Is formula feeding a feminist act?

[FeelLikeTweedleDee]

Excuse me as I'm high on Lemsip so my musings may seem unusual - I've been thinking about womens motivations for NOT breastfeeding.

Out of all the pregnant women I have spoken to who plan to formula feed from birth, the most common reason given is "I don't think it's fair that I should have to do all the feeds/shoulder all the responsibility for our baby's nutrition" which is an argument I can sympathise with. I understand the lactivists response: "there is so much more a man can do than feeding" but one must admit, feeding is pretty much the bulk of what a newborn needs. It also ties the mother to the baby in an exclusive manner which nappy changing, soothing, playing, etc does not.

I admit (online only because I'm a pussy) that women who chose not to breastfeed before even giving birth used to anger me. I couldn't understand why they would not put their baby's needs first. Why they wouldn't even give breastfeeding a shot? But perhaps sexual equality is sound reasoning?

What is your opinion on womens non-medical motivations for not breastfeeding?

If you're thinking "it's none of your business what feeding choices other mothers make", I disagree. Formula feeding costs the taxpayer a substantial sum every year re: NHS resources as well as its impact on the environment, etc. Thus womens non-medical reasons for not breastfeeding is an important issue.

No it isn't ~IMO

Also I'm with Foxytocin in that I believe BF is far more restful than FF. Although possibly this is more to do with the suppport received.
I would go into more detail but DD has just climvbed on my back

Not in my book, speaking as a feminist.

There are people who define feminism and equality as the precise sharing of equal work ('you do two feeds, I do two feeds'). It's a very literal interpretation of equality, and while it works for things like equal pay in the workplace, and sharing out domestic chores, for example, it doesn't really hold up when you look at the real physical and biological differences between men and women. After all, it's not 'fair' that only women can get pregnant and give birth.

So no, it's a basic and very literal misunderstanding of 'equality', IMO. I do understand how being solely responsible for a baby's nutrition can feel overwhelming at times - but when the 'you do half, I'll do half' approach takes us so far away from the optimal nutrition for a baby, and devalues the unique qualities of motherhood, FF-ing doesn't make much sense as an answer.

[disclaimer - as a BF-er I do think there are good reasons for FF-ing, and extreme mental pressure and exhaustion are among them. But a resentful 'I don't see why I have to do it all' isn't the same thing IMO).

WoT, that breastfeeding support is all part and parcel of what a new mother needs in order to rest, recover and hold bond with her new baby, non?

I don't disagree that formula feeding costs the NHS extra money. The point I was trying to make is that we all make choices everyday that incur cost to the taxpayer. I don't think that this means we shouldn't be free to make those choices.

I do understand the intellectual point of this discussion.

What I don't agree with though is the idea that some reasons for not breast feeding are more valid or reasonable than others. In my eyes not breastfeeding because you just don't want to is as valid as any other reason.

I guess I see a woman's right to make choices for themselves as a feminist act. So no I don't think FF is a feminist act any more than BF is.

Would rather feminism focussed on fighting to enable women to feed and feel comfortable feeding wherever they like. I feel my life is slightly more constrained due to the feeling that it is not 'normal' to breastfeed in public. I try not to let it but I know it affects my decisions about what we do at times

mousesma "I don't disagree that formula feeding costs the NHS extra money. The point I was trying to make is that we all make choices everyday that incur cost to the taxpayer. I don't think that this means we shouldn't be free to make those choices"

Very well said. BF 'costs' the NHS as well - additional training for midwives and HV's, more time intensive on wards to show mum how to get latch sorted, DR Appintments for poorly nipples and so on.

I am not for one second saying that these 'preventative' type costs do not present value for money to he NHS in the long term, I'm just trying to show the point that pretty much everything has a cost.

I for one support informed choice. If a mother feels she will be a better, happier mum for FF then I respect that fact.

