BBC "doco" on bfing - her from "Cherry Has a Baby".

[ThisFeelsWeird]

here

You just know it'll be full of teenage ffers saying "my boobs are for my boyfriend" and hippies feeding five year olds and lots of "normal mums" in between saying they gave up at 6 weeks because it hurt like hell or they "can't be seen with their boobs out in Starbucks" . Oh, and they might even chuck in a feminist to say that bfing enslaves women to the home, removes them from the workplace and is generally responsible for the continuation of a paternalistic society full of war and violence.

Blah blah...

Strongly suspect there will be nothing whatsoever interesting or enlighening in it. Will try hard not to watch. And fail.....

Did she BF? I watched the having a baby one as it was just before my section & it encouraged me to stay wake for it.

She says she stopped at 6 weeks as she found it painful and traumatic.

I'm assuming that will be the thrust of the show.

I know someone who was "Cherry Has a Baby" - she goes to a couple of the same baby groups as me - I was totally gobsmacked when I saw her pop up on tv one night - she was the businesswoman who wasn't going to let the baby get in the way of her life/career - ha! She was pregnant again after just five months!

Well, any programme that is still trotting out the 'Breast is Best' tag line, is not going to be taken too seriously by me for one.

They have also got their WHO recommendation factually wrong as it's 6 months exclusive bfing, following by at least two years of bfing alongside complementary foods.

Still, I'll be watching it, even though I haven't a clue who Cherry is.

I've quite enjoyed some of the 'real lives' stuff I have seen on BBC3, and I think exploring the guilt of mothers who wanted to breastfeed and didn't or did not do it for long is a good idea - I hope they get further than a simplistic 'formula is as good as breastfeeding for babies and saying anything else makes people feel guilty so shut up' . We will see :)

rollittherecollette are you a producer on the show?

Tiktok that's what I also hope but I suspect your summary will be dead-on.

Did anyone see the Guardian Guide review of this? I was a bit annoyed . . .
"are you really a weepy failure if you don't persist with mother nature's milk pumps and switch to a bottle? No, but try and find anyone in the NHS that will tell you that. Everywhere a new mum turns there's a moony-eyed smock wearer banging on about Immune systems and bonding . . "
Surprised that was in the Guardian of all places!!

Marking my place for the post show analysis.

me too

But.. even if they do fall into what you see as 'sterotypical' experiences aren't they all still REAL? I am always a little by pro bf-ers who are dismissive of others bf experiences if they aren't the 2-3 options they 'approve' of. ALL experiences with bf in our culture are important in figuring out how to up bf rates (which I guess is what pro bf-ers want to do..).

It'll be difficult for them to show the vast range of bfing experiences without resorting to extremes and sadly, an indepth look at bfing and the politics and issues surrounding it wouldn't make great 'entertainment'. Worth a look though, definitely.

I like Cherry, she comes across as a good egg.

Yep saw the Guardian preview and was very pissed off at it tbh.

Why not 'breast is best'? Have I missed something?

BTW would love a programme on BFing to get past the stereotypes and really look at the issues and history of it. Such as why it was culturally normal and then wasn't and all the ideological stuff wrapped up in why women were encouraged to bottle feed etc.

Sadly I don't think this programme is it.

Just marking my place too.

I'm looking forward to it. Think its very much about guilt of giving up which I did with my first as she refused to feed and lost weight. (see how 3 yrs on I feel the need to justify!) However still EBFing my 18week old DS who now won't take a bottle of expressed and I dont care cos I love BFing him so much! Hope it gives balanced view though like someone metioned and just doesnt look at extremes.

fifitot- here is a good article about the wording of 'breast is best' from the great blog 'Analytical Armadillo'.

Much better written and explained than I ever could.

Is it on tonight?

Marking my place

crikey great link,i love AA writes what i want to say,but far better than i could ever say it

I enjoyed that blog - thanks.

Am recording the programme so that I can fast forward it when it inevitably annoys me!

bbc 3 now,wow that hubby tried the breast milk on his cereal.. i'm impressed,,

kikid do you get the feeling it was because he couldn't be bothered to nip to the corner shop?

lol, i only tasted the tiny amount, it was rank!

It tastes pretty inoffensive IMO. Formula tastes worse I think.