforts into something more worthwhile?

And yes, I know you don't believe you're arguing against Capitalism, but that is exactly what you are doing.

Ooops x-posted. The haha was at sleepless's suggestion.

Meh, I'm as militant as they come, but I don't have much of a problem with the ad. I can see where the op is coming from, but we have bigger battles than with the makers of a cream which, while expensive, is a veritable balm for nipples that look like someone's taken a cheesgrater to them.

I want to be sponsored by Elle MacPherson, on the same theme.

You are being judgemental about the use of breast pumps, why is it a negative thing ? That you should not advertise ?

I REALLY REALLY don't get it ? Please educate me.

Eh Engels? How on earth do you know what I channel most of my energies into??

I started this thread because for the first time ever I noticed a breastpump advert on MN and it surprised me to see it here. Now you think I'm on a crusade against breastpumps or something. Really? honestly? Even after reading all my posts? I assure you I'm not . One evening spent intermittently debating with people on a MN forum on one topic hardly equates to the sort of effort you're suggesting .

I am fully aware of the WHO info. I do not see what relevance any info about the risks of formula has to a thread about whether MN carry adverts for breastpumps on this forum .

I am not judging anyone for using a breastpump. I have owned 3 of the things myself and used them extensively. I am not saying breastpumps are bad. If you read my posts you would know this .

mrsgordonfreeman you do know that there is evidence that far cheaper products achieve the same effect, yes? Not research carried out by the manufacturer of aforementioned heavily promoted cream, admittedly...

OK, off to namechange now . Goodnight!

nah, she's not being judgemental about breastpumps, just about MN carrying ads for them. i do see the point, but like i say i'm not sure it's the one to be getting cross about.

OnEdge - I don't agree with the OP about the advert, but I think three interesting points have been made. Firstly that pumps and being marketed as an essential piece of breastfeeding kit, a way for companies to make some money out of breastfeeding, when in the course of normal breastfeeding they aren't necessary. Secondly, that pumping can have a negative impact on breastfeeding. Thirdly, that as pumping becomes normalised, breastfeeding mothers may be expected (for example) to go back to work sooner, be separated from their babies for long periods, or not breastfeed in public - as they can always just express milk.

Actually, a lot of it is to do with how capitalism works - creating a need for something and then flogging a product.

This discussion has definitely given me some things to think about.

OP - I've read all your posts & I'm afraid I still don't get your point...

You say you don't have anything against breast pumps, but you don't want them to be advertised because people might think they need to buy one in order to bf?

Do you think that whenever people see an advert they immediately think that they must buy the product? Please credit (at least some of us) with some brains! - even DH understands that he doesn't have to buy a PS3 despite seeing numerous ads!

Very well said Moonunit! Now I'm off to pump :-)

What a strange discussion and OP.

I agree that a lot of brand promotion for formulas is structured around the position that BF is special, difficult and complicated but I've never heard the notion that breast pumps impede breastfeeding - quite the opposite and that many babies get BF for longer because of women's ability to express using mechanical aids. Is there actual evidence for this?

If I had not had my pump my son would have had formula in certain circumstances and a lot earlier in his life.

Also, despite BF successfully, I knew jack shit about breastfeeding before I came to the BF forum on this website and I think it is one of the greatest sources of support and information there is on the web. And without advertising it would not exist.

Creating a need for something then selling a product ?? We aren't a bunch of idiots. They haven't created a need for them, there is a need for them. I'd be fucked without mine.

really have seen it all now..........I know this topic can bring out the nut jobs, but this tops the lot!

I know, why don't we all live in a world where there is no advertising of anything and where we all give birth behind a tree with no pain relief and then BF for 10 years without ANY ishoos. Tis what nature intended after all, so it MUST be right..............

When I was in hospital with my newborn Baby, I asked the MW for a bottle of formula in case I needed it during the night. It was my 3rd Baby, and I had really struggled to BF the other two. I have exactly the same problems each time.

I was going to try again with my 3rd, but was prepared for problems. I decided that if the same problems became apparent this time round, I would feed her formula until I got home when I could relax and sort things out.

The MW on the night duty was really really into promoting BF. She came up to my table and removed the bottle of formula and said that by having it there it was too much of a temptation and she was going to make it difficult for me to use it. She walked off into the night and left me without it.
I am a 40 year old woman with 3 kids.

I know my own mind, and I know what I am doing.

People who are unable to breast feed for various reasons are treated like second rate people and judged.

This is what OP is doing in my opinion.

If it wasn't for Formula feed, we would all be fucked in our family.

Yes OnEdge that is exactly how I feel. I too am pushing 40 and feel I am well informed enough to make my own decisions about me and my children. Some elements of the medical profession seem to think otherwise.

I think this op is deeply patronising. On a site where there is an extensive topic about all areas of breastfeeding I think you underestimate the intelligence of people on this site - as if you are going to plan on bf and suddenly decide that you need a pump just cos you saw an ad for one.
I haven't seen any evidence presented that pumps cause any more problems than the many that they solve and think that you are getting a little carried away OP.
Also there is a review section where they review different types of breast pump so anyone with the slightest interest can easily compare.
This OP is typical of the bloody nanny state -its pathetic.

I've already said I don't have a problem with advertising breastpumps....but have to come back and say the OP is not judging people who use them at all, or even challenging, let alone judging, the usefulness of the product in many circumstances.

I don't agree with her questioning of the ad - but there is certainly a view among people who may not understand much about the issues that expressing is an easy, and even desirable, option instead of bf 'direct' and that expressing can and even should be used instead of breastfeeding in a cafe or anywhere some idiot might be 'offended'.

In fact, expressing is a potentially useful skill for all bf women, to be deployed when it is convenient and appropriate for her and her baby (which might include times when bf direct is not working well, as some posters have pointed out).

Advertising is irrelevant to this, really, it is. For me, pumps can be advertised ethically, as I use the WHO code as a benchmark. There's no need for people to be angry or exasperated with the OP's view or to imagine she is critical of women who express.