As for the feminist related question - well, I don't think I shall go there. I have my own views of the movement that I feel will NOT go down well on MN!

Msternity care of all types is costly to the state - and that's the way it should be. Healthy babies and children, and mothers, too, are an investment for the whole of society and of course we should spend as much money as needed on it.

If every mother formula fed, then the net cost to society would be greater than if every mother breastfed - there's no doubt about that - but of course supporting breastfeeding is not cost-free either.

I don't think mothers 'should' breastfeed just because it works out cheaper for everyone else, though. There is no reason to say mothers 'should' breastfeed at all, because socially and culturally, it can be hard to make and sustain this choice (leaving aside the physical and medical aspects).

Mothers should be enabled to breastfeed.

Formula promotion and the many other ways of dis-enabling breastfeeding is anti-woman as well as anti-baby.

' it's been proven that FF babies use the NHS a lot more than breastfed babies.'

Please cite this evidence. Good, hard evidence, with references and the number of bf/ff babies surveyed, and the period over which this evidence was collated.

To return to the original point: I do feel uncomfortable about the idea that mothers should devote themselves, selflessly, for months and years on end to their children's needs.

In terms of broader parenting: I think if breastfeeding is part of equal parenting between male and female parents/ same-sex co-parents, I am again more comfortable with it.

Foxy - Well, obviously but so many mothers/partners/MiLs have no idea how to support a new mum. Especially one who is BF.
I was 'lucky' - all my family BF to some extent so we had meals made for us for DH to heat up, people would come round and do housework/make cups of tea while I sat on the sofa resting and nursing my baby.
Friends of mine haven't been so lucky and get - well if you FF I could feed the baby and you could have a rest amongst other helpful comments.
the other thing for me about BF was DH would come home in the evening and take over childcare of the older DC or finish cooking dinner while I sat and nursed my baby rather htan him getting to come in and sit down feeding baby while I scurried around cooking/tidying/making tea etc

Motherinferior, there is a ton of hard evidence for this. Check out Quigley et al with the Millenium cohort study for starters.

There has been quite a lot of health economics research done in the last 10-15 years.

Try this:

pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/abstract/103/4/S1/870

Or this:

www.ers.usda.gov/publications/fanrr13/fanrr13.pdf

Of course mothers should devote themselves selflessly for months and years to their children's needs - why should breastfeeding mean that?

Doh - I mean should not devote themselves selflessly......!

Interesting, thank you for those. I just get annoyed when people refer to 'research' without citing it.

I do think breastfeeding gets mixed in with a kind of selfless-dedication ethos. Which makes me uncomfortable.

WoTmania, in the early days of BF there were times when I would have given anything to be able to hand (exhausting, cluster-feeding) DS over to DH and scurry around cooking! Like you I had a supportive DH who picked up other domestic stuff, and did everything for DS except feed him, but there were times when I felt really, really trapped.

I was and am a feminist, but BF definitely didn't feel like a feminist act to me, it felt like defeat - that my individual self had disappeared when DS was born in a way that DH's hadn't (e.g. he could still go out without DS if he wanted to and I couldn't). I did it because it was best for DS, but 5 months on I'm rather regretting it as I'm exhausted and it hasn't been good for my mental health or my long-term relationship with DS.

Doh, posted too slowly!

secretly hopes Xenia notices this thread and tells everyone how she Bf twins whilst running her own business and generally kicking gender-stereotype butt

Quoting 'research' on a talkboard is difficult, motherinferior. A board is essentially a conversation not a debate or a seminar, after all :)

I think the 'martyr' vibe you say you sometimes pick up is probably part of a lot of motherhood talk - you'll get the same thing when people discuss sleep, or tantrums, or potty training. And, as it happens, formula feeding. Neither breastfeeding nor formula feeding is guarenteed to be problem free, after all.

I did not WANT a baby stuck to my tit. Simple as that. If there was no formula milk, I'd probably have had a termination.

I carried ds1 for nine months and worked all the way through, why should I have to do the brunt of the babyfeeding (and care, because ONE of us has to work, and it's not gonna be the one with the attached feeding equipment, is it?) until baby decides it will allow you to wean him?

I'm an autonomous human being. I simply did not want to be so very restricted (and yes, maybe middle class people with money and cleaners and nannies aren't at all restricted by feeding for an hour every 2 hours, but I bloody would have been.)

I agree, Petsville: I felt like that with my first baby. I think it was part of the whole way I felt knocked for six and subsumed - but it wasn't just a symptom, it was part of the whole, and I felt very much that I was reclaiming 'me' when I switched to mixed feeding.

I did breastfeed my second baby till she was 18 months old, and I wanted to do that and I was glad I did.

I hope you feel better soon. I think those first few months are, overall, very tough ones for many of us. I can tell you now - with DD1 about to celebrate her 10th birthday - that it does get easier!

Come on, tiktok, if you're referring to 'research' you should be able to link to it (which you did)! If you're arguing with someone, on a discussion board, it's quite reasonable I think to be able to back up your points.

I do think there are some tensions between feminism and breastfeeding, in that you can't escape the fact it ties the mother down in ways that make equal co-parenting very hard, at the time when crucial habits of parenting and paid and unpaid work are being formed.

I speak as one who did breastfeed (grumpily, dutifully) for over 3 years in total for 3 children, because I did know all the health arguments, but I think it is problematic for many feminists in upsetting hopes of an equal parenting approach from the start, and in making it that much harder to regain a sense of control of your own body.

It's not impossible, we did a "I breastfeed, dp did all the nappy changing and washing" route which worked quite well, but it's harder to share it all when it's your body the baby is so attached to. And that can also make it harder for fathers to bond in the early days/months/years, which is an issue.

"I did not WANT a baby stuck to my tit". Bloody hell. So that's what nurturing the next generation is, is it? Having a baby stuck to your tit.....that's actually bordering on the offensive, you do realise that, coldtits? It's a tad misogynist, too.

The idea that you need a cleaner, money and nannies in order to breastfeed is laughable.

As is the idea that you cannot work until the baby decides to wean.

All that's needed is decent maternity leave, and flexible return to work, and a welcoming attitude from the rest of the world.

Of course if the rest of the world thinks breastfeeding means having a baby stuck to your tit, we've got a long way to go.

If the formula companies are making as much profit as is reported then the corporation tax they pay will be benefitting us all.
I strongly believe that anyone who bases their feeding choice for their baby on economic/feminist/political views is a weirdo.
I ended up ff sooner than I had planned but never got dh to do a feed and in fact hated it when DM or MIL visited and wanted 'a go'. Carrying and feeding a baby (ff or bf) seems to be a female task defined by biology (as shooting sperm up a vagina is a male task for example). I hate that people use ff as a means of passing the baby around like a rugby ball.

I found breastfeeding utterly loathsome at times. Calling it 'a baby stuck to my tit' was being polite.

But then I'm profoundly uncomfortable with the whole experession 'nurturing the next generation'.

"If the formula companies are making as much profit as is reported then the corporation tax they pay will be benefitting us all."

Would be nice to think so, eh? But much of the manufacturing, and the ownership of the companies, are not in the UK.

And I didn't say what I thought of the OP's original question - that's sleep deprivation for you. I don't think either BF or FF is a feminist act: for every woman who feels empowered by breastfeeding there's probably another one who's feeling borderline suicidal and desperate to get back to work and hand the baby over to her partner. I have immense respect for women who manage to do it and enjoy it, but I'm not one of them.

Equally, I'd be uncomfortable with a position that said real feminists FF - can't we support each other's choices? Especially since, as other posters have already pointed out, we have to make those choices in a pretty misogynist world without flexible working, decently paid maternity leave or proper paternity leave, or indeed a welcoming attitude.